We asked The Legends, ‘What areas would you like to see your club strengthen during the January transfer window’?

MALCOLM MACDONALD:

I’m always very suspicious about the January transfer window and I prefer to avoid it.

It’s very much emergency stuff, there’s no good solid, lasting deals to be done. Invariably, the money that’s spent can be an awful lot for a very little to try to save the declining situation.

If Newcastle can get away without spending money I shall be delighted. Then you look at the whole situation in the summer when your choice is at its maximum. That’s when you really strengthen.

The owner of Newcastle United must have been laughing his socks off on Wednesday. All of a sudden Leon Best and Peter Lovenkrands struck up a partnership and saved him millions.

Newcastle are in the incredible position when everyone’s fit, they’ve got (Andy) Carroll and (Shola) Ameobi, Carroll and (Kevin) Nolan, Ameobi and Lovenkrands, Best and Lovenkrands and Best can probably play with Carroll or Ameobi.

All of sudden, Newcastle are blessed with riches and the owner has put his chequebook away and is saying to Alan Pardew just get on with it.

MICKY HORSWILL:

Midfield. Simple as that.

We’re okay up front, we’ve got a strong back four, apart from left-back, but centre-midfield and a wide player would be what he’s looking for.

We’ve certainly got plenty of goals in us. We’ve got (Asamoah) Gyan, (Darren) Bent and (Danny) Welbeck, plus (Fraizer) Campbell, who’s hardly played this season.

I think he’s desperate to sign a couple of really top midfielders.

Maybe someone wide left like Charles N’Zogbia or even someone on loan like Adam Johnson or Stewart Downing. They would be great in that wide-left position.

We need a good goalscoring centre-midfield player. Scotty Parker or someone like that would be great for us. He’s experienced, we’ve got a lot of young lads in the team and he would be ideal for us.

The position West Ham are in, they might want to get rid of him to pick some money up.

There are not many teams who have got money left outside the top four bar us, and I can’t see him going to the likes of Arsenal or Man United.

The injuries to (Lee) Cattermole and (David) Meyler are terrible.

Obviously (Cristian) Riveros hasn’t come through for us like we wanted him to and that leaves a big gap in the middle and in the Premier League, that’s where you’ve got to be solid.

BERNIE SLAVEN:

Left winger, right winger, central midfielder and two strikers. That’s not much to ask for is it?

I don’t believe we’ll get all that. But we need a goalscoring midfielder and a couple of strikers who can bang in the goals. Not one of them has proved he’s good enough. Our top scorers have six or seven goals in January and that’s not good enough.

We’re around the bottom of the league, because we don’t score enough goals and we don’t have enough quality. And I think it would be ludicrous letting players like (David) Wheater go. As a fan, not a businessman. We know his contract is up at the end of the season and the reasons behind it, but as a fan I don’t want any player to leave in January.

We’ve got a small squad, we’re one point off the bottom three and we need players in to boost morale in the squad.

* 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.