Josh Windass once mocked Ollie Palmer’s goalscoring claims, but has now praised him after the striker’s heroics for Wrexham against Hull City in the Carabao Cup first round
A new Wrexham signing has performed a sharp U-turn on a teammate he once labelled as “delusional”. Josh Windass joined the Red Dragons on a free transfer following his mutual departure from Sheffield Wednesday in July.
Shortly before the move, footage resurfaced on social media showing the forward taking aim at Wrexham striker Ollie Palmer. Speaking during an appearance on the Pitch Side podcast in February 2024, the 31-year-old declared he was “miles better” than Palmer, who has played a key role in the Welsh side’s rise from the National League to the Championship.
Windass made the statement after Palmer claimed that he could bag 20 goals a season in the Premier League if he turned out for Manchester City. He said: “Ollie Palmer said he’d get 20 goals for City, didn’t he? It’s absolutely delusional at the highest level. No offence to Ollie Palmer.”
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When questioned about whether he could score a few goals in the top flight himself, he replied: “But I’m miles better than Ollie Palmer. If I was getting 20 goals for Man City every year, I’d be playing for Man City. He [Palmer] doesn’t even get 15 [for Wrexham].”
The remarks could have caused awkwardness between Windass and Palmer following his arrival at Wrexham. However, he now appears to have changed his mind on Palmer after he came to Phil Parkinson‘s side’s rescue during their Carabao Cup win over Hull City on Tuesday night.
Wrexham looked to be heading out of the competition as they trailed the Tigers 3-1 in the dying embers of the first round tie at the Racecourse Ground. However, two late goals from Palmer took the game to penalties, with the home team emerging as 5-3 victors from the shootout.
Posting on Instagram after the match, Windass shared an image of Palmer celebrating one of his goals, along with the caption: “Maybe you would score 20 for Man City after all @olliep9_” His teammate took the olive branch in good humour, responding with a series of laughing emojis and a heart, before adding: “Paz law baby.”
Several other Wrexham players joined the fun, with former Premier League wing-back James McClean writing: “Hands off Pep.” Meanwhile, a supporter replied: “Ollie’s win percentage for Wrexham is better than Pep’s for City.”
Palmer has established himself as a fan favourite at Wrexham following his switch from Wimbledon in January 2022 for a then club-record fee of £300,000. His tally of 17 goals proved crucial in the club’s promotion from the National League in 2023, where they secured the title with a remarkable 111 points haul.
The 33-year-old also played his part in their successive promotions from League Two and League One. However, Palmer’s goalscoring form declined significantly last season, netting just three times in 27 appearances.
Parkinson dropped him from the starting XI during the second half of the campaign after bringing in attacking reinforcements in January. The manager recently revealed he had held talks with Palmer about going out on loan before the summer transfer window closes.
Only last week, he looked almost certain to be excluded from Wrexham’s 25-man squad for this season. But last night’s performance may have given Parkinson food for thought after his first choice no. 9, Kieffer Moore, was forced off with an ankle injury during Saturday’s 2-1 Championship opening day defeat at Southampton.
Parkinson was full of praise for Palmer after the win over Hull as he told BBC Sport Wales: “I’m so pleased for him because he’s been an iconic player for us over the last three or four years and the supporters love him.
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“When we made the decision to bring players in in January, I explained why I felt we needed to add an extra impetus into the team – and it worked because we got promotion and the two up front did really well.
“But he kept working on the training pitch and kept contributing in the dressing room. I’ve always said to him that you’ve got as much respect for that as what you’ve done in terms of as a player.”
He added: “Of course, he wants to stay and be a part of it and we’ll see how we go on in the next few weeks of the transfer window. I don’t think Ollie could have done much more tonight, and that impact from the bench we’ve seen over many years is so important.”
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