One step forward, two steps back; there is no denying this was a desperately disappointing result against a side that always seem to do us at home. That's bad enough, but, like last season, the result was a travesty as the Hammers deserved something from a game they dominated for long periods. Everton's goals came against the run of play and picking the ball from the net seemed to be the only thing Rob Green had to do all afternoon.

But, we lost and undid the good work of mid-week, been dumped back into the trouble zone and also, once gain, surely given the fragile confidence a knock. So what went wrong?

There were three minutes of a four minute period of stoppage time on the clock when young Zavon Hines swivelled and hit home a precious goal to give West Ham a 2-1 win against Aston Villa. The crowd erupted and I, for one, can't remember the last time I've been hugged by so many fat, bald blokes (?). It was late - very late - but I didn't think it was anything less than West Ham deserved for a battling display that was full of conviction, tenacity and good football. In fact, this was a cracking match with both sides showing good form.

To nobody's great surprise, former boss Alan Curbishley has won the court battle for unfair dismissal against his old club and can look forward to significant compensation from the Premier League manager's tribunal as a result. Whatever the rights and wrongs of Curbishley's resignation, it can be pretty much guessed that if there is any chance of the Hammers having to fork out money somewhere, then someone from the Upton Park offices is going to be seen running down to the bank with a cheque book before the month is out.

The ruling that decided that Curbishley had been forced to resign when certain clauses in his contract were not upheld, is yet another financial blow for the Hammers. Curbishley was quoted after saying: "The club completely ignored my contract when selling Anton Ferdinand, and when George McCartney was then sold, the club having given me assurances that no players would be leaving the club after the sale of Anton Ferdinand, I had no alternative but to resign."

"My authority and integrity were undermined and my position was made untenable.''

I suppose, for the sake of symmetry, I should say this is a draw that felt like a defeat as the Hammers had done to them what they did to Arsenal last week; but that would be a lie as Sunderland bossed the second half and a point seemed only fair and was, in any case, probably a result I would have taken before the game began.

Gianfranco Zola though looked dispirited after the match and was obviously annoyed at the way the Hammers let a two goal lead slip away by allowing the home side to dominate for long spells in the second half even though they were down to ten men for most of it.