switters

I think it's a good move all round - could do well for Derby, it's a fair price and I think he needed a change of scene, had stagnated in the last year or two since becoming regular. If he'd stayed he'd struggle to nail down a spot in the team and he's getting to the kind of age where you're in danger of becoming permanent squad-filler if you haven't proved yourself capable of being consistent performer - and in particular for a forward, being a consistent goalscorer. think Luke Moore (although I think he also went to Derby at one point and didn't become a consistent goalscorer)..

Welcome Micah. Could be a good signing, really depends on how much toll injuries & the lack of gametime in the last few years have had

Hard to know what we're getting 'cause he's hardly played for past three years. Could be a coup if he lives up to early potential, could be a huge waste of wages if he's injured half the time & hasn't got the pace he used to have.

I think he'll head back to Spain as he doesn't seem particularly suited to this league. Sometimes players take a year to adjust, so I wouldn't write him off completely but I think it'd take a proper run of games for him to adapt and then it's the question of whether we can afford to give him that run of games when he seems to always have a mistake in him. Copa can put him in shop window & I think Sherwood will be looking to make spaces in the squad where he can and Sanchez will be one who is seen as very expendable.

We're in quite a weird position with CBs - essentially got 5 players who have all shown capable of being very good at times, but all also had spells of being mistake-prone. Additionally they have all had a fair amount of injury problems, either regularly out for short-medium periods (Vlaar, Clark, Baker) or had one significant lay-off (Senderos & Okore). Generally you have to think that it's better to be picking the same CB partnership regularly throughout the season and this mix of inconsistent form & injuries are going to make that highly unlikely to happen for us. At the same time though, keep Vlaar and we've probably got better depth in this position than most clubs in the league as not many clubs will have 5 CBs of equivalent experience. Reliable options are not that easy to come by, either. Players who look good in other leagues can look weak here (think of Fazio and Chiriches, two expensive Spurs purchases with good reputation who've not exactly shone in this league). Vlaar may be one of our highest paid players but we do know what we are getting if we keep him & you could easily spend those wages on a transfer fee that turns out to be a total waste.

Safety! strange day. as bad as it could possibly have been in our match, but the other results have gone swimmingly.

awful stuff first half. defence didn't heed two very clear early warnings about them getting behind the defensive line & once one went in, everything fell to pieces. Players just hit a wall maybe, lot of high pressure & high intensity performances last few weeks and nothing left in tank today. there was maybe some complacency too, players perhaps showed up thinking that Southampton were already on the beach this season, so weren't prepared for a side who were pressing quickly & had a lot of pace to get behind: if that's the case it's on the manager as well for not preparing them properly. No excuses, whatever the reason for that collapse, we had enough experience out there to at least be able to shut things down and show some semblance of composure after conceding. we just kept giving the ball back and letting them do the same thing over and over again. One slight positive - and it's a pretty desperate reach to find one - I'd rather this performance came here than at Wembley. surely cannot play so bad again this season (or hopefully ever!).

what in the holy **** is this defensive line? suicide.

oh for the love of God. are we deliberately trying to get back into relegation trouble? wtf is Vlaar doing today?

awful defending. absolutely woeful.

I think I'd start Gabby for Zog, even though he was poor off the bench. Think he needs time on pitch to get up to speed again. Reckon Delph will finally get his first league goal of the season today. Score draw is my prediction

Sherwood has already said he'll give a chance to the last three and - at least in theory - they could well fit in Sherwood's plans next year. Donacien probably needs another season loan at a higher level if he did okay at Tranmere. Doubt any of the others will be seen again

Hope he will sign on once safety assured, seems to be flourishing here and hopefully he will see with Delph alongside him & Sherwood manager, he's onto a good thing here. Even better would be if we get it sorted before the cup final - would be a nice boost & what better way to start your permanent career at Villa than with an FA Cup final

As everyone saying, second half was not great, but a professional performance against a physical side. Nice to get a clean sheet, Okore and Vlaar were pretty solid bar the odd shaky set-piece. Cleverley MOTM. Grealish and Westwood also good. Delph and Benteke less involved as in recent weeks.

**** 'ell Gabby. chance to break there. he looks very rusty.

based on the last two games it seems there's been a refereeing edict against booking our opposition.

Zog has been much better this half.

Good half, we look good going forward. need a second though as we don't look the most secure from corners. West Ham been very poor it has to be said. Gabby for Zog before long I'd imagine

Amalfitano is a grade A dickhead. hopefully gonna get himself sent off.

Grealish brilliant. Cleverley in the goals again. it was threatening to go a bit flat, but hopefully we can build on that. West Ham not offered much so far.

watched the 2nd half, that was undoubtedly one of the luckiest wins I've seen. ridiculously flukey deflections for both goals (second one had a blatant foul on one of the Everton defenders off-the-ball too), Everton were completely dominant but couldn't get ball in the net & most refs would've given that penalty. It was one of them games, as the cliché goes. doesn't change a lot though - 35 was never likely to be safe & we've gotta get ourselves out of trouble by picking up points in our remaining games. cannot rely on anyone else.

Great stuff, goals just flowing at the minute. Interesting today to compare with Lukaku who looked very reminiscent of the Benteke earlier in the season: physical attributes that will always worry defenders & win headers but everything seems to bounce off him rather than stick to him and I'm not sure had an effort on goal. Plenty of this is down to supply though - if you only get the ball played to you once every 10 mins it's hard to make a mark on the match.

Brilliant performance with pressure on. We really aren't playing like a team in a relegation battle: in a good way. We look much too confident, especially going forward. Delph was MOTM, absolutely fantastic today - it was a real worry when I thought he'd done his ankle in first half. Cleverley and Westwood good too, you can see the confidence in the former which he completely lacked earlier in season. Benteke did what he does. Grealish and N'Zogbia were sometimes a bit peripheral but both contributed, esp from set pieces. Defence wasn't watertight, but generally limited Everton to few chances. Barry I'm not sure I've seen play worse, stunned that Martinez chose not to sub him or McCarthy when both made so many errors & poor passes. Ref made so many wrong and inconsistent calls it beggars belief. Everton got away with persistent fouling all match, several times he played advantage when a free kick would be much more advantageous & both their goals rested on questionable decisions. The first one, while I can see the case for a foul, he could just as easily called against Naismith on Vlaar moments earlier and Naismith went down very easily, as forwards always will in that position. also I thought they looked offside when it was played forward in the build-up (though I don't think I saw replay to clarify that). The second was definite impeding on Given, refs are usually quick to give fouls on keepers in those situations and if ref couldn't see it, linesman should have done.

Clattenburg should never be allowed to referee again. singlehandedly kept Everton in the match.

Everton finally get a yellow at the twentieth time of asking. well done Clattenburg