Lucky Stevie

[Craig_H]

Actually, now i've seen the replay really closely, i'm 50/50 on it.

Brown clearly has his head turning backwards towards Gerrard, sees him coming, and raises his arm. Gerrard looks as though his focus is on getting into the box. Then when he sees what Brown's doing, he seems like he just wants to get him out of the way so his run isnt being impeded. Having said that, the force and 'swing' that Gerrard uses, is excessive IMO.

Not sure what to make of it, other than if it was a manc, i'd definitely be leaning towards the 'swing' aspect of it, but as it's SG, i'm more on the side of the 'Brown premeditated it and knew what he was doing' argument.

[Chrono]

As I said, think Gerrard, going full pelt, was planning on goung round the back of Brown, but Brown slowed righ down a veered towards Gerrard, hence the collision. Or possibly one of Gerrard's better disguised acts of violence.

I think it's the latter but I get where you are coming from.

[Craig_H]

As I said, think Gerrard, going full pelt, was planning on goung round the back of Brown, but Brown slowed righ down a veered towards Gerrard, hence the collision. Or possibly one of Gerrard's better disguised acts of violence.

I agree with this. Brown was seeking to block SG and his intentions were as malicious as that - he wasnt even facing the way he was running.

Gerrard wasnt looking for a collision but as soon as he clocked what Brown was upto, he decided to take his own action. He did it a little too 'aggressively' though and it wasnt brilliantly disguised, although apparently enough to escape punishment. And he clocked a dirty little ****wit in the process.

Every cloud

[squaddie]

I agree with this, apart from the elbow bit, i thought it was more of a forearm smash, but that's semantics. I think he's got lucky with this, as have we, but being as hypocritical as 99.9% of football fans, i wont complain.

[5europeancups]

YouTube- Steven Gerrard elbows Michael Brown

He looked sheepish as hell on the bench too as he knew what he had done.

that was no accidental coming together. He clouted him one.

[dom9]

I thought it was pretty blatant last night. My only regret was that the elbow wasn't to the front of Brown's head.

[saj]

Everytime I see it, it cracks me up. Gerrard just went wallop.

Brown is a cunt - he got away with headbutting and busting Alonso's nose when he played for Fulham a few years ago

[Paul12]

The facts are:
1 Brown deliberately changed direction to block Gerrard.
2 Gerrard had no realistic possibility of avoiding some sort of coming together because of Brown's change of direction.
3 Gerrard raised his arm/elbow and moved it sharply towards Brown before he ran into him.
4 Some sort of arm movement from Gerrard would have been almost instinct, and some form of arm movement from Gerrard greater than instinctive would have been necessary to prevent Brown from blocking Gerrard's run. The question the referee had to decide was whether Gerrard went beyond that. I think the referee decided Gerrard did go beyond that (hence the decision to give a foul).
5 Brown falls into that category of players that other players are allowed to assault without punishment because they are so 'rugged' themselves.

[Angryred]

Speed & Precision of a professional boxer, eh...Brownie?

[Chazza]

Browns having a good look and waves his arm out 1st

http://i42.tinypic.com/2r20kch.gif

[Chazza]

And the bitterness begins! The Mancs are fuuuuuuming!! They're deluded into thinking WE benefit from favourable decisions both from referees and the authorities. Are they for ****ing real or what?

Yep all my manc mates chirping up about how Ferdinand got done and Gerrard hasn't.

Also forgetting how they were fortunate to still have 11 men in the cup final when Vidic should have been sent off

Cunts!

[Shaggy]

Boo hoooo


Manchester United angry as Liverpool's Steven Gerrard escapes FA probe

• Liverpool captain appeared to elbow Portsmouth's Brown
• United express anger in private after Ferdinand ban

Liverpool's Steven Gerrard, left, vies for the ball with Portsmouth's Michael Brown. Photograph: Tim Hales/AP

Steven Gerrard has escaped disciplinary action over what appeared to be the use of his forearm against Portsmouth's Michael Brown in Liverpool's 4-1 win yesterday. The decision has incensed Manchester United and led to allegations that the Football Association has employed double standards. Had he been found guilty of violent conduct, Gerrard would have been banned from Liverpool's trip to Old Trafford on Sunday. The collision with Gerrard knocked Brown to the floor.

United's anger stems mostly from the fact that the defender Rio Ferdinand was banned for three games for swinging an arm into the face of Craig Fagan during a 4-0 win against Hull in January. That punishment was increased by one match after Ferdinand appealed. The champions will not make official comment on Gerrard's case but privately they have admitted to being surprised by the verdict and to not understanding why the Liverpool captain has been let off. The ruling is also likely to go down badly among Liverpool's rivals for the fourth Champions League place.

The FA says it cannot act because the referee concerned, Stuart Attwell, has maintained that Gerrard's offence did not merit a booking or a red card.

In Ferdinand's case, the incident was missed by the referee, Steve Bennett, who said that he would have shown a red card had he seen it. Attwell has told the FA that he was satisfied with how he dealt with the incident, by awarding Portsmouth a free-kick and speaking to Gerrard.

The United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, feels that his team are punished more severely than other clubs. At Ferdinand's hearing United's legal team cited the FA's failure to charge Liverpool's Javier Mascherano over a similar incident involving the Leeds striker Jermaine Beckford at Elland Road in September.

Attwell's view that he was in control of the incident is unlikely to improve his reputation. The youngest Premier League referee by some distance, at 27, he has become known for mistakes, most notoriously the award of a "ghost goal" in a match between Watford and Reading in September 2008.

Gerrard escaped punishment from the FA last week after making a two-fingered gesture towards the referee Andre Marriner in a 1-0 defeat at Wigan. Rafael Benítez, the Liverpool manager, responded to Monday's incident by substituting his captain.

[dom9]

Boo hoooo


Manchester United angry as Liverpool's Steven Gerrard escapes FA probe

• Liverpool captain appeared to elbow Portsmouth's Brown
• United express anger in private after Ferdinand ban

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/...n-Gerr-001.jpg Liverpool's Steven Gerrard, left, vies for the ball with Portsmouth's Michael Brown. Photograph: Tim Hales/AP

Steven Gerrard has escaped disciplinary action over what appeared to be the use of his forearm against Portsmouth's Michael Brown in Liverpool's 4-1 win yesterday. The decision has incensed Manchester United and led to allegations that the Football Association has employed double standards. Had he been found guilty of violent conduct, Gerrard would have been banned from Liverpool's trip to Old Trafford on Sunday. The collision with Gerrard knocked Brown to the floor.

United's anger stems mostly from the fact that the defender Rio Ferdinand was banned for three games for swinging an arm into the face of Craig Fagan during a 4-0 win against Hull in January. That punishment was increased by one match after Ferdinand appealed. The champions will not make official comment on Gerrard's case but privately they have admitted to being surprised by the verdict and to not understanding why the Liverpool captain has been let off. The ruling is also likely to go down badly among Liverpool's rivals for the fourth Champions League place.

The FA says it cannot act because the referee concerned, Stuart Attwell, has maintained that Gerrard's offence did not merit a booking or a red card.

In Ferdinand's case, the incident was missed by the referee, Steve Bennett, who said that he would have shown a red card had he seen it. Attwell has told the FA that he was satisfied with how he dealt with the incident, by awarding Portsmouth a free-kick and speaking to Gerrard.

The United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, feels that his team are punished more severely than other clubs. At Ferdinand's hearing United's legal team cited the FA's failure to charge Liverpool's Javier Mascherano over a similar incident involving the Leeds striker Jermaine Beckford at Elland Road in September.

Attwell's view that he was in control of the incident is unlikely to improve his reputation. The youngest Premier League referee by some distance, at 27, he has become known for mistakes, most notoriously the award of a "ghost goal" in a match between Watford and Reading in September 2008.

Gerrard escaped punishment from the FA last week after making a two-fingered gesture towards the referee Andre Marriner in a 1-0 defeat at Wigan. Rafael Benítez, the Liverpool manager, responded to Monday's incident by substituting his captain.

That's just media ****-stirring.

[Craig_H]

It's an utterly stupid rule though.

Someone could literally stamp on someone's face and hurt him badly, but would get away with it because the ref might, in the heat of the moment, have seen it and thought it was an honest mistake.

[Shanks]

Very lucky.

It looks as if Brown brings his arm up to fend off Gerrard and he doesn't take to kindly to it.

Ah well...