Darren Bent For England

First and foremost, results have been good and the Wearsiders are already looking like side which is far superior to the one which only narrowly avoided relegation last season thanks to Newcastle United's ineptitude.

Nine points out of a possible 15 is the sort of form which will lead to top half of the table finish and possibly even Europe.

A manager lives and dies by his signings. You can be the best man manager, the best motivational speaker and the cleverest tactician, but you ain't going to get very far if your players aren't good enough to turn your ideas and words in performances.

There are plenty of footballing geniuses out there, just not many artists to turn their ideas into a reality.

Let's start from the back and work forward. Michael Turner, big powerful centre back who likes to keep the game simple. Good signing as far as I'm concerned, although time will tell with this one.

Seems a good character though and you have to admire the way he refused to celebrate in front of the Hull fans on Saturday out of respect for them. Personally, I would have adopted the more confrontational Emmanuel Adebayor approach but there you go!

Paulo Da Silva and John Mensah? We don't know much about them, and it seems to have taken them forever to make it over to England, but they are the captains of Paraguay and Ghana and that says plenty about their character, as well as their ability.

It may take them some time to settle in the Premier League - it normally does - but Bruce has an excellent transfer record when it comes to signing foreign talent so we should be optimistic. Mensah is likely to start for the first time against Burnley next weekend, as Phil Bardsley has a knee problem, so we will know more about him then.

In midfield, Lorik Cana and Lee Cattermole have been brilliant and I do not use that word lightly. Robust, energetic and capable of knocking the ball about as well.

They have the makings of the perfect midfield partnership, albeit one which misses more than it's fair share of games through suspension.

I don't think any teams are going to be able to over run the Sunderland midfield this season, which is something that tended to happen all too often under Roy Keane and Ricky Sbragia. Bruce knew this was a weakness before he came and he has done superbly to bring in these two to rectify the situation.

Up front, Frazier Campbell doesn't really look ready for regular first team football in the Premier League, but he will get better with age and experience.

He will be happy, for the time being, to play a supporting role as well which helps group dynamics.

Sunderland possibly need another striker to act as cover in the squad, but Kieran Richardson can play up there if bodies are thin on the ground and David Healy hasn't left yet.

And then we have Darren Bent, whose four goals in five games say it all. He has been re-born at Sunderland after two miserable years at White Hart Lane and he could just be the signing of the season if he carries on like this.

His partnership with Kenwyne Jones could be one of the club's all time greats, and yes I do think it could eventually be favourably compared to the legendary Kevin Phillips and Niall Quinn.

Bent not only gives pace, he gives hard work and commitment and he will buzz around Jones waiting for the ball to drop to him all afternoon.

He is a predator and a goal scorer and I believe he may well do enough to break back into the England squad before next summer's World Cup.

I mean, are Crouch and Carlton Cole really better players than he is!?