“They’re too comfortable”: Sheffield Wednesday legend Carlton Palmer blasts attitude of modern players

And the former England international, who played over 200 times for the Owls across two spells, pulled no punches in lambasting the attitude of modern footballers when asked about the leadership qualities shown during his time at Hillsborough.

Wednesday boss Garry Monk has repeatedly questioned the attitude and culture at the club, admitting in his post-match press conference after the 5-0 defeat at Brentford that until it changes the club ‘will never, ever be successful’.

Speaking on the Quickly Kevin podcast, Palmer revealed that during his time at S6 senior players took it upon themselves to drag themselves out of a poor run of form while under the management of Trevor Francis.

“We were going through a bad run and Viv [Anderson] and Danny [Wilson] called a meeting,” Palmer said. “The meeting got very heated. We said at the time that Trevor Francis couldn't control our dressing room because he couldn't deal with the big characters in there. We decided we would sort it out for ourselves.

“Players were told who was doing it, who wasn't doing it and what we had to do. A lot of it comes back down to the players. You can have the manager but the players now get the manager the sack, that is as simple as it is. If they down tools, the manager gets the sack.”

Speaking on the attitude of modern footballers Palmer said: “That's the problem with today's game now. Players are too comfortable, not all players, but a lot of players are comfortable in the game. They earn too much money and they're not prepared to challenge the manager, and you should if you don't agree on something, you should say something and challenge other players if they're not doing it.

“Especially now in this day and age, the games gone a long way from the ordinary man in the street now. It's expensive to take your two kids. The least they should expect is players giving 110 per cent. So if players aren't doing that, players should get onto other players. You don't see enough of it in today's game.”