Keith wanted Gilmour front and centre at the last Euros and believes he's about to grab his Scotland moment in Germany.
Three years ago, Steve Clarke wasn’t entirely convinced that Billy Gilmour was ready to take the world stage by storm.
Yes, Gilmour was drafted into the group at the eleventh hour for warm up matches against the Netherlands and Luxembourg. But only because the battle against an ongoing global pandemic allowed the man in charge to slip a couple of wildcards to his travelling party without forcing his hand into making what may have felt like a wholly uncharacteristic and slightly reckless gamble.
It was perfectly typical of those particularly wretched times that he would subsequently test positive for covid and be ruled out of doing the same all over again in the final group game against Croatia. Gilmour should have been allowed to come of age at that tournament. Instead, he’s had to wait until this very moment and, along the way, his continued participation in Clarke’s planning has not always been guaranteed.
Gilmour owes Clarke a debt of gratitude for having the courage of his managerial convictions. And now the whole country might have cause to feel the same. And it’s all perfectly understandable too, given the frustratingly stop-start nature of Gilmour’s progression since Scotland last clambered onto the global stage. But, even so, this does feel like Gilmour’s moment has finally arrived. And that Clarke has been carefully planning for it all this time.
Put simply, Gilmour could become Scotland’s difference maker over these next few weeks which is why it was a relief to see him
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