Having overseen Romal Palmer’s development for the past few seasons, Martin Devaney knows first-hand exactly how much potential and talent the midfielder possesses.
The youngster has had to bide his time and be patient after a couple of injury setbacks, but our U23s coach believes that his new two-year contract is fully merited and testament to the 21-year-old’s character.
“I’m really pleased for Romal,” began Devaney, “he’s someone who has been in the system – under 18s and 23s – for a long time. He’s someone who we’ve had to be patient with, in terms of his education as a footballer player.
“Technically he’s very gifted and tactically has a great understanding of the game, and he’s had to work hard on his mentality. With Romal, now, we’ve got a really good player and a more rounded player who can go into the first team and grab that opportunity with both hands.”
Confident in possession and able to manipulate the ball, Palmer has caught the eye with a number of impressive performances in the Professional Development League.
Those displays brought him to the attention of Head Coach Gerhard Struber, who has ensured the dynamic midfielder has been involved in first team training in order to take a closer look at him.
Palmer was eventually rewarded by featuring in the matchday squads at Bristol City and Charlton Athletic, and Devaney feels that the youngster can kick on from here and establish himself in the senior set-up.
“He’s got fantastic talent,” continued the U23s coach. “As a footballer, he’s got the ability to beat players, his receiving skills are fantastic, he’s got a different range of passing and he’s an exciting player. If he keeps working hard, listening, wanting to learn and challenging himself, he can be anything he wants to be.”