Billy Gilmour is on the brink of a 50th cap for Scotland, with the midfielder in line to reach the landmark in Tuesday’s Nations League Group B1 meeting with Slovenia at home.
The 25-year-old Napoli player, however, is not inclined to make much of the occasion. “Overall, it’s another game,” he said, although he does admit to excitement at the prospect, with his thoughts mainly on “hopefully a good game and a win”.
“I’m always so proud to put on my national team jersey and go out there,” Gilmour said. “We’re very lucky as well. Not everyone gets to represent their country in sports.”
That understatement fits a player with no airs and graces, and the biggest headline about him this week was not his own doing: his juvenile club, Ardrossan Winton Rovers, named a stand in his honour as part of his sponsorship deal with the club he once played for.
On the pitch, Gilmour is at last winning the regular first-team starts his talent is felt to deserve, both with Scotland and at Napoli. His cause at international level has been aided in part by the absence through illness of clubmate Scott McTominay, and it has encouraged new national head coach Sebastien Pocognoli to urge Gilmour to take up the kind of more advanced positions McTominay occupied under predecessor Steve Clarke.
“It’s nice to hear that he wants me to play in a more advanced role,” Gilmour said. “If he asks me to do a job then I’ll do my best anywhere on the pitch, whether it’s in defence or up front. Most of all, I’m just happy to be playing. I know, if I’m not on the ball, I can’t be a threat as much as I want to in the game.”
Pocognoli has seen enough to hand him three starts in three games. “We try to play the football he also likes because he is really involved in terms of the connection between the defenders and high up the pitch,” the Belgian said. “With Napoli, he just started to play some minutes before the camp, but now I hope it will help him take the next step with his club.”
Gilmour set up Sassuolo striker Kieron Bowie for the opening goal of Pocognoli’s reign, sending Scotland on to a 2-0 win in North Macedonia on Saturday. Asked what had changed tactically under the new regime, he pointed to a more aggressive, front-foot approach. “As a group, you’ve seen we are aggressive and on the front foot, playing through the lines, and we’ve created a lot of chances, although we have not took as many as we’d have liked,” he said. “But we’re creating chances, the fans are getting excited and us, as players, we enjoy playing it. Of course it’s still early and will take time, but we’re doing well so far.”
His career, he concedes, has been a story of “ups and downs”. Chelsea took him from Rangers’ academy as he was about to make the Ibrox first team at just 16, and he made his Premier League debut two years later. A serious knee injury hampered his progress at Stamford Bridge, and a difficult loan at Norwich City followed before he gradually found his confidence again at Brighton & Hove Albion. It is at Napoli, where he arrived at the same time as McTominay joined from Manchester United, that he has made his reputation, winning Serie A in his first season. A groin problem at the turn of the year and then a knee injury in the final pre-tournament friendly that ruled him out of the World Cup have since interrupted him.
“Matured a lot,” was his answer when asked how he had changed since his first cap in 2021. “But, for me, I think I’m still the same player. I still want to get on the ball, get on the ball technically. I know I’m not the strongest or biggest, so I try to stay away from all that, but I try to do my best whatever I’m told to do.”
Gilmour now has the example of captain Andy Robertson, who earned his 100th cap in Skopje, an achievement the midfielder described as “incredible” and “amazing”. Even so, he already sees himself as one of the elder statesmen ready to pass on advice, recalling that he was the youngest when Clarke brought him into the squad. “Steve Clarke brought me in and I can’t thank him enough for putting his trust in me,” he said. “I think we’ve got great players in the squad – a lot of new faces also. We have experienced players who will help the youngsters, but we’ll need to take our time and be patient, but so far we’re getting to grips with it.”
Slovenia counterpart Bostjan Cesar is an admirer and is aware of the danger Gilmour poses to his side. “Billy Gilmour is a very good player in the Italian top division and he had a really good season, where he was the engine of his team,” he said. “We will try to match his skill.”