Cronky

Good summary.

Colo's first season was a bit of a shambles, and he has benefitted enormously from his sabbatical in the Championship. He's now found a way of adjusting to the greater physicality and pace of the Premiership, and he's making a good contribution. We're also not asking him to do what he's not so good at - ie marking the opposition's danger men at set pieces. Whether overall he was a good buy is a different matter, because he wasn't the kind of defender that we needed at the time when Faye went. He wasn't the only player who struggled, but we did pay a bit of a price for sticking with him through his learning curve.

Perhaps ‘cool-headed’ isn’t the best description, but Williamson is a strong character and that comes out in his play. I think it also helps out the rest of the defence. Centre back is a very exposed position where players have to make fine judgements about whether or not to challenge, where to position themselves etc etc Mistakes can be costly and the role comes with pressure, and a CB needs to be fully committed to their decisions. Despite the fact that Taylor is by far the better athlete, I don’t think he’s developed those kinds of mental qualities like Williamson has. Taylor’s career – so far, at least – has been a disappointment.

I know what you mean. Williamson comes across as a calm personality whereas our other defenders - Simpson, Perch, Taylor, Colo, Enrique - all look a bit nervy under pressure. Our defence usually looks that bit more confident and organised when Willo's around.

With Heskey, Agbonlahor, Carew and Delfuenso, I wouldn't have said they were light in the striking department. Presumably they see Bent as a 'goalscorer', but I tend to think players who get that label are often over-rated.

£18m is a reflection of Villa's desperation and the usual fee inflation that happens in January. As others have said, it's a very good deal for Sunderland.

Probably, yeah. The way they were opening Liverpool up in the second half with quick passing movements suggested there's more to come from them. Fellaini is an impressive player - always involved in attack and defence.

We're not safe, but I feel more optimistic after Sunday than I've felt all season. We managed to produce a performance with everything stacked against us, in terms of absences and the pressures of the occasion. That's more significant than games when everything falls your way.

A sideline - I only saw the second half, but I was really impressed with how well Everton played, considering the team they put out. Moyes really deserves a crack at a bigger club.

Considering the lead-up to the game and the absent players, we looked very composed and organised yesterday. Despite our limitations, we seemed to know what we were doing and should have won. Pardew should take credit for that.

A good effort and we deserved to win. We looked mentally a lot stronger than them, and played as a team. Shola did a great job of holding our attacking effort together.

They look the more threatening, but we're doing a bit better than I was expecting. The longer it goes on at 0-0, the more I'd fancy us to nick something. It's their game to chase, and they could tire.

Looks like 11 men behind the ball and relying on set pieces. It got us promoted but I don't think it'll be enough today.

Routledge is quick so he's always going to produce those occasional moments when he gets past his man. Unfortunately he is technically very limited and wastes possession most of the time. Wide men who rely too much on pace are found wanting at this level.

Few will remember this, but in my mind there's a runaway winner for bad debut. 1980-ish, a Second Division game, away at Chelsea, a certain Bruce Halliday makes his debut at centre back and we lose 6-0. The most nervous, error-strewn performance I can remember from a professional footballer. I think Chris Waddle made his debut in the same game, but I can't remember a thing about him. We probably never got the ball into their half.

West Ham have some decent players and with the right man in charge, shouldn't be struggling. O'Neill has the reputation of a great motivator and he should get them to safety. He's also a prickly character and I'm not sure how well he'd get on with the West Ham hierarchy long term.

Players who are coming to the end of their contracts usually expect a premium on their salary, with the club not having to pay a transfer fee. It sounds like we're not playing ball.

I suspect that some of the competing clubs like Blackburn, West Ham and Villa, are feeling a bit more desperate and are prepared to pay over the odds in wages at the moment. Longer term, you're liable to end up with a problem.

If Tiote was playing, I'd fancy our chances. Trouble is, I'm not sure how we're going to compensate for his absence. We don't have a like-for-like replacement, and I'm not sure how we can adjust the system to add a bit more energy and defensive strength to the midfield. The straw that I'm clutching is that Gosling will be fit enough to take some part, and have some impact.

Possibly a prelude to Ranger going out on loan. This isn't the signing I was expecting or wanted, but I don't think he's a replacement for Carroll. More like in Carroll's absence and Shola's off and on fitness, we need more cover. Best isn't good enough and Ranger isn't ready.

It sounds like pure speculation. Villa are in trouble and I can't see why they'd want to release him to a rival at this point. He'd be a good acquisition, because we don't have a DM with any kind of engine apart from Tiote. Reo Coker can also play at right back.

Players can sometimes be harsh judges on one another. A round of applause isn't something to be taken for granted.

A variation on Groucho Marx syndrome. (He refused to join any club that would have him as a member)

It doesn't sound like they've got much money to spend either. They need to re-energise the team. It won't help their self-belief that they lost after going a goal up either. On paper, they should stay up comfortably, but games aren't won on paper. Because they're Liverpool, they're under far more pressure than the other teams in danger.

Regardless of whether anybody thinks it ought to be a red, by the way in which the laws of tackles are interpreted, any professional player would know that if you jump aggressively into a tackle like that, the odds are you will get a red. Tiote's action was unprofessional at the very least. The appeal seemed to rest on technicalities - that the trailing foot was on the ground and that he got the ball. I was pretty sure though that the FA would not uphold the appeal because it would set a bad precedent. It was still a very risky tackle and not the kind that can be encouraged.