Alex Palmer
Apps 31 Clean Sheets 13
Best Outing – Oxford (H)
All good buildings have a solid foundation and all good football teams have a strong spine from back to front. That starts with a keeper who commands his area, deals with crosses and doesn’t need to put on a show for anyone. That is Alex Palmer, a stopper who is both unassuming and yet standout at the same time. When he is called into action, he does what you want a keeper to do – stops shots, claims crosses and goes to feet where it might just hurt. There is no showboating, not a single save is ever made for the cameras, which you can’t say about every keeper. He’s dependable, solid and reliable and rarely makes an error, which is unusual for a keeper. Could he be blamed for the Shrewsbury goal at all, where playing out from the back resulted in a defeat? Maybe, maybe not, but to have just one incident which sticks in your mind after 31 outings shows how good he has been. I do recall that big double save against Oxford and have to cite it as his standout moment because just like a team needs a strong foundation, a season needs a strong start as a basis to push on. He pulled off a sensational double save in a game that started this wonderful campaign off.
Paul Hunt says – I believe having watched every single game he is going to be the difference between us getting promoted and not. Take Saturday at home against Northampton, we didn’t play well and few crosses came in and he came and commanded, same again at Portsmouth against a former player in Sean Raggett who many I presume would pose a threat in the air. I just believe that he is the outstanding consistent performer and I know we have lots of others but we need to keep the opposition out to create for the flair players in the team. I use to watch David Felgate week after week and never have seen a better keeper at Lincoln since until now.
Mark – A
Sean Roughan
Apps 11 Goals 0
Best Outing – Charlton (H)
Young Sean looked to be the find of the season in his first few matches, but he has slowly dropped down the pecking order. He hasn’t started a league game since early November, and it feels a bit as though he’s been taken out of the limelight on purpose. I did wonder if it might be because a big club were preparing a chunky bid, such was the impact the youngster had at the start of the season, but I now wonder if maybe MA feels it is best to let him develop a little without the pressure piling upon him. remember, this is a young lad of just 17 who came from nowhere to play out of position at left-back during our early season run. Taking away the fact he has disappeared somewhat, the potential Sean harbours hasn’t changed at all. Standing back from his recent omission, he has still exploded onto the scene and he is still one of the talking points of the season.
Steve O’Dare says – He made a pretty good impact early in the season but now appears to be third in line at RB and never going to get on at CB. He should now be out on loan to help his development.