He is a good player, but he needs a good manager. Benitez got him playing well, after McClaren struggled. Now Pardew is struggling to get the best out of him. It's no shock. s**** manager, s**** results.
I don't think he's great by any stretch but he has decent end product and pace to burn.
He's yet to even hold down a regular starting over the course of a season, and as for end product, during his time with us he almost doubled his career total of premier league goals, that tells you how unproductive he was before he came to us.