TEN EXPLANATIONS FOR PAUL ALCOCK'S SPECTACULAR FALL
1) Tony Adams had been telling Di Canio all about his old wild nights of drinking and womanising and Alcock was simply showing the Italian how the Arsenal skipper used to finish his night's entertainment
2) Alcock had been approached by Shane Ritchie before the game to do an advert for Daz and he was worried that he hadn't got his shorts dirty
3) Di Canio politely informed the terrified Alcock of his Mafia connections and that he would soon be seeing a lot more of a certain part of his daughter's beloved and previously-healthy pony
4) Di Canio was simply telling Alcock all about the great new Italian restaurant that his brother had opened in Sheffield and recommending he try the extra-strong garlic bread
5) Alcock fell foul of Sheffield Wednesday's secret weapon - the Invisible Man - who had bet Di Canio a tenner before the game they could pull off the old 'you push him while I kneel down behind him' trick
6) The referee's association were experimenting with a new heavier, indestructible, red card that is evidently impractical
7) Gazza was sent crashing to the ground in Boro's 2-0 defeat at Chelsea and Alcock was taken by surprise by the resulting tremors which fanned out from south London all the way to Yorkshire
8) The tail of Hurricane Georges chose that moment to arrive in Sheffield from the East Coast of the USA, knocking the official off his feet
9) Someone in the crowd had a radio playing the disco classic 'Oops Upside Your Head' and Alcock hoped the players would form a line behind him on the ground and all row along in unison
10) The referee was in shock at the rare sight of Nigel Winterburn racing all of 30 yards to get involved in a ruck that had nothing to do with him whatsoever