Ollie Palmer finds new Swindon Town role that makes him key

Joining from Wrexham late in the summer transfer window a year ago, Palmer made a solid start to life at Swindon. The striker impressed off the bench at Crewe Alexandra on his debut, scored on his first start against Reading, and netted the important winner against Newport County.

But after that, things went off the rails and he became something of a lightning rod for a difficult second half of the season. Although he scored the second-most goals of any player last season, many were frustrated by his attitude on the pitch, general performance levels, and perceived lack of fitness.

That reached a head over the summer, with many annoyed at his decision to go to Miami for England’s World Cup quarter-final with Norway during pre-season, and many felt that he looked out of shape during the friendlies. Palmer then hit back on Instagram after he performed well against Leyton Orient, joking about fans who had criticised him.

But the 34-year-old has made a solid start to the season. He has yet to start a game, but he hit the post off the bench at Cardiff City and had one excellent moment of skill after winning the ball in the air. He was less effective at Northampton Town, but made a big impact in helping the ball stick up front against Cheltenham Town.

Ian Holloway said of him: “That is how we used to do it, going back to front and your centre forward would hold it up. I have got to try to move the other centre forward who scores from up the middle, so we need a system that fits them all in. I couldn’t have asked for more effort from anyone today, including Palms. I think he did really well.”

Ollie Palmer battles with Pierce Sweeney (Image: Andy Crook)

As the first half progressed against Cheltenham, the away side got better at preventing Swindon from playing out from the back with their pressing. This caused Town to go long more often, and they were not very effective at doing this, which allowed Cheltenham to keep coming back at them.

When Palmer came on at half time, he helped to solve this, giving his teammates the option to play long into him. With Aaron Drinan and Louis Millard off him, he was able to drop into space in between defence and midfield and receive the ball on his chest, before turning and looking to play those two in behind.

Ollie Palmer picks up space at Northampton Town (Image: Andy Crook)

This sort of role is something we saw a few times from Palmer last season, with him practically playing in midfield at Bromley in January, and it is something that suits him. His one major attribute is the almost magnetic ability of his chest to see him get on the ball, with a deftness of touch scarcely conceivable with such a blunt implement, and, to use his own comparison, he has some playmaking ability like David Silva. Like a supermarket distribution centre, he can take all the balls in before moving them on to where they need to go.

Part of the reason Palmer has played from the bench is that he is yet to reach full fitness, but being a change-of-pace option seems to be an ideal role for him within this team. At this stage of his career, he does not have the pace or energy to defend with the sort of intensity that Holloway wants for 90 minutes, but he does have the quality to come off the bench and provide a physical presence in attack when necessary, which can help to unlock others.