Hi Buddy....you couldnt have picked a better team in all of the football world....I just hope your nerves are strong !!!! Very best wishes to The Lonestar State and to three of my favourites, Buddy Holly, ZZ Top and Stevie Ray Vaughan !! Spread the word about the mighty Hammers and come over and see us when you can.

I appreciate your response Sir which appears to confirm my summation that stastically, statistics have a 50% chance of being wrong, or a one in two chance of being right. If you took a straw poll of 578 one legged Norwegian seal hunters (statistically that number of uniped Scandanavian sea-operatives may be difficult to locate, agreed,) then i would estimate that at least 37.9 % would offer the opinion that at least 79% of seals may be better finishers (inside the box) than their fellow countryman John Carew. Outside the box, this figure is likely to fall below 4% on the statistical basis that seals very rarely score from distance owing to a lack of leg power.

Phil...all good stuff but remember stats, though great talking points, have very limited use. A goalie facing, and saving, a single shot in a game will, statistically speaking, have had a better match than a goalie having 10000 shots and letting one in !!!!! I rest my case m'lud....

ANYONE who has supported West Ham for as long as I have (50 years plus) must accept that by definition, being a Hammer will result in alternating feelings of elation and depression, strongly flavoured with bewilderment (as to how a team can be so brilliant and dashing one week, then look so average/awful the next) , frustration, hope, despair and finally feelings of resignation that, by virtue of an East London post code birth or upbringing (generally), your life will consist of pain and joy in equal measure, and a feeling that as long as this fantastic round ball game is played, we are all priviledged and proud to have Claret & Blue running through these veins of ours. Its hard work being a Hammers supporter, but its what life has dealt you so take it on board, accept it, and make sure this team of ours get the support they should have. Best wishes to all my fellow Hammers fans COYI. !!

Lets take off the Claret & Blue tinted specs. about Scott Parker guys. Yes, he was a great player for us and was as brave as a lion and totally committed to us...but that was his job and thats why he was getting paid a fortune every week. To afford Parker legend status has, in my mind, always been a joke, because instead of doing what Trevor Brooking, Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst, Alan Devonshire, Alvin Martin and Billy Bonds did...play for West Ham through thick and MAINLY thin, he walked at the first real sign of trouble, and to bloody Tottenham at that.. A REAL Irions legend would have siad "You know what...ive just been part of a team that let everyone down big time, and im going to give it another year in the Championship and try and get West Ham back where they belong"...but it didnt happen, and unlike the REAL West Ham greats ive listed above, he put self before the club. His choice, but dont expect me to applaud him fot it and wish him all the best at Spurs. Bobby Moore and Geoff Hurst spent the vast majority of their careers with us, and also the vast majority of their careers in the lower reaches of the old First Division. Trev and Bonzo wouldnt have left us ander any circumstances, and AlvinMartin used to give a Scott Parker type performance every game for over ten years. THEY are real legends. COYI.!!!

Jiminez..........my god what did we do to deserve this lazy, clueless plodder....if there isnt a more ambitious, hungry, willing youngster within the club who would at least LOOK like he's involved and enjoying it, then boy are we in trouble!! His contribution against The Ars was woeful..just off to look at his OPTA stats which will just confirm all I need to know!! I mean, fair enough, if you ARE having a bad time of it at least RUN and TACKLE and BLOCK and CHALLENGE and get about the pitch....right, feel much better now for getting that off me chest!!