Force fields and fantasy...

THE WORLD’S tiniest violin was heard performing a particularly sad tune at Bristol City this weekend, as Crystal Palace had what seemed a perfectly good goal ruled out by referee Rob Shoebridge.

Palace striker Freddie Sears had smacked the ball against the stanchion inside the goal and it popped back out, convincing every official on duty at Ashton Gate for the Coca-Cola Championship fixture that it had either struck a post, or some sort of invisible protective force field City had constructed using alien technology.

What goes through the mind of referees at moments like these? “What shall I have for tea” maybe, or who their favourite member of Girls Aloud is.

Anyway, it brought to mind some amazing footage from 1993, now available on YouTube.

A Dundee United player had smacked the ball, point-blank, against the stanchion inside the goal from a corner and a demoralised Partick Thistle player duly picked it up and presented it to his goalkeeper.

United celebrations ensued as the players assembled for the restart — only for referee Les Mottram to infamously, amid scenes of absolute bedlam even by Scottish standards, wave play on.

The Palace incident was an injustice on a similar level.

Aggrieved chairman Simon Jordan — he of the strong opinions and forty-something housewife’s damaged, straw-textured blonde hair — subsequently launched a full-frontal attack on Bristol City, branding them “cheats”.

His manager, former Latics boss Neil Warnock, was equally incensed and refused to shake opposition hands at the end of the game.

Amid all the questions, apologies and recriminations floating around, the eternal question remains: Why do such bad things happen to good people?

NOTTS County director of football Sven Goran Eriksson has reportedly been busy trying to entice a few world-class stars to Meadow Lane.

Any new player arriving at the League Two club would have to play in the shadow of such all-time County greats as Devon White — the big man with an even bigger first touch — and it is interesting that two of the names mentioned, the recently retired Pavel Nedved and Inter midfielder Patrick Vieira, have both played for Juventus in the past.

The fact that they would again be playing in black-and-white stripes would hopefully help to ease the transition into the new surroundings at the soon-to-be Champions’ League contenders, allowing the new men to come to terms with the daunting prospect of playing alongside players of the calibre and reputation of Ricky Ravenhill, Luke Rogers and Graeme Lee.

mattchambers@oldham-chronicle.co.uk