Steve Bennett - t***

[Janet Street-Porter]

So Ashley Cole almost decapitating Alan Hutton on Wednesday means that Javier Mascherano gets sent off for looking the wrong way at somebody on Sunday. F*cking disgrace.

(looking forward to seeing the whole Chelsea team sent off for dissent later on though )

[Undertaker]

Poor decision. It seemed like he just enquired. It wasn't aggressive and he never swore. A proper refferee would have warned him. However, it was still brainless to approach him. Those players should know which refs are approachable and which aren't. Both Alonso and Benitez could see what was brewing.

Keith Hackett has obviously told the refs to clamp down immidiatly. This sort of thing will happen again over the next month or so, then it will die down and we will get back to Fat Frank throwing tantrums and slavering at a ref, only to get away with it.

It's simple really. ANY player who approaches an official in an aggressive manner should be dismissed immidialty. Stopping players enquiring is simply ridiculous.

[JSDOUVRES]

Sorry Undertaker but you say he just enquired? Not aggressive? How do you know he never swore? We must have seen a different situation because the one I saw was a player moving 20 metres plus towards the ref to have a right go, and in an aggressive manner! Just look at his facial expressions at the time! Plus he had already been booked and warned but chose to carry on.
Well done ref and more of this needs to come until the players learn to control themselves. I heard that during the community shield they are going to try the rugby approach, ie only the captain can speak to the ref. Could be an interesting one but I bet it won't work. Players need to take a bit of responsibility for themselves and stop this crap.

[Your Funny Uncle]

It's all about consistancy, though, isn't it? I presonally would agree that players shouldn't be able to talk back to the ref, and the rugby approach sounds like a good idea, but it would have to be enforced across the board.

I think Mascherano deserved a second yellow, but I've seen Van Der Saar run about 40 yards out of his area to mouth off at the ref this season, and suffer no punishment. The players need to know what will happen if they shout at the ref, and then the'll have no one to blame but themselves. If the authories can enforce the silly rule about not taking your shirt off (see Drogba, today) then surely they can enforce a consistant no talking back policy too.

[Undertaker]

Sorry but football isn't Rugby, thank god. Rugby is a very aggressive game anyway, so if a player is wound up, he can take it out on an opponent in a tackle because thats the nature of the game.

Like i said, Mascherano gave Bennet the opportunity he was looking for but in no way was his enquiry aggressive from what i could see. If he had sprinted towards him, wagging his finger and shouting, then send him off but it appears all he asked was what was going on. Why were Liverpool players being booked and United players getting away with tackles? (Ferdinand on Torres) Infact, Torres was being whacked all over the park. Where was he's protection? When he asked, he got carded.

Also, didn't Wayne Rooney give the ref a verbal volley? He never got booked. Steve Bennet was out to send a player off. He was looking for someone to make an example of to point out to any player that the F.A will no longer tolerate abuse and/or disrespect. Thats fair enough but to send a player off in a huge game and a highly charged atmosphere on the basis of what Mascherano did was ludicrous.

Finally, when he dished out the red card, i saw at least 4 Liverpool players surround the referee at the time of the incident, at half time and at full time. Where were the yellow cards?

[JSDOUVRES]

He had been warned and was booked a second time for dissent. Simple. He had no right to approach the ref the way he did and deserved the card.
I agree that Ferdinand should have been booked and possibly Rooney.
Let's not forget that swearing is not an automatic booking anymore, only when used in an aggresive manner which is possibly why he got a red card.
Anyway, looks like a good finish to the season now and come on England on wednesday, I'll be there at the Stade de France and with Benzema out looks like England have a chance!

[Janet Street-Porter]

Mascherano was just a scapegoat for Cashley and Co. and it's funny how it wasn't one of the three sides still in title contention who was made an example of. Like Undertaker says, it's all very well comparing football with rugby but in football, you tend to get sent off if you whack somebody or tread on their head; in rugby that's just a way of introducing yourself.

[Niall]

What rubbish. Mascherano was given a second yellow for dissent and being a tit. He was mouthing off at every opportunity after his first yellow and had no right to question Torre's yellow card. He has no defence.

[skyhigh]

Worst tackle i saw, was Hutton on Garry Hay of Kilmarnock, Hutton lunged, smacked Hay, got booked and ended up with a broken leg, no more than he deserved at the time for a nasty challenge.

Steve Bennett is a class A pillock, though mascherano was being a mouthy t*** all game. Seemed a shame to reduce the game to 10 v 11. Maybe the example has now been set though that dissent will not be tolerated.

[Undertaker]

So the guys on here that have defended Bennett for sending somone off for merely enquiring, have still failed to give a reason not to book Alonso, Carragher, Aurellio and abouth another 4 Liverpool players and staff who did exactly the same thing as Mascherano. They surrounded him during the game, at half time and at full time. So basically, all 6 or 7 players should have been booked twice and dismissed, causing the game to be abandoned, due to Liverpool having less than 8 players on the pitch.

If you are sending someone off for enquiring, you are digging one massive hole because you have to send everyone off. Pound for a penny that Mascherano would not have been sent off at Anfield.

[CBA]

So the guys on here that have defended Bennett for sending somone off for merely enquiring, have still failed to give a reason not to book Alonso, Carragher, Aurellio and abouth another 4 Liverpool players and staff who did exactly the same thing as Mascherano. They surrounded him during the game, at half time and at full time. So basically, all 6 or 7 players should have been booked twice and dismissed, causing the game to be abandoned, due to Liverpool having less than 8 players on the pitch.

If you are sending someone off for enquiring, you are digging one massive hole because you have to send everyone off. Pound for a penny that Mascherano would not have been sent off at Anfield.

Just before he was sent off, Mascherano was heading toward Steve Bennett and Alonso tried to hold him back. Mascherano swung him arms to free himself of Alonso then proceeded have an argument/discussion with the ref. The referee had absolutely no alternative but to give him a second yellow at this point.

[Undertaker]

Yeah but if thats the case, he should have booked another half a dozen players surely.

He booked Torres for moaning. Why not all the players that surrounded him? They were doing exactly the same thing as Mascherano and Torres. The ref was on a power trip. If he is booking Mascherano and torres for 'dissent' he has to book the other players.

[Danny C]

Alex Ferguson's mind-games this week played a big part. Bennett was the 4th official when Cashley nearly amputated Hutton's leg at the knee this week, and so he copped some of the flak there. It will have been playing on his mind, and he'll have wanted to make an example of someone - and let's be honest, he isn't going to send off a Scum player in front of 70,000 troglodytic inbreds, is he?

Torres was booked for pointing out to the ref that he had been hacked down three times already. Mascherano was booked first for a nothing tackle, and secondly for asking the ref "what's going on?" Bennett just wasn't big enough for this game, as even Andy Gray was quick to point out. Mascherano was arguably stupid for trying to speak to a referee who was clearly a t***, but that doesn't excuse the fact that Steve Bennett is a t***.

Ultimately, the situation is that refs are shit-scared of Slur Exlax, and will do anything to placate him. Remember that game when they were 1-0 down and got about 11 minutes of injury time? Funnily enough, they won 2-1. They get the big decisions all the time. And if Ginsoak complains about a ref, chances are he won't referee at Old Toilet again, and may even be dropped from the referee's list. Refs are in awe of him, because the FA are too scared to do anything about his bullying.

[Your Funny Uncle]

Surely all the disagreement in this thread shows that a simple rule is the only answer. Talk back to the ref and get a yellow card. The end. No room for ambiguity.

[Danny C]

Well, that would certainly remove any doubt, although I think it'll be a sad thing if players are unable to ask a ref to clarify his actions without being cautioned.

To be honest, I'd just settle for consistency. I don't see why Mascherano was booked for his tackle when Scholes and Jar Jar Binks got away scott-free with similar tackles, or why Torres is booked for pointing out to the ref that he's being kicked off the park while the defenders doing the kicking are unpunished, or why Mascherano is booked for asking the ref "What is going on?". I don't think this is the first time that Man U have got preferential treatment from refs, and I don't think it'll be the last either.

And for what it's worth, this isn't some bitter Evertonianesque blaming of the referee for our defeat. I think we would have lost otherwise; our defence went AWOL, our up-til-now flawless keeper lost the plot and our attack was conspicuous by its absence. I'm just irritated that we didn't get the same treatment as our opponents did.