BERNIE: There can only be one contender – Middlesbrough’s Adam Johnson. He has been superb and I don’t think Boro would be where they are had it not been for Johnson. He is scoring goals and creating for other people and you can’t ask for much more than that from a winger.

My only concern is that the way he is playing will attract the attention of Premier League clubs in January. Hopefully, by that stage of the season Boro are still looking good for promotion and he will want to stay.

The fact he still hasn’t signed a new contract will always mean there is speculation about his future but the positive thing is that it doesn’t appear to be affecting his performances on the pitch. For me Johnson is not only the Boro’s best player so far this season but the most impressive player among all of our clubs.

That is taking nothing away from the other Middlesbrough players because for Johnson to be able to create chances and go on runs from midfield he needs the rest of the team to be solid, and by and large they have done that.

I hoped that this would be the season when he emerged from Stewart Downing’s shadow and proved that he can do the business on a regular basis and, fingers crossed, he is doing just that. I predict he will end the season as the North-East’s top scorer.

MICKY: I disagree with Bernie! For me it’s Darren Bent. There was a lot of pressure on him when he came up here. His time with Spurs hadn’t been a great success and he had a lot to prove.

He’s got off to a great start and is up there among the Premier League’s top scorers.

There are no signs of nerves, he seems to be relishing playing under Steve Bruce and he looks like a player who can get Sunderland 12-15 goals this season – just what they’ll need if they hope to finish in the top half.

People are talking about him challenging for a place in Fabio Capello’s England squad and I wouldn’t say that was out of the question. He is just the sort of player Sunderland need.

MALCOLM: To be honest, from a Newcastle perspective, no-one really jumps out as being an outstanding performer so far. I suppose that is partly a good thing in that pretty much all of the team have been going about their jobs in a fairly impressive manner.

I would have said Shola Ameobi had he continued his good run of form but injury has put paid to that and it is hard to think of anyone else who has shone.

If pushed I would pick out two players who have impressed me.

One is Alan Smith, who has shown leadership on the pitch and a willingness to dig in. The Newcastle back four has looked pretty assured in recent weeks and Smith has played a huge part in that with his ability to get into the opposition and break up their attacks.

Let’s be honest, anyone who can make the Newcastle defence look good deserves all the plaudits they can get.

The other person I would single out, and this may come as a surprise to some people, is Danny Simpson. He does the simple things well and I like so see that in any defender. For a young lad he seems to have a cool head and the Newcastle defence need as many of them as possible.

THE LEGENDS Listen to The Legends weekdays 6-8pm and Saturdays from 1pm on 100-102FM Real Radio Read their views every Saturday in Northern Echo Sport ■ The Legends were speaking Andy Richardson