Nearly as funny as Michael ballack chasing the referee down the field in last years Champions league semi final

Somebody needs to get busy with their photoshop

That would have been a very different Match Of The Day yesterday wouldn't it!

I'm a City fan. When I looked at the league table this morning my natural instinct was to first check how far we are from the relegation zone

I'd pull RVP up aswell for saying that he stamped on his face when he clearly didn't and only made contact with his fingers.

Van Persie must have been carrying a blood capsule then, either that or his face miraculously got cut open on the turf.

I was gonna say that gash looked real
Must of been training with Harlequins RU during the week

In that case, I stand corrected.

I agree thats how it looks on the slow motion replay. He appears to ride the tackle and then deliberately adjusts his body position so that he can, almost casually, stamp on RVP.

Watch it at actual speed and the entire incident is over in a flash. If it was deliberate then he has superhuman reactions. His body movement, when seen at normal speed, appears entirely natural.

Clearly he has a case to answer, but he should be judged on the incident as shown at normal speed, rather than the slow motion which I think distorts rather than clarifies what happened.

It's amusing to see city slowly morphing into MUFC in terms of defending the indefensible.

Its not a case of excusing the challenge, just arguing that it should be judged in a proper context ie when seen at normal speed.

I see Graham Poll has joined in the call for a lengthy ban. However he also believes that Mark Clattenberg should not be criticised for missing it as "At full speed, nobody could be expected to see the challenge".

Apparently Adebayor is capable of riding a challenge that he didnt see coming before then adjusting his body position before deliberately stamping RVP, all at a speed which cannot be detected by the human eye?

If the supposedly intentional stamp happened too fast to be seen by the human eye, didnt it also happen too fast for Adebayor to have consciously decided to stamp on RVP and then make the necessary physical adjustments to carry out that plan?

I'm not saying that the challenged shouldnt be looked at, just that the slow motion replay gives the impression of a degree of premeditation that isnt possible when seen at full speed.

A (blue) friend of mine made the same point last night!

Watch the footage at any speed and you see Adebayor re-directs his foot towards Van Persie, whether he wanted to get his face only he knows, but it's clear he reacted to the challenge and wanted to get some part of him.

I don't really buy into the thought that he was looking to do something like that through the game, I do think he was very pumped up for the game and so reacted like he did to the challenge, it doesn't excuse it.

I think Adebayor should receive a similar punishment to Neville for his punishment. There have been reports that a steward was taken to hospital as a result of the supporters reaction.

For the "stamp", a warning letter.

I fear that in these lynch mob times though he's going to get screwed for both incidents. He's already an unpopular player so I'd be worried if I was him.

Adebayor,
Adebayor,
He can do the 100m,
In 9.




Ian Whatmore, is the head honcho at the FA, and David Gill is the representative of the clubs on the FA board. I would think Adebayor can expect a lengthy ban for the stamp. There is even talk of Adebayor's case being heard before teh Derby. How convenient.

On Sportsweek on Sunday, Ian Whatmore commented on the Adebayor case. Apparently, a journalist at the Independent reported that Whatmore was at the game, in attendance to follow his boyhood team, Arsenal. Apparently, Whatmore was angered by Adebayor throughout the game. Though why he felt the need to tell everyone on national radio that he was 'very unimpressed by Adebayor, I do not know. Why did he not send Adrian Bevington to do the interview? It appears that Whatmore lacks the ability to remain partial, and surely calls into question his ability to lead the FA.

I won't defend the stamp. I think it was intentional. It was intentional to the extent that Adebayor tried to get a piece of Robin "no means no" Van Persie. As Cibman stated, it all happened so quick. I therefore doubt that he was aiming for the head, just simply a piece of Van Persie.

I wonder if the FA will take action against Van Persie for him running towards the City fans, and away from the Arsenal supporters, telling them to "£$%^ off" three times and leaving the field of play. This was clearly shown on the live feed. However, MOTD and news programmes didn't show this. City fans didn't react by throwing items on to the pitch or trying to storm on to the field of play. If we did, then would the lead to Van Perie being charged?

If Adebayor deliberately stamped on Van Persie, then he does deserve the ban he is undoubtedly going to get. It certainly looks as if he changes his foot to go for him but, as Cibaman says, the slow motion looks damning whereas the footage shown at true speed shows that he would have had to have super-human reactions to have done that on purpose.

One thing is for sure, the national witch hunt will guarantee a ban whether they can prove his guilt or not.

What gets me though is the press excusing the deplorable behaviour of the Arsenal fans as if they were somehow forced into it. If merely celebrating a goal in front of a set of fans who had been chanting foul mouthed abusives at him all game is enough to set off a mini-riot then it's a bit of a poor show.

Are we going to see the book thrown at them too for the amount of missiles thrown on to the pitch, the racial abuse and banana throwing (bizarre from a team with the biggest black support in the country), the cut throat gestures, the attacking of stewards, the attempting to storm the pitch and the attacks on City fans in the streets resulting in one being hospitalised with serious head injuries?

Will the same book be thrown at RVP too for his serious allegations on the official website that cannot, at this stage, be proven?