The missIf Manchester United lose their Premier League title by a couple of points they could well blame the flashing advertising boards at Upton Park.
It was there that Cristiano Ronaldo blazed a penalty wide instead of putting United 2-0 up against West Ham last month.
And late in the game, headers from Matthew Upson and Anton Ferdinand made the usually lethal Ronaldo pay for his glaring and inexplicable miss.
However, research has now discovered that the miss might not be so inexplicable after all.
A top neurologist has claimed that animated perimeter boards could affect results of matches and has called upon the Premier League to undertake "a detailed study to prove or disprove the subliminal effects of the boards."
Dr Bahador Bahrami of the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience at University College, London cites Ronaldo's miss at West Ham on December 29 as just one instance of a player possibly being distracted by the animated LED boards.
He has suggested that the Portuguese star's concentration may have been disrupted by the LED advertising board behind the goal - which at the time was bookmaker JAXX – West Ham's online betting partner – which was moving to the left, the same direction that Ronaldo aimed his shot.
He said: "Studies have shown that if you are reaching for something, the human brain corrects for background movement, so you could end up missing the object you are aiming for.
"If the player's brain was attempting to focus on the ball and ignore the moving image in the background as he took the shot, this could have had a similar effect."
However, the subliminal effect of West Ham's sponsor has been played down by JAXX themselves.
"I'd love to say that we set the whole thing up, but this is a simple animated graphic that has been in use all season at more than one Premiership club," said Mark Irvine, Managing Director of JAXX UK.
"From my own experience as a football fan, I know that LED boards can be divisive as some fans find them distracting but, even if this is true, it's the first time I've heard of a result actually hinging on an animated logo.
"It would be interesting to take the concept one step further, perhaps with home clubs flashing up 'Shoot to the Left!' or 'You're Gonna Miss!' as away players prepare to take a penalty. I'm not sure what the FA would make of it though."
The use of noise and visual displays to intimidate opponents is nothing new. It is not unknown for teams to artificially raise the decibel level.
The NFL's Super Bowl-bound New England Patriots recently accused the Indianapolis Colts of pumping artificial crowd noise into the RCA Dome during key points of their AFC clash to prevent the offence hearing their quarterback Tom Brady's play-calls.
After an investigation, NFL chiefs said the allegations, refuted by the Colts, had no foundation.
But with so much at stake, Dr Bahrami has called upon Premier League chiefs to undertake further study into the possible effects of LED boards: "In order to prove or disprove the subliminal effects of the boards, a detailed academic study would be necessary, looking at how players react in different situations through the course of the game," he added.
"The Premier League may then wish to consider its conclusions."
