Wes Tender

Incapable of intelligent debate, so has to indulge in juvenile playground insults.

It seems to have escaped the attention of some that this is an internet forum where people can express their opinions. If others don't like them, or disagree with them, then they should either ignore them or indulge in some debate. It's a bit juvenile telling them to shut up.

Daily Star Red Top rubbish rag: The Star ought to stick to what it does best; publishing smutty stories about minor celebrities having it off and dumb bottle blondes displaying their boob jobs. The "track record" remark is just absurd. One incident doesn't make a track record. But I'm sure that this journo has a track record for posting garbage without foundation.

Since our comeback to take two points away from the European Champions, our fame has spread around the World. Our exploits are making headlines in as diverse publications as the Himalayan Times and the South China Morning Post.

Ditto. As I said, simple.

The choice between managers is really simple. Adkins over Fat Sam every day.

Probably the rejuvenation and ressurection of Puncheon as a player with a future with us, having looked like somebody firmly on his way out with no prospects elsewhere. I would like to believe that Adkins has played a major part in his rehabilitation, that he put an arm around his shoulder and told him that if he left us, other managers would look at his past record of not settling at other clubs and think of him as a trouble-maker, a disruptive influence in the changing room. Puncheon appears to be a changed player, a major influence on our progress recently. He has matured and seems to be settled and happy here. He is expressing that in his play and his confidence grows with each match. He is a player of some skill who is only now realising his true potential. I had wanted us to get rid of him at the end of last season, but now I'm a convert who wants him to stay and the way that he has turned things around gains my respect and admiration.

Gordon was a very wholehearted player who always gave his all and I respect that in him. However, that doesn't mean that his opinion necessarily has any more validity, or carries any more weight than anybody else's. Neither does your claimed friendship with him lend any more weight to your opinion. Sorry.

Well, that felt more like a win than a draw. Adkins' tactics were spot on with the five across the middle denying Chelski the space to play the killer ball between the lines and Rodrigues was always a threat to them on the break as they found out during the Cup match. We had obviously hoped to stifle them for the first half and hope that their heads would drop and that the crowd would get on their backs and even when we went one down, we didn't vary our play and it still looked as if we were frustrating them. When they got their second just before half time, I thought that we would have to go for broke and switch to 4-4-2 with Lambert up front with Rodrigues in a last throw of the dice to try and get something out of it, but expecting that if we did so, there was always the possibility that the extra space would gift Chelski the chance to put a further 2 or 3 past us like they did in the Cup match. But Adkins played a blinder tactically as it turned out and the ever reliable Lambert and the budding quality of Shaw providing the cross for Puncheon's superb finish produced the equaliser against the multi million pound European Champions. Am I the only one that feels that had Davis scored his simple tap in chance, we could have had all three points? This point was largely unexpected, but must give the team a massive confidence boost. Apart from the stuffing by Arsenal early in the season, we have had creditable performances against the two Manc teams when we actually led them and should have beaten Arsenal. And now we have held Chelski to a draw, it does look that the gap between us and the top teams is narrowing. We start to look better than all those teams currently below us and more on a par with a few of the other teams just above us. A couple of signings like those rumoured to be in hand and we should be able to press on upwards.

Hassan Kachloul used to imitate the Fred Scuttle salute and he probably didn't know who he was either. Two fine examples of it in our last match at the Dell/

As you say, an encouraging turnaround given our start, but there was an excuse to a certain extent because of the run of early fixtures against the top teams. We've looked a lot better after a run of matches against those teams around us. We held out against Chelsea in our last match against them at home and it took until virtually the half time whistle for them to pull ahead of us. I don't see their fans getting on their backs, or their players becoming nervy after 30 minutes. OK, we didn't play our strongest team against them, but with Shaw and Fonte out with Lallana, then we won't be playing our strongest team again. A point would be a very good result, but a couple of other teams have recently shown the way to play them to get all three. But knowing us, I will hope that we lose by less than 2 goals, to keep us in the same position on goal difference. As an aside on the flak that Alpine has been getting, he is right that because of injuries to key players like these, we are short of cover, with not enough depth. Unless that is, Fox and Hoiveld are considered adequate, or De Ridder is deemed to be a suitable option playing wide as a deputy for Puncheon or Lallana. It is to be hoped that this cover will arrive shortly in this transfer window, but it is a shame that cover for the defensive positions wasn't concluded before the beginning of the season, as Alpine points out. Shaw and Clyne have proven to be great at left and right back and Yoshida is becoming a good CB, but we suffered because of the absence of Clyne recently and will again because of the absence of Shaw and Fonte. That is the only thing that takes the gloss off our progress so far, unless those shortcomings are addressed to add cover and depth with equal or better players.

The mad rambling tweets about the blue few were courtesy of the real Neil Allen. They'll still be continuing.

I'm sure that Fry will love your adulation and you trying to excuse his stupid remark. Perhaps the next time he comes up with something so ridiculous, you'll be on hand to interpret it for us so that we know what he really meant to say. As I said, I don't see many suggesting that West Ham will go down, but shame on all of us picking up that they were as unlikely to go down as Manchester United, when it was clearly plain that his penis unscrewing a light bulb was much more the appropriate metaphor and we should have realised that.

3 points. Thank you very much. Nothing more to say.

I will take the view that I have expressed before. That we are often victims of other teams' players diving and rolling around theatrically as if they've been shot, so why don't we get a bit more savvy ourselves to even things up a bit? On the one hand I despise these cheats and feel certain that some managers encourage it to gain an advantage, so on the other hand I'm inclined to think that justice has been done when a decision like this goes our way. In this case, as I've already said, I feel that Ramirez's goal at Arsenal should not have been disallowed and therefore the referee's decision at Villa is just such a case of what goes around comes around. To put it another way that is more prevalent as a similar opinion, these things even themselves up during the course of a season.

What a great find. Did Lambert admit that he had dived, or did he go down to avoid injury from the tackle that was coming in? It's just a simple rule in life's rich tapestry; what goes around comes around.

Hardly anybody is debating the possibility or probability of West Ham going down. I have certainly not predicted it. But an increasing number of them are questioning your totally absurd proposition that Manchester United were as likely to go down as West Ham. If you had wished to express your conviction that West Ham being relegated was "as likely as you being able to unscrew a lightbulb using only your penis", then that hyperbole would have been understood for what it was and I wouldn't have taken issue with it, (not having any intimate knowledge of your prowess with your penis). Yours wasn't an inflamatory statement, just ridiculous. I didn't go apesh*t, it was you who resorted first to petty insults. And it seems that all this derision you have been getting must mean that some consider it worth taking a pot at you too. Good night.

The phrase you used was "as likely." It isn't as likely. West Ham are more likely to be relegated than Man United. Several people on here have disputed this assertion of yours, so the inference is that if anybody is of the moronic tendency, it is you.

This explains very well many of the factors that can or do come into play in a relegation struggle. It is very difficult indeed to predict who might go down at this stage of the season with any certainty. We as a club have confounded the statisticians on more than one occasion. http://www.soccerbythenumbers.com/2012/02/dynamics-of-relegation-in-premier.html#more

I really do pity your lack of comprehension. I'd better clarify my position on this, so that the likes of you, CB Fry and Turkish can understand it once and for all; that is, if you are all capable of the feat, or if indeed you are at all receptive to trying to understand something really quite simple. Regarding the possibility of us ever playing in the Champions League, mooted as an ambition by Messrs Cortese and Liebherr:- My position is and has always been that although unlikely, it is not impossible. Is that clear? As an illustration as to other things that were once upon a time deemed to be impossible, I cited landing a man on the moon, or climbing Everest. Adkins, has used as an example the seeming impossibility many years ago of a man being capable of running a mile in under 4 minutes. No doubt if he posted on here, he would be ridiculed by the intellectual pygmies on here for that too. CB Fry Not a surprise that you don't know what I'm on about. You often find it difficult to understand what others are saying. I turned your stupid statement upside down and said that by your reasoning West Ham would have an equal chance to Manchester United of becoming champions. Neither did I forecast that West Ham would be relegated. I just pointed out how ridiculaous it was saying that they had an equal chance of relegation to Man Utd.

It doesn't matter how you try and dress it up, it is still the most ludicrous thing that you have said on this forum in my memory. You might as well say that West Ham have an equal chance to Manchester United of being champions. That is equally as barmy. Sometimes you're just really barking.

Quite one of the most ridiculous statements I have ever seen from you.

Who is the one pretending to be a local journo? One is pretending to be a local journo and the other is pretending to be the guy who is pretending to be a local journo.

Having now watched it myself several times, I can well see that it can easily be seen as a dive, as there was no contact. But because I'm naturally biased in favour of our player and he doesn't have a reputation for diving (although he will begin to get one now), I'm prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt and go along with this explanation. I'd certainly feel aggrieved if I were a Villa fan, but as I'm not, frankly I couldn't give a damn.

Now, I thought that where there was doubt about such a decision, then the benefit of the doubt should go to the striker. But of course, that is naive of me. When there is any doubt, the benefit should always go to the glory team.