I know most on here hate shola but he has saved our arses a number of times, end of 06 season, getting us into Europe springs to mind.
In my opinion he would be alot better than Smith or Martins for getting the ball to stick when we hump these long balls.
Obviously he is not world class, but he is good enough for the premiership and would be much happier waiting his chance with the other strikers than someone like Owen, Martins, Viduka or Anelka. It makes no sense to sell him as our backup big man striker.