[Fixed]Views: Why can't I rewrite a link field output?

Hello,

I'm trying to shape the display of a simple view which lists articles in one page. I chose to make a view based on a list of fields and I modify them by hand.
I use "Rewrite the output of the field" on the two following fields "Content: Comment count" and "Content: Link".
In the first case, the ouput is:

<span class="field-content">
   What ever I wrote into the rewriting box.
</span>

Which is just fine, what I expected and what most of the fields provide. But in the other case, I get this:

<span class="field-content">
   <a +options>
      What ever I wrote into the rewriting box.
   </a>
</span>

Which does not allow me to do what I want. Why do I get two different behaviors? As well, the [view_node] replacement pattern provided for the link only outputs the "Text to display" and not a link field like I would want.
What did I misunderstand and how can I get ride of this link tag surrounding my code? How do I produce the link where I want in my code (in place of [view_node] )?

Thanks for helping.
Cheers