Are Goalkeepers Over-Protected In The Modern Game?

Last season, the same season as our (somewhat) famous against West Ham, Cardiff made it to the Carling Cup Final. It was in the semi-final that we faced Crystal Palace is a two-legged tie. Myself along with 3000 other Bluebirds made the trip to Selhurst Park - but just 1 minute before half time, Palace took the lead. In the second half we were desperate for an equaliser that would see us head to the second leg with the advantage. In the 59th minute, we thought we had it - Kenny Miller headed home, only for the referee to disallow the goal... why? To this day, I still have no idea. The only explanation we got from referee Mike Dean was that there was too much contact on Palace 'keeper Julian Speroni. He didn't even hit the floor. Post-match replays showed no such pressure, and a perfectly good goal had been ruled out. We made it to the final anyway, but that's not the point - what if that had been the difference between victory and defeat? I have watched a number of matches this season where similar situations have occurred, and now it's even starting to spread to outside the penalty area - players crumpling into a heap when they fell an opponent breathing on them. I don't know about you, but I'm starting to worry that football is becoming a non-contact sport...