Speaking exclusively to Football FanCast, former Premier League midfielder Carlton Palmer believes the criticism that Gareth Bale has received this season has been fair.

Given the impact Bale made during his first spell at Tottenham and what he managed to achieve at Real Madrid, much was expected of him.

However, the 31-year-old has been unable to replicate the sort of form that made him such a popular figure at White Hart Lane first time round, failing to nail down a regular spot in Jose Mourinho's starting XI, including being left on the bench and featuring for zero minutes in the win against Aston Villa on Sunday.

As a result, Bale has come under fire, though ex-Manchester City and England defender Micah Richards recently came out to defend him, believing the Welsh forward has been disrespected to a certain degree.

Palmer, however, is not too sure and feels Bale should be delivering more. Discussing the Wales international, who is on loan from Real Madrid, the retired Premier League footballer told FFC:

"I think everybody would have expected that Gareth would have done better than what he's done. Of late, he's started to show signs of the old Gareth Bale, but you can't just go off what people have done in the past and say that you should give him respect.

"He's not come over to Tottenham on a free transfer and on small wages. He's come over on a huge salary. If he was honest and if Jose was honest, they would have both wanted his impact to be more."

In recent weeks, Bale's form has certainly picked up. He scored two goals in Tottenham's 4-1 win against Crystal Palace at the start of the month and another two prior in a 4-0 win versus Burnley.

However, before that, he was having very little influence on the pitch, really struggling in front of goal when called upon, making the criticism he has faced this season unsurprising.