BRAVE NEW WORLD
Carver says fearless Gilmour will be Scotland mainstay for many years
John Carver believes “fearless” Billy Gilmour is the future of a new era for Scotland where fortune favours the brave.
The Englishman is now an integral part of Steve Clarke’s backroom team and has earmarked the Chelsea kid as the onf ield leader for the current campaign and those which lie ahead. As Gilmour continues to rack up man- of-the-man awards in the dark blue, Carver praised the on- loan Norwich City midfielder for the ease with which he has taken to senior international football.
He said: “Since he has come into the group he has been fantastic.
“Billy turned 20 after the Euros but you see the maturity he has.
“Playing regular football in the Premier League will benefit Chelsea and it is going to benefit us. “For such a young lad he is a leader. When you are behind, when it is difficult and you need to be brave to get on the ball he will do that.
“He will receive the ball in tight situations – he showed that against the Faroe Islands.
“He has maturity beyond his years which is great to see. He has good players around him as well.”
Carver admits the attention Gilmour is now getting from opposition managers is no surprise.
And he would earmark the playmaker as the main danger if he was planning to shut Scotland down.
He said: “If I was the opposition coach and I had watched the videos before we played them I would get someone to shut Billy down if I could.
“He is the focal point, the dangerman. It is up to us as a team to find another way of getting through the opposition.
“If teams are doing their jobs properly they will target Billy for sure.
“But he is good enough to receive the ball when someone is tight to him and up his back.
“That is what
I l ike about him more than anything – he do e sn’t g o missing in the game. He will look to get on the ball no matter the circumstances.
“He has a huge personality and is fearless. His characteristics are huge courage and bravery.
“He wants to get on the ball and make things happen.
“The way Billy is, hopefully he is going to dominate international football for a long period of time.
“He is something we need in the team and we are building on it.”
The former Newcastle assistant boss helped guide Scotland to back-to-back wins over Israel and the Faroes.
And he admits watching Clarke’s celebrations after the late winner over the Israelis at Hampden last Saturday was a walk down memory lane.
A win over Moldova next month would book a World Cup play-off spot and Carver insists the national manager’s sprint down the touchline was a rare moment when he allowed his mask to slip.
He said: “I’ve not seen Steve move as fast as that for a few years. It reminded me of Peterborough boss Barry Fry when I was with Newcastle.
“When Posh took the lead against us Fry set off on one and ended up at the corner flag.
“That did cross my mind. One or two people have also said his sprint reminded them of Jose Mourinho when he did it at Old Trafford.
“Steve was definitely quicker than Barry. He has emotion and I think the emotion came out.
“When you’ve got a team who stuck to their task and got their rewards in the dying seconds, all that emotion comes out. It’s unusual, I’ve not seen it often from him.
“But he reverted back to type and was composed in the Faroes. You have to be calm and clear in your thinking.
“We had a few big decisions to make during the game because the first half wasn’t great but that’s the first time I’ve been to the Faroes.
“The surface is different to anything I’ve been on before.
“There’s so many different types of artificial pitches.
“I’ve been in America, to Toronto, but this was different again.
“Warming up I knew that it was totally different the way the ball was reacting.
“Maybe that’s one of the reasons it took us a bit of time. We were sloppy with our passing but it might have been down to that.
“Other countries have struggled there and it took us a while to break through.
“We’d take the exact same in Moldova if it gets us three points.”