Sheffield Wednesday legend Carlton Palmer offers blunt response to debate involving Barry Bannan

‘Old or new’ debates are nothing new among football supporters.

How do Messi and Ronaldo compare against Pele and Maradona? Does this Manchester City team stack up against Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United or the Liverpool side of the 1970s and 80s?

But one debate on social media appears to have caught the eye of Sheffield Wednesday legend Carlton Palmer, who was quick to jump in and give his opinion.

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Barry Bannan and John Sheridan have both been exceptional players for Sheffield Wednesday.placeholder image
Barry Bannan and John Sheridan have both been exceptional players for Sheffield Wednesday.

Palmer played 227 league matches for Wednesday across two spells and won the Rumbelows Cup alongside Second Division promotion with the Owls in 1991 before playing an integral part in the side that made it to both domestic cup finals two years later.

He earned 18 England caps while a Wednesday player and has since go on to act as a pundit on Owls matches since his return to England last year.

And tagged in a back-and-forth comparing current Hillsborough star man Barry Bannan with John Sheridan and whether Bannan would have made the famous Wednesday midfield of the early 1990s, Palmer replied: “Barry is a good player, but please.

“He has had a great season in League One, he would never have got a kick against me. Struggled in the Championship and not Premier League. Owls fans are loyal and I love them – would not have got in our team never mind ahead of me.”

Bannan has played over 300 matches for the club he now captains and last season won armfuls of awards, becoming only the third player in Wednesday’s history to win the player of the year award more than once.

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