Palmer on second trial stint at Houston Dynamo
Jamaica’s utility player Lovel Palmer is back at USA Major League club Houston Dynamo for his second trial stint after impressing during the first, in which he scored a 35-metre screamer against FC Dallas.
Recently, Palmer, the former Harbour View captain, as well as Tivoli Gardens’ striker Navion Boyd went on a one-week trial alongside several players from other countries before both returned home last week.
Clyde Jureidini, general manager at Harbour View, did confirm to the Observer that Palmer left the island last Thursday for Houston Dynamo, but was unwilling to provide any other information.
However, a check on the Houston Dynamo’s website revealed stories, videos and pictures of Palmer in action last Friday.
Palmer, 25, the brother of World Championships 100m hurdles champion Brigitte Foster-Hylton, earned a second trial stint after impressing in a holding midfield role in a 3-5-2 formation, but it is understood that head coach Dominic Kinnear wanted to look at him again in a 4-4-2 formation.
“He obviously scored a great goal that stood out, but it was also the way he worked on and off the ball,” coach Kinnear was quoted on the club website as saying.
“He tried to get on the ball, he broke up plays, and he tackled — sometimes very hard — which we like in that position. He was clean with the ball and made good decisions.”
Palmer returned and began training with the club last Friday and is expected to play in another friendly against Chicago Fire on Thursday.
“It was important that he be here for the Chicago game, since that’s another MLS team, to see how he plays against them,” Kinnear said. “He did pretty well against New York and Dallas, but it’s a different formation — we’ll probably go back to our 4-4-2 — so we want to see how he handles that, and we want to see how he mixes in with the locker room. I think he’s done well so far.”
Palmer is tipped to fill the defensive midfield spot vacated by the offseason departure of American international Ricardo Clark to Eintracht Frankfurt in Germany.