Are you satisfied with your club’s business in the transfer window?

MICKY HORSWILL:

From Sunderland’s point of view I was very disappointed.

The couple of guys who’ve come in, Benjani and Alan Hutton, are fine but we needed to strengthen right through the team.

The left back slot still looks worryingly weak and we desperately needed some creativity in midfield.

We are very short of a ball player in the middle who can create chances for Benty and Kenwyne. To be honest I thought we needed to get two or three new midfielders because the lads are not scoring or creating enough chances. I am sure Steve Bruce was after a couple more but didn’t get them.

We lost out to Manchester City for Adam Johnson and Maynor Figueroa signed a new deal at Wigan when we thought he was joining us.

But there are other leftbacks and creative players who we could have gone for and it begs the question why weren’t we more active in the market? Was Brucey not given the money or is he happy with what he’s got?

Whatever the case, I am worried that we haven’t strengthened sufficiently and if we get dragged into a relegation dogfight then people are going to look back to January and ask why more efforts weren’t made to build up the squad.

BERNIE SLAVEN:

Gordon Strachan has brought in seven and six of them are from Scotland, so that is a good sign.

The three big hitters for me are Stephen McManus, Barry Robson and Scott Mc- Donald. They are vital and can hopefully revitalise the spine of the team.

I expect McManus with his experience for Celtic and Scotland can bring the best out of David Wheater. Robson will be the midfield fulcrum and McDonald is the jewel in the crown.

I rate McDonald very highly. If he can score in the Champions League then I am sure he will score in the Championship.

A couple of months ago I mentioned him as a possible Boro target but Micky and Malcolm laughed at me. To be honest deep down I thought ‘why would he come here?’ He’s playing in Europe with the champions of Scotland. It speak volumes that he and the other boys want to play for Strachan.

The majority have already played for him and that tells you how much they rate him – that is a good sign.

When you buy Scottish you are getting players who want to better themselves.

Coming to England is a test they’ll relish.

MALCOLM MACDONALD:

I am in a fit of utter depression because Bernie Slaven has let it slip that he is a distant cousin of Scott McDonald. Of course its reasonable to say that if you go back far enough then all Macdonalds are related. So to learn that I may well be related to Bernie has had a dreadful impact on me!

But on a Newcastle front I am pleasantly surprised by the overall quality of players that Chris Hughton managed to bring in. I think that he now has a squad that should secure promotion this season.

What happens after that is a different matter.

There are players he has brought in on three-and-ahalf year contracts that may be decent Championship players but can they step up and do well in the Premier League?

I’ll give all of them the opportunity to prove themselves.

I have already seen some positive signs. I thought Mike Williamson looked a colossus against Crystal Palace and Wayne Routledge is a player I like but we need to see more end product from him. I watched him at QPR and his final ball was lacking. He will be found out in the Premier League if he can’t improve.

Leon Best has promise but I am concerned that even though I saw him play for Coventry against Newcastle earlier this season I can’t recall him making any impact whatsoever. But he should add competition.