The trouble with Milner is that his stats are missleading. The alot of his goals and assists came before Downing was fit, and he was still playing of the right wing. Add to that he's scored 3 penalties and suddenly his end product for a CM is nothing near the likes of Gerrard and Lampard. He's also played an incredible amount of football. He's had 2994 mins of Prem time, which is a huge advantage when players are judged on things like goals and assists. And make no mistake they are. If he didn't have the goals and assist stats he does, he would of caught the attention of far fewer people. On Man Utd forums there are big threads about their fans desire to sign him, yet he really isn't in that class. Look how easily Huddlestone handled him. The Hudd is good player, but he's unlikely to dominate in a midfield battle agaisnt true top class CM's. Had Milner not taken penalties or played on the right wing, would have stats really have been any different to a normal JJ season? 6 of his assists came as a winger, as did 2 of his goals from open play. Basically very impressive early season form in that position has made his time in central midfield seem more productive than it has been. In terms of passing and tackling, his contribution is no greater than JJ's. I know he's a hard worker, but I seriously doubt he covers as much ground as JJ either.
But given that our best right winger is coming back from injury, we don't have a left winger and he can still score from distance you still don't think he is deserving of a place? Sorry I think he deserves a place in the squad and I think he will be there.