All I was trying to say is that it's very easy to go back and say 'he was shit all the time', when he actually was significantly less shit in that season. Kevin Nolan was why we got promoted imho, nothing to do with Alan Smith, and I like I said before, I think he descended overall to an abysmal player. After that season in which he was Championship-level, he dropped off again and went MK Dons after not getting a look in after Tiote's barnstorming first season.
It's all the rage nowadays to describe careers in totality in hyperbole, when a lot of the times players have ups and downs. Alan Smith had a few ups, and lots of downs. That season was probably his best for us. Still a crap player mind, but it wasn't glaringly obvious he was the weak link in the team at the time like Cisse is for us now and Williamson before him where after every match there is outrage and justified criticism. Alan Smith hardly had any threads kept up to date in that season, because those who hated him/loathed him couldn't keep fuelling the anti-Smith feeling while he wasn't playing that bad, and he never had any fans either so he got practically no praise either.
..so if anyone wants to agree to disagree, I still say he's shit, he wasn't the reason we got promoted (that's a bit of a stretch from what I've said to say the least!), but that season in the Championship he wasn't completely out of place in our starting 11 pre-January.