'Real passion', 'shouldered responsibility', 'valued my input', 'driven' - Liam Palmer on the Sheffield Wednesday managers who shaped him

Palmer has spoken exclusively to The Yorkshire Post ahead of his testimonial against Leganes.

You can read the full interview in this weekend's sports edition, but here he runs the rule over some of the bosses he has worked under.

ALAN IRVINE

"The way he treated me as a first-team player, I wasn't looked upon as a young kid, he gave me the same licence as everybody else.

"It made me confident enough to pit myself against the players.

"He gave me my debut so I'll always be thankful for Alan."

GARY MEGSON

"His management style was totally different (to Irvine's) but he'd got real passion and that's a quality of his that I really liked.

"He was able to portray that through the players. Up to now he's probably the manager that has still done that the most."

RONNIE MOORE

"When I went on loan to Tranmere Rovers, Ronnie Moore was probably a big influence that I've never really spoken about too often but he was a really approachable character, more so than my managers in the early days at Sheffield Wednesday where similar to a lot of young players you don't have that relationship with a manager where it's such an open dialogue and it's a bit like headteacher vibes when you're younger and you just want to say the right things.

"But he was really down to earth on a level with the players and that probably went hand in hand with Tranmere as a club.

"That's how he got his message through to the players by being a friend and it worked really well for that team and that club."

STUART GRAY

"He was one I really enjoyed playing for. He gave you a lot of encouragement, a lot of freedom, was never really one to shout and bawl, which at that stage in my career was quite helpful, I'd say. Young players are going to make mistakes coming into the first team.

"He shouldered a lot of the responsibility himself when things weren't going well, which I admired at the time."

CARLOS CARVALHAL

"Carlos was a big hero for the club but not so for myself, if I'm honest.

"I found myself playing one in every three games and it was always the tougher games where we weren't really expected to get a result.

"But it was a successful period where the players who were playing could more or less do what they want and the players that were 14, 15, 16 (in the pecking order) found it a bit more difficult. I fell into that category."

DARREN MOORE

"I was a lot older and my role changed during his time within that team. He leant on me a lot in terms of asking how the dressing room were feeling, 'What do you think about this?' 'I'm thinking about doing this.'

"He really valued my input. At that stage of my career I really found a new sense of responsibility and being seen as a leader in the dressing room, which I've enjoyed since.

"I'd be in his office quite often and it'd be very much on a level in terms of the way that he spoke to you and his staff as well.

"I'm not sure if that was because I was older, approaching 30, but having the honest relationship, I really enjoyed working under Darren.

"Even if you weren't playing, which I was in the main, you kind of still respected his approach and his openness to treating everyone the same. He was a really nice man.

"We shared disappointment but the way he used that and rebuilt the team to go on and have a successful promotion wasn't easy.

"I think he did a great job."

XISCO MUNOZ

"Xisco's time was difficult for everyone and me in particular on the back of a really good season (in 2022-23).

"I had a double hernia operation and found it difficult not being on the training pitch at the start of Xisco's tenure. I wasn't able to affect things on the pitch and I wasn't learning the way they wanted to play and things.

"When I was given a chance in the team and the team wasn't doing great it never worked.

"But as a person I really got on with him. I had a good relationship with him off the pitch and enjoyed working with his staff but for whatever reason it didn't work out."

DANNY ROHL

"He's very driven, new ideas, a lot younger.

"In the beginning it was tough. I wasn't playing much under Xisco and found myself out of the side for the first six games, not even making the bench or squads. Off the back of a really successful season and getting player of the year it was something I found difficult in the early part of Danny's management.

"But I got my chance and was able to stay in the team as results picked up.

"It opened my eyes to a different way of learning and working and that was something I was keen to get across to Danny, that I am open to learning new ways and the demands that come with it.

"I think he just saw an older player that had been there a long time and probably assumed that I would struggle to adapt but me being me, now he can see I really enjoy working under him.

"He'll manage at the top level for sure. I'm looking forward to what this season can bring."