Jeez, what a lot to catch up on here.....my opinions are likely to 'ruffle some feathers', but let me say up front that I intend no personal insult to any other poster here (Brack and Tripod in particular) but am merely expressing my honestly held opinions.
Green was left seriously in the lurch by Rio, oddly enough an ex-Hammer and did what any professional goalie would do - he committed the 'necessary' professional foul that (fortunately) resulted in the opposition missing the subsequent penalty. I sincerely hope that this episode doesn't cost him his place.
Ferguson, aka Fergie, aka Taggart (a Scottish detective,) is the 'winningest' football manager in British history. For this achievement he is naturally, and rightly, held in the highest esteem by ManU supporters. However, he is also a miserable, moaning, mouthy bully of a man who is widely, and rightly, despised by most other British supporters. For the education of US readers, there are in fact more supporters of other teams than there are ManU supporters, though at times it might appear otherwise.
Finally, and with no personal animosity towards Tripod, I really hope that Argentina gets stuffed by Uruguay tonight and that Chili let Ecuador win so that the Argies miss out on WC qualification. This scenario is unlikely to happen, but I can dream. I have come to this conclusion because I have discovered that my historic hatred of the cheating Argentine manager is greater than my love for the current superstar, Leo Messi - who, incidentally, is by far my favorite player of recent years.
And yes Mike, it's going to be another season of suffering for us Hammers. 
edited to include this excerpt from the Guardian newspaper's daily football email, 'The Fiver' -
TONIGHT'S THE NIGHT
Back in November 2007, when Fifa staged its 11-hour 2010 Fifa World Cup South Africa(TM) Preliminary Draw Show® - featuring Disney's® The Lion King®, The Legendary Youssou N'Dour(TM) and The Afrotenors, Africa's answer to the Three Tenors ('presumably one of them is dead', suggested the Fiver's Scott Murray at the time) - everything was supposed to build up to this night. Great teams would clash. Legends would be made. Reputations destroyed. And the bloke who did the voiceovers for the Lord of the Rings trailers would be quids in. Instead, in Europe at least, it boils down to this: Portugal, Greece and Ukraine need to beat Malta, Luxembourg and Andorra respectively to reach the play-offs, Slovakia and Slovenia are duking it out for automatic qualification. And, er, that's it.
So thank goodness for Diego Maradona and his relentless determination to recreate the final scene of Thelma and Louise as Argentina manager. When he took over the Albiceleste last year, they were fresh from winning Olympic gold and looked certs to saunter to South Africa, probably in a luxurious steamboat. Now, after more comical thrashings than Carry On Spanking, Maradona knows that defeat in Uruguay tonight, coupled with Ecuador beating Chile, will put them out of next year's World Cup. "I am dreaming of us going through," insisted Martin Palermo, who is expected to start on the bench tonight with Argentina opting for a 4-4-2 with Leo Messi and Gonzalo Higuain leading the line. But with Maradona in charge, don't be surprised if Messi starts at right-back and Antonio Rattin plays his first competitive match in 39 years.
RIP Iron Man
Rock On and keep the Faith
He does not do himself or the game any favors. 
Either way, dangerous territory !!
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