Jamie Carragher has failed to understand the depth of feeling at Villa amid Unai Emery speculation

It’s a sensitive subject at Villa Park for obvious reasons. Following a summer in which the club lost many of their leading lights, the thought of Emery, the architect of Villa’s renaissance, leaving would be a crushing blow.

And so Villa fans have reacted spikily to Carragher’s remarks, flooding his inbox with disgruntled messages.

That prompted a strong riposte from the ex-Liverpool defender. “Shut the f*** up Aston Villa fans,” he said on the latest episode of the Stick to Football podcast.

In isolation, those quotes don’t sit well. Many, myself included, read them before seeing the clip, which does Carragher no favours. In his defence, it was very much a tongue-in-cheek comment, intended as a joke.

One suspects the messages received in recent days have been even more foul-mouthed, and perhaps touched a nerve. After all, Carragher has been a huge advocate for Villa and has repeatedly expressed his delight at the club’s return to European glory last season, while he has extolled Villa Park on numerous occasions, naming it among his favourite grounds.

And yet, this week he has forcibly driven home the view that Villa, as a club, should learn to toe the line.

“He [Emery] wants to win the Champions League. He’s not going to do that at Aston Villa,” claimed the 48-year-old last week. Villa fans would not disagree.

“And I just think, surely, he would want that opportunity to prove himself at an absolute giant of a football club. Sorry, Villa fans.”

The apology did little to rectify the situation. Nor did the follow-up stance on this week’s podcast.

“I think Unai Emery is unbelievable with what he does year after year,” Carragher said. “That amount of change, players needing time to settle, and he does it year after year.

“Aston Villa will never be Manchester United,” he added, explaining why, in his view, Emery may look to move on. “I just think he didn't do well at PSG or Arsenal, and maybe that's because of egos in the dressing room and that sort of thing. But surely he would want that opportunity to manage a giant again? There is a chain in football, whether you like it or not.

“So Real Madrid will take Manchester United's best player: they did it with [Cristiano] Ronaldo. And there will be teams below Aston Villa, and they'll take their players or manager. So shut the f*** up Aston Villa fans. Aston Villa will never be Manchester United.”

Carragher is a balanced pundit. His insights are astute, and the level of tactical detail he provides is unmatched by any ex-player on the media circuit. And - Villa fans may not want to read this bit - in certain areas, he delivers some uncomfortable truths.

But his argument is simplistic. He has failed to understand several nuances around Emery’s relationship with Villa, and why this continued speculation strikes such a chord with the club’s supporter base.

Fanciful as it may seem to fans of other teams, but there are many Holte End regulars who believe Villa should be seen in the same bracket as United, Arsenal and Liverpool - three clubs who all lost on their travels to B6 last season, by the way.

They, along with Manchester City, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur have formed the fabled ‘big six’ in recent years. Yet, few of a claret-and-blue persuasion would entertain the thought that Spurs are a bigger club. As for City and Chelsea, financial injections have facilitated their accelerated growth in the 21st century - that’s before assessing the morals and legitimacy of those mechanics.

Villa feel like they’ve been boxed in, that the establishment are trying to bully the club into submission in order to preserve the status quo.

Last summer’s transfer window hasn’t helped, nor the club’s inability to spend similarly in the market. The Super League, which could have left Villa in a perilous position, amplified that sense of injustice, while last week’s reaction to City was telling.

Given how many financial hoops Villa have been forced to jump through in recent times, welcoming a side found guilty of large-scale cheating (pending appeal, of course) was always going to elicit a vehement response.

Ironically, City were among the sides to clamber over Villa and force their way into the Premier League upper echelons. Under Martin O’Neill, Villa finished sixth in three consecutive seasons, but failed to breach the top four.

Spurs and City did and have since earned a seat at the top table. Ultimately, Villa’s story ended in relegation.

A recurring theme when chatting to supporters at the Witton Arms pub recently was a frustration that Villa are often overlooked by traditional media outlets. As one pointed out, the day after a record-breaking 6-0 Champions League victory over Fenerbahce, numerous outlets paid the event lip service. Instead, they began dedicating air time and columns to Emery’s suitability for the United job.

Routinely, it feels like Villa, a former European champion and reigning Europa League holders, have greater media attention dedicated to speculation on their manager’s future than the team’s remarkable on-field transformation.

This depth of feeling has gone under-appreciated by Carragher and several of his punditry peers.

At times, Villa have been depicted as a feeder team. Carragher implied the club should simply accept their position, continue punching downwards and understand they won’t be able to challenge United et al. That simply won’t wash.

Villa feel ready for a sustained battle with the elite, and while it would be bordering on delusional to consider the club in the same category as England’s biggest clubs (no matter some views shared from the stands on matchday), a side’s position should never remain fixed in the pyramid.

As the recent Villa Park tifo said: “We’ve conquered before. We’re ready for more.”

The club are upwardly mobile, with a young squad assembled over the summer that is brimming with talent and potential. There should be no ceiling on Villa’s aspirations.

With the uncertainty surrounding City, Liverpool in transition and United, Chelsea and Spurs perpetually underperforming, could Villa not capitalise on that state of flux? A Premier League title tilt in the coming years feels attainable - and once you’re among the top dogs in England, a Champions League triumph cannot be ruled out.

Sorry, Jamie, this is where you’ve got this bit wrong.

And yet, his opinion highlights Villa’s biggest fear. Without Emery, can any of these ambitions be achieved?

The Villans have one of Europe’s elite coaches, and the best in the Premier League. His continued employment is key to everything. So when he’s noncelethally recommended for ‘bigger’ roles, it both infuriates and terrifies supporters.

It also feels intentionally fabricated. Emery has given no indication he would be willing to leave. In fact, two weeks ago the Basque pulsed with enthusiasm as he discussed how Villa’s new-look squad has reinvigorated him. He rebuilt this team, why would he look to immediately jump ship?

Especially to the continual basket case that is United, where he would wield far less authority than he currently holds at Villa. That’s not to overlook how intertwined Emery and the club's hierarchy have become. Villa’s owners even bought a stake in Real Union, the head coach’s family club, whom he has majority ownership of.

Trading all that for upheaval of United would be reckless beyond belief, even if they currently sit above Villa in the ‘chain’.

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