No ban for Adebayor

Well, not as such anyway as he was handed a two game suspended ban, in addition to a £25,000 fine, with the FA saying:

“In reaching its decision, the Commission took into account his (Adebayor’s) admission of the charge, public apology and the extremely provocative nature of the abuse he received.

“However, the Commission also stated that players have a responsibility to conduct themselves in a proper manner and that such celebrations are unacceptable and have the potential to cause a serious public order incident.”

Following the incident, my view was that he should receive a one-game ban for his celebration following the goal and as I wrote yesterday, expected that to be the punishment handed down. On reflection though, perhaps a suspended ban is the right punishment given his apology and no prior transgressions.

This is not to necessarily applaud the FA's decision though. In many ways, this is classic FA - seen to be handing out a punishment and appearing tough, but actually doing very little in reality. What also helped Adebayor of course, was that once the furore and attention on him dimmed a little, the actions of Robin van Persie in the same game, and then both Craig Bellamy and Gary Neville in the derby which illicited no punishment left the FA with little option but to not hand out a punishment that saw Adebayor miss any further playing time on top of the three games he already served.

There was no comment from Adebayor himself following the hearing - which perhaps does nothing to dispel the feeling that FA disciplinary committees function mainly with the assistance of a blindfold, pin and piece of paper - but Mark Hughes echoed most fans thoughts:

"There has been a lot said and written about Emmanuel's goal celebration. We are just glad to put it all behind us now," Mark Hughes, the City manager, said. "Manu was in great form before his suspension and having him available again is a huge boost to us."

We should now see Adebayor return to the side for the game at Aston Villa on Monday night, and the focus I'm sure will be well and truly focused on him should he find the net.