Man C grumble

[Sir Tokyo Sexwale]

The balloons of Bramall Lane may be destined for a place in FA Cup folklore but Sven-Goran Eriksson could be forgiven for not seeing the funny side as Manchester City sent a strongly worded letter of complaint to the Football Association.

Eriksson has consulted the rule book and believes there is a watertight case that Sheffield United's first goal should not have been allowed to stand after the ball ricocheted off the balloons in Joe Hart's goalmouth.

City, who lost 2-1, have asked for an official explanation why the game was not stopped so that the balloons could be cleared away. Eriksson's coaching staff had sent a message to the referee, Alan Wiley, to "kill the balloons" but the game was allowed to continue, resulting in one of the more freakish FA Cup goals and an embarrassing defeat for City.

"If it had been one or two balloons then it would not have been a problem," said Eriksson. "But the point is that there were 20 or 30 balloons, all more or less in the same place, and the referee should have stopped the game to sort it out."

 

In their letter, City also say Wiley should have disallowed Luton Shelton's goal because of the way, in Eriksson's words, the balloons "did a one-two" past Michael Ball, the closest defender.

 

Eriksson absolved Hart - "for him to have burst 30 balloons would have taken time and broken his concentration" - and also Barry Hatch, the City supporter who had distributed 1,500 balloons before the match - "it's all part of the party".

 

The Iraq international Nashat Akram has been refused a work permit to play for City. Eriksson had hoped to sign the 24-year-old, a key player in Iraq's Asian Cup-winning side, but he cannot travel to the UK because of a technicality of immigration rules for footballers, which stipulate that his national side must be in the top 70 of the Fifa rankings. "This is a big blow and a great disappointment to us," Eriksson said. "I have huge sympathy for Nashat. He has now returned to the Middle East and is somebody we will maintain an interest in for the long term."

 

They have a point - if the balloons had been a dog, the goal wouldn't have counted as they're not considered to be a part of the pitch.

 

They'll get nowhere though

[R A Softlad]

Be interesting if they did get a rematch though. :-)

[Duncan Disorderly]

I couldn't distinguish which were the real balloons in the box when the ball came in anyway, as the defence was atrocious.

[AE]

It was their own bloody balloons and it did create a party atmosphere. Well for the Sheffield fans anyway.

Edited February 1, 2008 by AE