Best way to patch a wall?

[McGoo]

Im going to fill in some holes in the wall where a curtain rail used to be in our rental property. Its a brick wall with the plugs still in it, flush with the surface. I want to end up with a smooth blank wall, but Im not overly picky in this spot.
My thinking is to either:
I) Fill holes as they are with spakfilla, sand down to flat, paint
II) try and remove existing plugs (somehow), fill with spakfilla, sand down, paint
III) Hammer plugs in slightly (if possible), fill with spakfilla, sand, paint

Any thoughts or suggestions? We have permission to do it, and we are being reimbursed for costs. The walls are fairly patchy already with about 6 different shades of paint in the one room, so doesnt have to be an amazing job.

[Jonchilds]

I wouldn't bother trying to remove the plugs.

1 or 3 sound good.

Don't hammer them in more than 1mm or so otherwise the spakfilla may recess as it dries.

[Espresso Avenger]

If Option 2 is too hard / takes too long
Go option 3.

if you half screw in a long screw you can sometimes pull them back out, the other option is to use a drill and either an old drill bit, or one intended for masonary work, otherwise your just going to wreck your bit.

[BERT]

Had to do the same thing in my bathroom a couple of weeks ago when I fitted a new towel rail.
Plugs weren't flush as they had "pulled" out a little, so I drilled them slightly to make sure they were below the surface of the plaster. Doesn't matter if you damage the plaster a bit as you are going to fill it anyway.
Then spac fill away.
I think spak filler shrinkage is a thing of the past, I haven't seen it and I painted the house a couple of years ago and did a lot of spak filling.

Bert

[Maxo]

[zooyork]

hahaha...i read that as "best way to punch a wall"