From rags to riches?

I think it's fair to say that Leon Best has kind of been thrust into the action. The departure of Andy Carroll along with the injury to Shola Ameobi now means that Leon Best is top of the pecking order with regard to strikers.

Ideal? Probably not, but there is a feeling, certainly from me anyway, that Leon Best can actually prove to be pretty useful this season, although to be fair I think it's more a case of him having to be pretty useful.

Still, credit where credit is due, and Nottingham born Leon deserves his share of the credit after being written off by many a fan. Don't get me wrong, he is not the answer to our striker problems in the long run, but he has stepped up to the plate and has played rather well since he made his Premier League debut at the turn of the year.

Best has scored four league (it would have been five but for an incorrect linesman decision) goals in just six appearances this season, including a cracking hat-trick against West Ham. That is not bad for a player who had failed to hit the target at all since his move from Coventry City thirteen months ago.

What has impressed me about Best is his ability to cause problems. He is pretty quick, fairly strong, can hold the ball up, distribute it and so on. The most important thing for me though is that there is room for him to improve, especially in the aerial department.

Aspects like that can be worked on, but it's nice to see that Best can do the basics well, which is a start. If he can continue to improve now that he is getting some time on the pitch then who knows? Perhaps those failure tags will be left behind?

Best was written off before he had even had a chance, which is unfair on the lad, but I'm glad that he is starting to change the opinion that people have of him. Like I said, he is not ideal and I'm sure we'd all like some prolific striker instead, but we haven't got one so now we should just get behind the lad with the shirt, who happens to be Best at this time, and support him.

If he manages ten goals before the end of the season you would have to say that would be a success for Bestie. After all, he did miss the first half of the season, so ten goals in half a season wouldn't be a bad return, would it? I mean it's pretty much the same as Andy Carroll managed to be fair.

Some people will never take to Best, but I actually like him. I was uninspired by his signing at the time, but I've also been right behind from day one. He has a good attitude and wants to play for us, to the point where he was banging down Alan Pardew's office door to try and force his way into the team. Credit to him for that, credit to him for wanting to play football, unlike Xisco who was happy to 'wait' for his chance.

He can continue to prove people wrong by scoring today mind!