Gilmour a revelation and young Scots showed plenty of promise in Toulon, insists Mcfadden
Scotland Under-21s’ performances at the Toulon Tournament show there is plenty of promise in the youth ranks, according to assistant coach James Mcfadden.
Scot Gemmill’s side suffered semi-final disappointment at the hands of England for the second year in a row, before then missing out on emulating another third-place finish when beaten on penalties by Turkey in Martigues.
The Scots, though, beat both France and South Korea earlier in the competition.
Mcfadden is confident the experiences taken on board over another promising summer will set the squad up for the challenges ahead. “We have got some exciting young players coming through. We lost again to England, which is never nice, but the positive is that the future looks bright for Scottish football,” Mcfadden said.
“Last year we beat Brazil [at the Toulon Tournament], this year we beat France, and it is all about carrying that on now into the national side now, the senior set-up. Hopefully the young kids can do that.”
Chelsea’s 16-year-old Billy Gilmour has impressed in midfield and was voted ‘Revelation of the Tournament’ at Toulon.
Mcfadden hopes the former Rangers youngster, who turns 17 today, can continue his progress for both club and country.
“He is obviously a young player with a massive profile, having chosen to go down to Chelsea,” said Mcfadden, who was appointed as part of the coaching set-up under new Scotland manager Alex Mcleish.
“A lot of eyebrows were raised down here because it looked like he was giving up on a chance of first-team football, but he has done really well in the under-18s set up down there, winning everything going for them.
“He has made the step up to the under-20s and under-21s with Scotland. He won an award for revelation of the tournament, so that tells you all you need to know about him.
“At the moment he is progressing well, and hopefully that continues because he looks like being a big prospect.”
0 Billy Gilmour: Award.