What is Kevin Nolan's best position?

Newcastle are blessed with midfield options at the moment and appear to be well covered in the event of injury.

Some of those players are quite obviously going to be backup, whilst others are going to be at the top of the list when it comes to starting a match. Kevin Nolan is a starter, for me anyway, but the question, after reading a debate about it the other night, is just how do we get the best out of our current top scorer?

The way I see it is that Nolan can be played in two positions. One of those positions is the conventional central midfield role whilst the other involves Nolan playing in a more advanced role behind a striker. Which one is he best in though?

When Nolan plays in the more advanced role it gives him space to operate in, but it also limits our ability up front as generally Nolan would have been used as a second striker. This is fine until you start wanting to play two strikers up front, which kind of leaves our Captain redundant. He done alright playing off Andy Carroll earlier in the season, but he only scored three goals (two against Aston Villa and I'll give him the penalty against Stoke) in the more advanced role.

That is because he was effectively the second striker so was easier to mark for opposition defenders. He became part of their remit and not the responsibility of the opposition midfield who should be tracking him when he plays in the conventional midfield role.

For me Nolan's best position is in central midfield with us playing two strikers. That keeps both defenders occupied and gives Nolan the freedom to arrive unmarked and on time to inflict the damage. He has a knack of finding space, which comes in handy when you have two strikers that are pulling the defenders out of position. His goal tally reflects this as he has scored nine goals from midfield (you can take the two corners against Sunderland and Bolton off if you like).

Of course the downside is that sometimes he can go missing in midfield. It can appear that way, and I used to think that myself, but it's only when you can watch him off the ball that you appreciate just how much work Nolan puts in. Of course this is the benefit of having Cheik Tiote next to him as he can fill in when needed.

In short there are plus and negative points to playing him in either position, but for me he is better off in midfield. Going forward I think that is where he will end up as I think that Stephen Ireland and Hatem Ben Arfa will be ahead of him in the playmaker role. Perhaps those two will be employed around a central striker?

Who knows? Time will tell and all that. So that's what I'd do with Kevin Nolan anyway.

What would you do?