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

[Bodian]

It's quite simple. New manager doesn't really fancy the player. Player doesn't like that because player wants to play. Ex-manager wants player and can offer all sorts of goodies. Agreement reached between two clubs.
What's so difficult to get?

Exactly. And I think it's worth remembering that this is partly why he came to Brighton in the first place. He wanted to play, and he specifically stated he wanted to play under Potter (who then pissed off to Chelsea a week later...). He obviously just wants to play, and if he's been given the vibe that he's down the pecking order - then why would he not want to move on? He partly needs to play regularly to get in the national squad too.

Not getting sold for £50m is one thing, my main concern right now is promising to make a seagull tattoo if he was sold for less than £12m.

How does this work in England @El Presidente, do the clubs need to report the exact fee at one time or another?

Just do it anyway - you know it makes sense.

Similar angst here.

When picking up Mrs Bozza on her way home from work I'll ask where she wants me to meet her. Often the response would be BGR, short for Billy Gilmour's Road.

What the hell are we going to refer to it as now?

"The road formerly known as Billy Gilmour's Road". Or 'X-BGR'. Or maybe just X - that seems to be the way of everything now....

 

[Paulie Gualtieri]

If it was that much of a steal there would have been some higher offers from elsewhere…….

Exactly, I don’t remember a bidding war breaking out for his services

 

[Guinness Boy]

I'm not suggesting to be more ITK than he is. I suggest none of us are ITK.

Two people with no horse in the race, afaik both living as much in Sussex (or at least England) as @Bozza does, have gone through the effort of sending me PMs (one here and one on Facebook) telling me otherwise. PM here said "what Bozza has heard/posted isn’t what I’ve heard", and PM on Facebook explained in some depth that the club has been trying to convince Billy to stay all summer but denying him this move (that Napoli has been pushing very hard) wouldn't be fair as they couldn't guarantee he would be a starter.

Meaning I have people claiming to be ITK telling me opposite stuff from what Bozza, also claiming to be ITK, said.
Its almost as if most town gossip is utter horseshit.

I bet those people haven’t posted full details on here and I bet those people’s phone number isn’t known by Paul Barber.

 

[pocketseagull]

And I suspect he doesn't want the role of ok we are short, now where's dependable Billy.

I'd understand the club accepting this if he had no realistic chance of getting off the bench but he was already starting for us just two games in. So it can only be that we did want to sell imo and just seems weird to spend a huge amount of money and then leave ourselves vulnerable, especially after the last half of last season.

 

[Han Solo]

I bet those people haven’t posted full details on here and I bet those people’s phone number isn’t known by Paul Barber.

You're saying Paul Barber called @Bozza to tell him that the club wanted to get rid of Billy Gilmour? Or am I misunderstanding it?

 

[DavidinSouthampton]

Why do I feel more than usually peeved about Billy Gilmour going? I couldn’t get to sleep last night through feeling cross about it. One could see MacAllister and Bissouma off quite happily even though they were heroes, Caicedo, Cucurellaand Sanchez were all d1ckheads, but Billy was a hero and a genuine bloke.
Gutted to see him go, but can’t blame him wanting to play for a coach like Conte who seemingly really wanted him. All the best!

 

[Seagull on the Hill]

Sorry to see the wee man go. I hope he is a big success in Italy.

 

[Hugo Rune]

For those going on and on about Gilmour not scoring goals, how many do you expect from Wieffer and Baleba this season and should they be sold next summer if they don't score a couple? Or is this specific for Billy?

One or two each?

The difference for me is that they’ll both eventually be required to take on a lot more defensive responsibilities. Huge tackles in midfield or centre defence. Making sure we have a proper aerial defence to help the centre backs with crosses and at set-pieces which just isn’t there with WBG and wasn’t needed under RDZ’s laissez-faire
defending philosophy.

@Hotchilidog made the perfect point in regards to Gilmour. He is not a game changer. He won’t create the perfect on-a-plate assist. He won’t score you a shed load of goals from midfield. He won’t make that decisive defensive header at a corner or brilliant tackle or interception in midfield to break up play. Hürzeler is all about game changers. And now Gilmour is all about Napoli where I’ll be following him and supporting the next stage of his career for a manager who clearly has a defined role for his limited but brilliant skill set.

 

[Bold Seagull]

For those going on and on about Gilmour not scoring goals, how many do you expect from Wieffer and Baleba this season and should they be sold next summer if they don't score a couple? Or is this specific for Billy?

I think if you’re trying to unpack why a player didn’t quite make it as a first choice starter, you do consider the factors that perhaps would go against the player, goals and assists being one area for WBG that he lacked in, perhaps physicality another, and maybe technical things only the manager/coaches pick up on.

Bissouma or Caicedo didn’t score many or create many assists, but they excelled in other areas of their game. I thought WBG was very good at times, very good rhythm of passing, but I’m not sure I’d describe him as excelling in any particular area.

 

[nickjhs]

I'd understand the club accepting this if he had no realistic chance of getting off the bench but he was already starting for us just two games in. So it can only be that we did want to sell imo and just seems weird to spend a huge amount of money and then leave ourselves vulnerable, especially after the last half of last season.

I suspect Gilmore wanted to go. After all at no point was Napoli told he wasn't for sale, he's gone for more playing time, decent food, culture and weather. From his perspective what's not to like

 

[Triggaaar]

We expect to buy players at local prices and then get pissed that we can't sell back PL prices, this is simply not sustainable.

What are local prices? We seem to pay the going rate for players. What fans are surprised about is that we've sold a player that we thought the club wanted to keep, for a lower price than we could replace him for. So maybe the club didn't want to keep him.

 

[dazzer6666]

I think if you’re trying to unpack why a player didn’t quite make it as a first choice starter, you do consider the factors that perhaps would go against the player, goals and assists being one area for WBG that he lacked in, perhaps physicality another, and maybe technical things only the manager/coaches pick up on.

Bissouma or Caicedo didn’t score many or create many assists, but they excelled in other areas of their game. I thought WBG was very good at times, very good rhythm of passing, but I’m not sure I’d describe him as excelling in any particular area.

Agree. Great squad player but seems he wants to be more than that Interesting to see if he's a first choice starter at Napoli.

 

[Javeaseagull]

I know Brighton is the centre of our universe but for Billly maybe not so much. His Scottish midfield partner has gone there and they are managed by a previous manager who knows him well. Then there is Naples! Bit of a no-brainer for me. Small profit on the transfer so less for Chelsea. Works for me!

 

[Bold Seagull]

Why do I feel more than usually peeved about Billy Gilmour going? I couldn’t get to sleep last night through feeling cross about it. One could see MacAllister and Bissouma off quite happily even though they were heroes, Caicedo, Cucurellaand Sanchez were all d1ckheads, but Billy was a hero and a genuine bloke.
Gutted to see him go, but can’t blame him wanting to play for a coach like Conte who seemingly really wanted him. All the best!

Not sure anyone ‘happily’ saw MacA, Biss and Caicedo off, just the inevitably of them moving on the bigger clubs.

We do love a devoted player who gives his all, but maybe doesn’t quite reach the grade. Think of the love for CMS and Jahanbaksh - we’re desperate for them to succeed and do well, like their success would be ours if they were just given the chances…

 

[brighton_tom]

Would have loved him to stay, but having Wieffer, Milner, Baleba, Moder, and Ayari as options for those 2 positions is fine. Then in january it looks like we'll have Gomez, and maybe even O'Riley back.

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

I liked Billy but he was a fairly standard midfielder. Yeah he could look very nice on the ball and had some nice passing, good at receiving the ball from the CBs and moving it on, but he wasn't a dribbler, wasn't box to box, wasn't a goal scorer. And without the ball I don't think he's very hot, can't really remember him being a big tackler, poor in the air. Basically there are a lot of attributes he was missing. Being neat on the ball stands out because we have a lot of possession, but I think he was far from being the complete midfielder

 

[Han Solo]

One or two each?

The difference for me is that they’ll both eventually be required to take on a lot more defensive responsibilities. Huge tackles in midfield or centre defence. Making sure we have a proper aerial defence to help the centre backs with crosses and at set-pieces which just isn’t there with WBG and wasn’t needed under RDZ’s laissez-faire
defending philosophy.

@Hotchilidog made the perfect point in regards to Gilmour. He is not a game changer. He won’t create the perfect on-a-plate assist. He won’t score you a shed load of goals from midfield. He won’t make that decisive defensive header at a corner or brilliant tackle or interception in midfield to break up play. Hürzeler is all about game changers. And now Gilmour is all about Napoli where I’ll be following him and supporting the next stage of his career for a manager who clearly has a defined role for his limited but brilliant skill set.

I disagree with it and thought Billy was a massive game changer, in the sense that he had a big part in turning a poor functioning midfield from the Everton game into a strength in the Manchester United game. Billy and Milner standing firm against their crowded central midfield is a big fat game changer compared to if they run us over - its not all about "perfect-on-a-plate assists". Keeping Bruno Fernandes away from that ball is equally important.

 

[Guinness Boy]

You're saying Paul Barber called @Bozza to tell him that the club wanted to get rid of Billy Gilmour? Or am I misunderstanding it?

You are indeed wrong yet again on this thread.

You’re a bright lad, have a think about it.

 

[dazzer6666]

I'd understand the club accepting this if he had no realistic chance of getting off the bench but he was already starting for us just two games in. So it can only be that we did want to sell imo and just seems weird to spend a huge amount of money and then leave ourselves vulnerable, especially after the last half of last season.

You're missing the player's wishes from your conclusion

 

[Bold Seagull]

I disagree with it and thought Billy was a massive game changer, in the sense that he had a big part in turning a poor functioning midfield from the Everton game into a strength in the Manchester United game. Billy and Milner standing firm against their crowded central midfield is a big fat game changer compared to if they run us over - its not all about "perfect-on-a-plate assists". Keeping Bruno Fernandes away from that ball is equally important.

Interesting take to apply game changer from one game to another. We actually lost the midfield battle a bit against MU and we’re fortunate not to go 1-2. The game changer was Baleba for Milner who tired, and Baleba put us massively on the front foot with his physicality and positivity.

WBG had a decent game though, but that was his time with us in a nutshell - decent.