Jim D

Looks like we may appeal due to inconsistency and rightly so, the FA seem to make up the rules as they go along. Responding to the announcement from the FA, a Liverpool spokesman said: "Although we received a fair hearing we must now decide whether to appeal on the basis of inconsistency of sentencing for Javier based on past precedents."

Just proves that footballers get paid too much money..........

Nah, what they would have done was maybe only showed two replays of the incident, Gray would have kept quiet and begrudgingly, in a low and disappointed tone accepted it MIGHT have been a penalty. Then for the rest of the match it would have been brushed under the carpet and treated like it never happened.

Indeed and the numerous incidents in the past of players refusing to leave the pitch but only getting a 1 match ban. Vieria etc

LOL this thread brings back memories of the 1989 FA Cup Final. Last minute, Everton put the ball into our box, after a scramble Stuart McCall pokes it in. However when he put the ball in, the ball goes underneath Tony Cottee's legs, Cottee jumped over the ball and the goal line to avoid being offside. In that instance Cottee left the field of play on purpose so he couldn't be flagged offside when the ball went in. So what is the rule?

I'd expect to see Strachan banished from the Sky Sports studio.

So in effect it has now only come out as a one match ban, he'll miss Blackburn at home.

FA have given him an extended two match ban for his improper conduct Funny that I only saw a player last week who got an extra one man ban for refusing to leave the pitch after being sent off. Mods merge this thread with the other, ta.

We've even had Bob Wilson saying that Liverpool would have preferred a 0-0 draw than a 1-1 draw.

Keys was onto something you know.........

Could well be or it could just be that Ferguson gets a lot more respect from the media (Sky) because of the success he has had in the English game. He has won Sky's competition numerous times so they will hold Ferguson in higher regard than Rafa. Really though the level of respect should be the same regardless of the manager, Rafa's achievements in the Champions League get belittled and it seems his success with Valencia doesn't even register on Sky's radar. So they just throw the lucky tag, which is very disrespectful to a manager who is one of the best in today's game.

Fergie is a wily old fox, who has been in the English game a very long time. He knows how he can play to the media, turning a seemingly negative situation into a positive one. He has banned the BBC from interviewing him, which kind of gives him one over on one of the media outlets. Sky certainly don't want to be put in the same position, so will stick to the tune that Fergie plays as much as possible. Rafa however is greatly disadvantaged, the English media as we know is a different animal, they'll jump on anything you say slightly out of context and use it to twist it to suit their needs/agenda for the sake of being controversial. The language barrier in itself doesn't help Rafa because his use of English as of yet is not 100% but its better than Carragher's.

He won't sell him, Rafa sees him as an player who will work his a*** off for the team's cause. Crouch and Voronin will definitely be gone in the summer which leaves us with only Torres and Kuyt upfront. I'd expect us to sign another forward.

Spot on, then those lies get regurgitated around the media and is then passed on by Gray and company over at Sky. Dishing out the same old nonsense till it becomes fact, problem is Sky don't like sticking to the truth because it doesn't suit their agenda, they have got to be controversial, it is their job don't you know? They won't do any research in it for themselves and see those very points as an opportunity to use as a stick to beat Liverpool and Rafa Benitez with. Problem then is when Rafa proves them wrong (Champions League progress) they then make accusations of Liverpool or Rafa being "lucky". I think a previous poster made a good point, I don't think Liverpool or Rafa will be rid of all of this stigma unless he wins the Premier League because it is Sky's competition. It is very sad and wrong that it goes that far and to that level from a broadcaster who are suppose to be impartial in their view regardless.

That is probably a better way of putting it, but its a shame we now have people in the footballing media who chat s**t and spread lies and keep doing it until it becomes a truth. Zonal marking, Gerrard in the middle, Rafa a lucky manager etc etc

Bring in the fringe players, Pennant, Lucas, Benayoun, Voronin, Crouch.

Absolute nonsense, I've watched and listened to other games in the Premier League and Champions League which did not involve Liverpool in any way. Even then the level of punditry and commentary was low. Its been on the slide for a good while, Gray and Keys are just adding to it in their own "major" way. If there is one person in the footballing media which personifies how low its got, look no further than John Motson. Years ago Motty was a fantastic commentator, was fair, knowledgeable about the game, did his homework religiously on the two teams, never hardly put a foot wrong, stuck to the facts and gave a balanced view to the game he saw in front of his eyes. Today however he is just like the rest of them, saying nonsensical comments, trotting out the same old clichés, trying to be controversial and screeching incessantly Rooney's name every time he is on the ball, it is so sad to see what he has become. It is going to get to the point in the footballing media, where any commentator or pundit can openly attack an individual on a personal level and won't be brought to account for it because "he has to be controversial, that is his job". Keys did that tonight, it was a terrible statement to make.

Well if that is his job then we are certainly plunging down towards the gutter when it comes to football punditry. Standards are dropping all time, journalists with their pointless questions, commentators who have nothing better to say than the game itself and now presenters who will say anything controversial to provoke a response. Has it gone so deep now that all they are trying to do is appeal to the lowest common denominator in society?

To be honest Ant, I've not been one to really believe there is anything to this whole anti-liverpool agenda by Sky. However the more I watch Liverpool's games on Sky in the Premier League and Champions League, I'm starting to see there actually might be some substance to this. How can any commentary team (Gray, Keys) in any form of punditry constantly have a pop and snide digs at one football club consistently? We've seen it recently, away to Inter Milan, at home to Everton and now here tonight against Arsenal. I've never heard Andy Gray so gutted about those results and Keys who we know has limited knowledge of the game comes out with such a s***house comment like that by implying or questioning the integrity of the referee and Dirk Kuyt himself.

Don't be paranoid now, Sky don't have an anti-liverpool agenda! What a ridiculous and bizarre comment to make. Gray first and now Keys is getting in on the act!

We almost did and it could have been much worse. I'm just very disappointed with our approach to the game this evening, we gave Arsenal FAR too much respect. If Arsenal won the game, we wouldn't have complained, that is how bad we were. You cannot concede possession and territory to this Arsenal team so cheaply, they will run you into the ground. Concerned now about the fitness of the players, they did nothing but chase and chase, I'm now expecting Rafa to be making a lot of changes at the weekend and we'll see our points gap to Everton drop back to two points. The subs were baffling and once again Crouch cannot get on the pitch, Voronin now appears to be above him in the pecking order and he has been out for 10 weeks! Strange sub, at least Crouch would have held the ball up and given us an outlet.

Full Time, Good result but what a terrible performance! Everyone worked their socks off but we showed little quality. Got out of jail tonight big time and if Rafa thinks we will beat Arsenal by playing this way over the next two games its not going to work. They'll just tire us out and pass us to death. Kuyt Man of the Match.

3 mins added time, Voronin is slow as anything! WHAT IS HE DOING ON THE PITCH??!!

SOMEONE GET A HOLD OF THE BALL! Rafa is asking for trouble, Voronin on for Torres. Each of his changes is just inviting more pressure from Arsenal. Lucas, Voronin and Benayoun on the same pitch in a Champions League Quarter Final.