[Albion] Napoli interested in Billy Gilmour **Sold 30/08/24**

[Professor Plum]

A baffling take. They played in totally different midfield positions.

Gilmour was one of the best, if not the best, players on the pitch yesterday. Milner in contrast was in no man’s land for most of the game and had one of the worst first halves I’ve seen by an Albion player in a long time, repeatedly leaving Gilmour exposed on his own against 2-3 Utd players. He offered little in terms of passing options out, misplaced a bigger % of passes, despite most of them not being penetrative, and barely engaged in the midfield battle defensively. And then he proceeded to miss two glorious chances at the start of the second half on the back of others’ work.

The step up in performance once Milner went off for Baleba was stark.

Now, I do put part of Milner’s struggle down to the tactical demands placed on him, but irrespective of that, it was night and day between the two in terms of quality yesterday.

That’s incredibly mean to Milner who I thought had a great game. Both Gilmour and Milner put in excellent performances despite pre-match misgivings. If different people put one of the two slightly ahead of the other that’s fine by me but just to write off one of them because you’re a fan of the other is monstrously unjust.

 

[GloryDays]

To be fair to RDZ he didn't get a preseason to work on anything so he had to impose his style on the fly. Would we have amassed 62 points. If he'd maintained Potter's tactics and slowly transitioned? Impossible to say but probably not.

In the end we were 9 points off top 4. Looking at De Zerbi's first 5 matches, picking up those additional points would have been incredible.

As for Hürzeler, I agree. He may well want to make wholesale changes, which means it's smart to take his time. Especially, as we haven't assembled the squad yet.

Tbf the queen died and he had a lot of time with the squad.

 

[Oh_aye]

That may be there plan but he remains massively undervalued there. T

 

[Bakero]

Tbf the queen died and he had a lot of time with the squad.

Granted, that was a stroke of luck (RIP Liz) but he still had less than 2 weeks.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

That may be there plan but he remains massively undervalued there. T

And here. Nobody on the current Albion books threads a pass through like WBG does. Tho to be fair I might be a wee bit biased

 

[B-right-on]

I thought FH made a few points yesterday:

In his presser he said that he didn't want WBG to go (on Friday)

That he's always open with his players on his plans

That by starting WBG he's showing that he's definitely in his plans

By making 5 subs, half our outfield players, sitting on the bench at the start does not always mean you'll end up with arse ache and splinters after 97 mins

That it's very much a squad game and not just a starting XI

My total supposition is that FH would love to keep WBG as part of the squad. That he will not be always starting but is very much in the plans to get on the pitch and play when needed.

At the end of the day it looks like it's down to WBG. Does he want to stay as part of the squad and not play every game, or does he want to go to Napoli and probably start every game.

As an aside, I think the reported £15m (€17-18m) is ridiculously cheap.

 

[Baldseagull]

Is it? In what way? Tell me what Gilmour did that was so much better than Milner? I would recommend watching the game again and looking at the stats cos I think you’ll find that as tends to happen on here because he looks busy, Gilmour’s performance and influence has been over hyped.

I know some are not interested in stats but as a point of interest, Who Scored had them level rated, Sofa Score had Milner ahead of Gilmour.

First half Milner was sloppy, second half he was great. Gilmour didn't have a poor patch.

 

[Triggaaar]

Backtracking a bit already. .....

verbal agreement is done and medical is being planned (Monday), the green light’s up to Napoli if they want to proceed with formal steps etc. we see soon!

If the deal doesn't happen, I'm guessing it's because of us, not Napoli

 

[Triggaaar]

Precisely. Pearce's source will have a close connection to the club. Romano's will be an agent somewhere. As much a facilitator as a journalist.

I think you're being generous to Ramano. I imagine his source is twitter.

 

[Triggaaar]

That’s incredibly mean to Milner who I thought had a great game. Both Gilmour and Milner put in excellent performances despite pre-match misgivings.

Milner did indeed have a great game. At one moment he thought he was 20 again. But Milner hasn't been fit that much over the last couple of seasons, and his games as good as yesterday have been few and far between, so I don't think it's wise to rely on him too much now that he's another year older.

 

[highflyer]

I suspect 'assess and take a decision in January' will be featuring quite a bit in Brighton planning at the moment. Need to see how new players settle, how the system emerges, who Fab prefers and which players are happy to be rotated vs starting every week. With five subs useable, high intensity tactics and the experience of last season, we want as deep a squad as possible. We obviously do need to trim the squad (and wage bill) and where potentially brilliant young players need to playing regularly at a high level to continue development (Buenanotte and Barco) then loans are a sensible option. But for other, more 'matured' players 'wait and see' might be prefered to loan or sale. I hope this will be the case for Gilmour, but I suspect it will be his choice now.

I thought FH made a few points yesterday:

In his presser he said that he didn't want WBG to go (on Friday)

That he's always open with his players on his plans

That by starting WBG he's showing that he's definitely in his plans

By making 5 subs, half our outfield players, sitting on the bench at the start does not always mean you'll end up with arse ache and splinters after 97 mins

That it's very much a squad game and not just a starting XI

My total supposition is that FH would love to keep WBG as part of the squad. That he will not be always starting but is very much in the plans to get on the pitch and play when needed.

At the end of the day it looks like it's down to WBG. Does he want to stay as part of the squad and not play every game, or does he want to go to Napoli and probably start every game.

As an aside, I think the reported £15m (€17-18m) is ridiculously cheap.

Precisely where I am. Really hope he stays but if he wants regular starts, and a taste of Italian lifestyle, then good luck to him. He's earned it.

 

[Triggaaar]

I thought FH made a few points yesterday:

In his presser he said that he didn't want WBG to go (on Friday)

That he's always open with his players on his plans

That by starting WBG he's showing that he's definitely in his plans

By making 5 subs, half our outfield players, sitting on the bench at the start does not always mean you'll end up with arse ache and splinters after 97 mins

That it's very much a squad game and not just a starting XI

My total supposition is that FH would love to keep WBG as part of the squad. That he will not be always starting but is very much in the plans to get on the pitch and play when needed.

At the end of the day it looks like it's down to WBG. Does he want to stay as part of the squad and not play every game, or does he want to go to Napoli and probably start every game.

As an aside, I think the reported £15m (€17-18m) is ridiculously cheap.

If, as you suppose, we want to keep him, I can't understand why we'd sell him for £15m. If we don't need him, then the fee obviously helps cover a bit of our recent splurge, but if we want him to stay then £15m just seems silly. If he's needed, then letting him go will cost us points, which could be the difference between a decent season and Europe.

 

[Joey Jo Jo Jr. Shabadoo]

Milner did indeed have a great game. At one moment he thought he was 20 again. But Milner hasn't been fit that much over the last couple of seasons, and his games as good as yesterday have been few and far between, so I don't think it's wise to rely on him too much now that he's another year older.

Regarding Milners fitness last season was the first one he’d missed a significant portion of injured in a long time. His last 3 seasons with Liverpool he made their PL squad 30+ times each season, he may not have always started but he was fit and available more often than not. Obviously age takes its toll but he’s nowhere near a sick note and although I expect him to be on the bench more often than not his nouse could prove very important in closing out games in what is a very young squad in terms of PL experience in midfield.

 

[Triggaaar]

Regarding Milners fitness last season was the first one he’d missed a significant portion of injured in a long time. His last 3 seasons with Liverpool he made their PL squad 30+ times each season, he may not have always started but he was fit and available more often than not. Obviously age takes its toll but he’s nowhere near a sick note

He's never been a sick note, but he's 38 now, and that age is a big factor.

and although I expect him to be on the bench more often than not his nouse could prove very important in closing out games in what is a very young squad in terms of PL experience in midfield.

Yeah I agree. I'm not wanting to ship him out or anything, I'm simply not wanting to rely on him as a starter when deciding whether or not to let Billy go.

 

[Comrade Sam]

As has been said many times, he's been coaching for nearly 10 years. He finished playing professionally at 23 and started on the coaching trail very young.

Indeed and at Everton he showed a different plan. Man U and the 4 friendlies all involved a heavy press. However, unlike Di Zerbi at Everton that was not the case, as that has never worked.

 

[Baldseagull]

My guess is Napoli have not bid enough for us to say yes, and Gilmour doesn't want the move enough to be a pain in the arse about it.
Yesterday's performance was committed, it might encourage a bigger bid from Napoli, but it certainly wasn't a player not wanting to risk an injury that would hinder a move away.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Without trawling back over 1k posts, would be very instructive to find out who has been the driving force behind this unsettling cut-price crap. Was it:

- the Albion?
- Napoli?
- WBG?
- WBG's agent?

Can only be one of the above shirley?

 

[SeagullinExile]

Sounds reasonable.

It seems it is very much Billy's decision and the albion would be very happy if he choses to stay.

Pretty much what PB said on his Albion podcast appearance.

 

[WSU Dilettante]

Napoli have agreed terms (c€30m) for Scott McTominay, probably puts an end to the Gilmour links

 

[Gilmour Fan]

Napoli have agreed terms (c£30m) for Scott McTominay, probably puts an end to the Gilmour links

They are not linked