The aftermath of Sunday’s Carling Cup Final seems to be half a dozen “baffled” players and managers. Toure, Mikel and Adebayor have all spoken today at their bewilderment at being dismissed during the Cardiff fracas. The rest of us meanwhile, remain baffled as to how other players got away with tainting a decent Cup Final in front of millions of viewers, given the almost random card dealing by referee, Howard Webb.

This morning, Toure seems to be under the impression that Arsenal will make a successful appeal [source].

“I do not think so [will get banned]. When they look at the tape, they will see I have done nothing wrong,” said Toure.

Mmm..not so sure about that Mr Toure. Particularly when you consider Mikel’s rather confused account of things…

Describing his clash with Toure, Mikel is quoted over at Sky Sports as saying…

“I didn’t touch him, I kept my hands down. But he didn’t punch me. All I knew was that he attacked me. We didn’t fight – it wasn’t a serious fight but I had to defend myself.”

Right. So he didn’t punch you but attacked you. You didn’t fight but it wasn’t a serious fight? That’s clear then. You may stand down Mr Mikel.

Meanwhile Adebayor is “baffled” too. He’s quoted as saying:

“If you see one Chelsea player behind you, you think he is going to maybe hit you.”.

Carvalho does mark tightly but that’s a bit harsh.

“The referee said I hit somebody, but I cannot remember that.” He adds.

In fact, rumour has it that Eboue was the guilty party behind any blow thrown and, if video evidence is called upon, it could be Eboue in hot water. Such was the almost random nature of the dismissals, there’s a good deal of confusion as to how others got away with their part in the brawl. There’s a discussion over at Caught Offsie as to why Fabregas and Lampard weren’t given their marching orders and, when you see the incident for the 26th time on GMTV, you’ve got to wonder how Howard Webb came to his decision.

Both the “brawl” itself and the aftermath are a bit of mess to be honest, and pretty shameful for football as a whole. Appeals have to be in by the end of the day and with these kind of statements circulating, it’s going to need Stan Collymore on the FA “jury” to arrive at Toure’s expected outcome. It’s surely going 3+ match bans all round and maybe further repercussions for Eboue and possibly Lampard and Fabregas. There is sure to be a few Fantasy Mangers keeping tabs on developments in the next 24 hours or so.