Gilmour The Great

Date: 19th June 2021

We asked our team to turn up and be brave at Wembley. 

What we got were heroes and warriors! 

Stephen O’Donnell might have been criticised on Monday but last night he produced a superb performance. Scott McTominay returned to the central defence and was assured. Grant Hanley has probably been our player of the tournament. Kieran Tierney returned from injury and was top class. Che Adams gave us something different up front.

Every Scottish player who took to the field was an absolute star!

Before the game a lot of the Tartan Army were calling for young Billy Gilmour to start. Steve Clarke answered our calls and Billy certainly didn’t let us down. For me, the Chelsea man was our top player.

The twenty year old grew into the game and started to make the Scotland midfield tick, while at the same time keeping the ball away from the much heralded English engine-room.

ITV Co-commentator Lee Dixon in the first half in hour continually said Gilmour looked tired and overawed by the occasion. I have no idea what game he was watching and Uefa agreed with my assessment: 

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Congrats, Billy Gilmour! Star of the Match on his first Scotland start 👏👏👏#EUROSOTM | @Heineken | #EURO2020 pic.twitter.com/jNTdIah8iN

— UEFA EURO 2020 (@EURO2020) June 18, 2021

Gilmour was stunning on the ball and would always look for it from his teammates. In total the Ardrossan native touched the ball fifty time, made forty-four passes in total and boasted a passing success rate of 91%. He didn’t just pass the ball around either, he got into people’s faces like club teammate Mason Mount. He won two tackles and was constantly on the heels of the English team. 

All this was in Billy Gilmour’s first international start. He was thrown to the lions (pun intended) and he fought them off and he shined. 

Scotland as a whole were all stars last night but Billy Gilmour gave us the glimpse of a real superstar!

I thank our fantastic coach Steve Clarke for having the balls to select that team and making Billy Gilmour our lynchpin.

We now move forward and wait for the Croatia, with a chance of finally getting into the all important next round. 

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