[Albion] Napoli interested in Billy Gilmour **Sold 30/08/24**
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Gabbiano
Well-known member
Less than we sold Dan Burn for several years ago. Burn was a much more limited player than Gilmour.
There is nobody else at the club with the range of passing that Billy provided, he's always on the move, always calling for the ball and orchestrating play. He's regularly Scotland's best player, he's a Champions League winner and a PL regular.
Yes he's small and can get bullied against physical opponents, no he doesn't score goals. That's why he's not a £50m player.
His performance against Marseille last season was one of the best individual performances all year.
Can only assume that Hurzeler has said he's not needed or Gilmour has begged to return to working with Conte.
I hope we have some clever clauses in there. Bargain for Napoli. I can see him doing well in Serie A - yes it's a physical league but slower paced than the PL, more time for Billy to pick his passes.
There is nobody else at the club with the range of passing that Billy provided, he's always on the move, always calling for the ball and orchestrating play. He's regularly Scotland's best player, he's a Champions League winner and a PL regular.
Yes he's small and can get bullied against physical opponents, no he doesn't score goals. That's why he's not a £50m player.
His performance against Marseille last season was one of the best individual performances all year.
Can only assume that Hurzeler has said he's not needed or Gilmour has begged to return to working with Conte.
I hope we have some clever clauses in there. Bargain for Napoli. I can see him doing well in Serie A - yes it's a physical league but slower paced than the PL, more time for Billy to pick his passes.
BrickTamland
Well-known member
Not too against this IF Gomez is joining straight after Olympics. Otherwise it would leave us a bit light
And Burn was a bit cheap to do him a favour after years of good service.
This is really odd.
Terry Butcher Tribute Act
Well-known member
- Aug 18, 2013
- 3,685
Maybe Gilmour's numbers aren't very good when Starlizard look at the stats
Justice
Dangerous Idiot
Did you see Gomez play the other day? I really would prefer Billy.
Johnny RoastBeef
These aren't the players you're looking for.
- Jan 11, 2016
- 3,472
For anyone saying we shouldn't sell him.
If we didn't have him and were looking to sign a centre midfielder, how happy would you be if we were linked to Gomez and Gruda, and ended up with Gilmour?
If we didn't have him and were looking to sign a centre midfielder, how happy would you be if we were linked to Gomez and Gruda, and ended up with Gilmour?
Johnny RoastBeef
These aren't the players you're looking for.
- Jan 11, 2016
- 3,472
What the other day when he was awarded Mom and made 2 assists?
Gabbiano
Well-known member
Billy should do better defensively. His role was never to be shooting all the time, but admittedly he's not good at that either.
How does he compare in passing stats? Cherry picking a few stats that show him in a bad light doesn't show the full picture.
Johnny RoastBeef
These aren't the players you're looking for.
- Jan 11, 2016
- 3,472
What good is passing if it goes nowhere?
Passing is vanity, Goals and assists are sanity.
One of them is playing in the PL; one of them is playing in the USA - have the stats been adjusted accordingly?
......thought not.
Gabbiano
Well-known member
Because he passes to someone else who then gets the assist, to have the vision to start off an attack or to retain possession under pressure. What's the value of a midfielder who is good at passing - really?
He was always the first pass out of defence and forward. He's rarely in a position to score as a result, that's not his role.
Don't get me wrong, he has limitations, for someone in that role he should perform better defensively. But when he has a partner in the pivot who is more physical and can protect him a bit, he really shines.
Edit: Saying all this, I'm not against selling him. I'm against selling him for as little as £12m.
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These players don't play in the same role and also not in the same league.
I understand from Bissouma days that the NUMBER ONE ability in any defensive minded midfielder is supposedly to shoot like Socrates. The NUMBER TWO ability is to be tall as f***, because thats a British football fantasy. Lots of people on NSC has gone on about Billy not being "big enough" for Hurzeler football. This is because they're projecting their own fantasy on to the uncertainess of Hurzelian tactics. My guess, hope and firm belief is that the team won't be built around players being tall.
I'd guess that for any defensive playmaker in our team, passing stats are going to be a lot more interesting than the 0-2 long distance shots per game a player in that role could expect.
The worst part of the comparison however is that Billy Gilmour is playing in the best league in the world while Diego Gomez has been playing in the 25th or so best. Assuming he is better than Billy is like assuming you're better than Lewis Hamilton because you bet your buddy at Mario Kart.
Johnny RoastBeef
These aren't the players you're looking for.
- Jan 11, 2016
- 3,472
That we are entertaining offers for Billy and bidding for Gomez suggests that the club don't feel the same concerns over a disparity in the quality of the leagues that you do.
The fact that so few clubs are vying for him is a good indicator of his importance.
My initial point remains, if we were bidding to sign one of Gilmour or Gomez, I'd far rather we signed Gomez.
Billys passing does go somewhere though - usually to a teammate closer to the opponents goal.
You can take a look at Fulham away if you want to get that "man, it'd be quite useful to have a player who can pass forward to a team mate" feeling.
Johnny RoastBeef
These aren't the players you're looking for.
- Jan 11, 2016
- 3,472
1 assist a season suggests otherwise
Withdean11
Well-known member
Are we really that light in midfield without Gross/Gilmore?
CD/DM - Weiffer/Baleba
CM - Weiffer/Baleba/Milner/Gomez/Yalcouye/Hinshelwood/(Ayari?)
AM - (Gruda?)/Enciso/Pedro/Gomez/Facundo/Sarmiento
CD/DM - Weiffer/Baleba
CM - Weiffer/Baleba/Milner/Gomez/Yalcouye/Hinshelwood/(Ayari?)
AM - (Gruda?)/Enciso/Pedro/Gomez/Facundo/Sarmiento
If we could buy a proven PL player to fill the roll of squad player, for £12m, I'd be happy.
If we can have better options to start when fit, then great. But do you seriously think that when we've got some injuries and some tired legs, that we're always going to have better options to bring on than WBG?
I can easily see us playing games where we're thinking 'shit, it would've been handy if Billy was available'.
Now it might be that the club have enough options that even when we're down to bare bones we don't need him, in which case letting him go is the right move. But I am surprised that we're going to have that many good options.