Jonathan Ridgway

Fish and beef lunch boxes at Shonan Bellmare (@bellmare_staff served by @KitchenKanaloa) 🇯🇵 💷 equivalent of £6

The arrogance of Villa fans is staggering.Five of your seven league titles came when Queen Victoria was on the throne. You’ve won ONE league title since 1910, yet a couple of decent seasons have you lecturing Manchester United about greatness. There’s a fundamental difference between enjoying a period of success and believing it somehow rewrites the hierarchy of English football.

Jamie Carragher has now apologised to Aston Villa for comments this week which were disrespectful but hardly actionable. He was wrong about a proud, historic club. Villa said last night they would “initiate legal action” against Carragher for what they described as his “unacceptable insults about the Club and its fans” on his Stick To Football podcast. Carragher claimed Unai Emery would “fancy” joining Manchester United. This fed Villa’s belief/fear of institutional impediments embedded in the Premier League inhibiting their ambitions. We live in a media age where views are news. Carragher is a pundit, paid to give opinions shaped by his many experiences as a player. It’s why he’s also employed by Sky Sports, which bankrolls much of football. You may not agree with some of his views expressed in the more informal, pub-vibe podland, but he’s allowed to say them, and discourse is at the heart of being a fan. That said, Carragher certainly shouldn’t be telling Villa fans objecting to his comments to “shut the f**k up” even “in jest”, a strange way of expanding an audience. “My language this week was clumsy & wrong,” Carragher has now posted on X in his apology to Villa, the owners and fans. “I can assure Villa fans it was tongue in cheek but I can understand it’s not come across that way, so apologies. Good luck today UTV!” Whether this is from pure contrition or a reaction to the threat of legal action remains to be seen. Carragher’s view on Emery deserved challenging but by Villa’s fans not by the club, which should have risen above it, and certainly not by lawyers. You don’t need to be a diehard Holte Ender to question why on earth Emery would leave Villa for United. Emery runs the football operations at Villa, organising and inspiring the squad and team, and overseeing the successful recruitment model. United are a managerial churn machine, a dysfunctional family, with tensions between fans and board, and a squad that needs a long-overdue overhaul. Carragher also needed challenging - in a debate, not a court - about his view on a famous club who have contributed so much to the history of the game. Near the players’ entrance is the statue of William McGregor, founder of the Football League. Villa were founder members of the Premier League. Champions of England, champions of Europe, producer of talent like Brian Little, Gabby Agbonlahor, Gary Cahill and Jack Grealish, and a couple more in the pipeline. The Holte End is one of the great stands of football. Villa deserve more respect from Carragher which he now shows belatedly in today’s post. But Carragher’s suggestion that there is a food chain in football is hardly a radical thought. It’s a view, the game is full of them, and if lawyers are scrambled, and views are censored, then the whole game is the poorer.

Jamie Carragher: "I'd like to apologise to Aston Villa, the owners & their fans. My language this week was clumsy & wrong. I can assure Villa fans it was tongue in cheek but I can understand it's not come across that way, so apologies. Good luck today UTV!" #AVFC

BBC statement on #CelebrityTraitors. "Our highest priority is always the safety and welfare of everyone taking part. Players are closely monitored and supported throughout by production which includes a dedicated and experienced welfare team."

Michael Sheen putting all together, dont letting go the whole thing in the library to then watch James A being caught to then confess he is a traitor that was a faithful its indeed CINEMA #CelebrityTraitors