The snap verdict on Sunderland's deadline day business

The need for additions was absolutely clear but the Black Cats boss remained optimistic.

Land two or three signings, and he would call it a 'good window'. A deal for Ovie Ejaria was all but done, a good start.

Ejaria is raw but offers real dynamism on the ball and the instinct to carry it forward at pace that Coleman clearly desires. From his perspective, he was trading Didier Ndong, a player rarely available for him and increasingly erratic when he was, for a rich talent with something to prove.

There was much still to be done and plenty of deals that would go on to unravel. Even at that stage, the Black Cats boss clearly had strong concerns about the move for Andy Lonergan and had begun exploring other options.

A goalkeeper was a must. As was a striker, and in the end he got both.

It had not quite worked out as he expected. After watching Josh Maja and Joel Asoro struggle against Birmingham's imposing defence, he made clear that he wanted the final addition to his strikeforce to be an experienced head capable of adding physicality.

The teenage duo have much to offer but at this stage of their career they are not ready to have an influence on this kind of game, where team-mates behind them are low on confidence and resorting to long balls rarely directed with much intent.

There was a reason why Jonathan Walters was his top striking target and why he turned to Chris Martin when an injury scuppered that move. Ashley Fletcher clearly does not offer that know-how but he does at least offer the physical attributes Coleman was looking for.

It was a tense final few hours as a complex triangle including Oli McBurnie and Barnsley unfolded but it ended with Coleman satisfied with the work he had done in that department. Fletcher is a highly-regarded talent and now gets the chance he has been craving, to be the main man through the middle rather than a bit-part player often shunted out to the wide areas.

Will Fletcher and Kazenga LuaLua be enough to keep Sunderland up? Time will tell and clearly the Black Cats have not secured any guarantees, but the manager at least knows now he is unlikely to be faced with the same scenario he had earlier in the month, when there were little to no options to change games from the bench. Adding strength in depth should allow Maja and Asoro to be more like the threatening impact players they are at this early stage of their careers.

The goalkeeping situation proved no less complicated and at one stage it looked very much like Sunderland would make no additions.

That would have been a blow to the management team who clearly decided that despite Robbin Ruiter's general improvements, reliability and consistency could not be counted on.

Lee Camp arrives from Cardiff City having not played a minute this season. He would likely have been first choice had he not suffered an injury early on in his time there. Neil Etheridge took the chance to establish himself and Brian Murphy was always going to be the stand-in while Camp recovered. Murphy was an unknown when he signed last year but became a firm Neil Warnock favourite with a series of outstanding performances during an injury crisis.

Camp has not played much football for a while and so again, his arrival is a gamble. Is he the cast-iron, reliable new number one Coleman might have had in mind at the start of the month? Probably not, but he offers stability at a testing time.

Relief, then, is probably the most apt word to sum the mood at the end of a 'brutal' month and a particularly testing final day.

Whether it is enough only time will tell but for the time being, Sunderland's boss is happy that he has much more to work with.