“When you look at some of the bad tackles that have been punished far less it’s completely ludicrous. This is a professional game and we need professional people making professional decisions not these silly little men.”
— Middlesbrough chairman Steve Gibson on the English FA’s regulatory commission after it reacted to the club’s appeal to reduce Jeremie Aliadiere‘s three-game ban by adding another game because the appeal was “frivolous.” The four-game ban for what has been called a minor altercation with Liverpool’s Javier Mascherano means Aliadiere’s ban is one game more than what Birmingham’s Martin Taylor received for shattering the leg of Arsenal striker Eduardo. (PA)