Steve Clarke got Billy Gilmour Scotland timing wrong but now our best player is ready to rip it up - Keith Jackson

Three years ago, Steve Clarke wasn’t entirely convinced that Billy Gilmour was ready to take the world stage by storm.

It remains one of the few miscalculations Clarke has made during his five years as Scotland ’s manager. And, now that he and his squad have arrived here in their idyllic new home at the base of the Bavarian Alps, it’s one which is highly unlikely to be repeated over the course of the next few weeks.

In many ways, Gilmour’s dramatic international emergence back in the summer of 2021 was perfectly symbolic of where Clarke’s squad were at the time. It was almost as if, by qualifying for a first major finals since France 98 - and slipping into that tournament through a socially distanced side door via a penalty shootout - they had almost managed to catch themselves by surprise. In retrospect, Clarke’s work back then was slightly ahead of schedule.

Yes, Gilmour was drafted into the group at the eleventh hour for warm up matches against the Netherlands and Luxembourg. But only because the battle against an ongoing global pandemic allowed the man in charge to slip a couple of wildcards to his travelling party without forcing his hand into making what may have felt like a wholly uncharacteristic and slightly reckless gamble.

He had been attracted to Gilmour’s glaring ability but not completely won over by it. Which is probably why the new boy was omitted from Clarke’s starting line-up for that opening game at Hampden against the Czechs on the day that the nation was forced into accepting that this whole thing was probably a bit too much for them. And a bit too soon.

It was only after that spirit-puncturing 2-0 defeat that Clarke felt emboldened enough to throw the dice on a player who was still only 19 years old at the time. Gilmour instantly repaid the faith the manager had shown in him with a man of the match display in a 0-0 draw against England at Wembley, throughout which he ran the show from the middle of the pitch and sparked a fresh wave of Scottish excitement.

It was perfectly typical of those particularly wretched times that he would subsequently test positive for covid and be ruled out of doing the same all over again in the final group game against Croatia. Gilmour should have been allowed to come of age at that tournament. Instead, he’s had to wait until this very moment and, along the way, his continued participation in Clarke’s planning has not always been guaranteed.

When he was horribly advised into leaving Chelsea for a year long loan spell at Norwich his development was effectively put on hold for 12 months. And, then, after making a more permanent move to Brighton and failing to force his way into the first XI on the south coast for almost all of his first season there, it did begin to feel as if Gilmour’s pathway had reached a critical - perhaps career defining - impasse.

But, crucially, Clarke kept the faith throughout. The manager included the midfielder in squad after squad, even though Gilmour’s lack of game time was becoming a source of such serious concern that he no longer merited a starting place in a dark blue shirt ahead of other more deserving, match ready candidates.

Gilmour owes Clarke a debt of gratitude for having the courage of his managerial convictions. And now the whole country might have cause to feel the same.

Because, at the age of 22, Gilmour is about to be unleashed on these Euros and perhaps even prove to a largely unsuspecting international audience that we have produced a player who is close to being considered as best in class. Yes, there’s a valid argument that Clarke has players in his squad who have been, up until this point, of more importance to his team.

Callum McGregor’s name will, for example, be the first on his team sheet on Friday night against the Germans, along with those of Scott McTominay and John McGinn. There’s even an ongoing debate as to whether or not Gilmour gets a starting place at all or if the manager might prefer instead to shoehorn Ryan Christie into his line-up for the big opener at the Allianz.

And it’s all perfectly understandable too, given the frustratingly stop-start nature of Gilmour’s progression since Scotland last clambered onto the global stage. But, even so, this does feel like Gilmour’s moment has finally arrived. And that Clarke has been carefully planning for it all this time.

His ability to keep the ball in tight spaces, to thread passes through the eye of a needle and to dictate play against the very best - as he did on that rain soaked night under London’s arch - is about to be properly showcased once more.

Put simply, Gilmour could become Scotland’s difference maker over these next few weeks which is why it was a relief to see him stepping off the team bus when it arrived here late yesterday afternoon to set up camp at the squad’s picture perfect new home.

Of course, Clarke can’t take all the credit for finding this jewel of a place nestling amongst the mountains and forests on the border with Austria.n After all, Garmisch-Partenkirchen was Adolf Hitler’s idea in the first instance when he forced the twin towns to merge and host the winter Olympics of 1936.

Sitting 90 kilometres south of Munich, it’s not an easy place to reach. Two flights, five train journeys and a double six were required just to make it here ahead of the arrival of Clarke and his players but now that Scotland are in situ, it is time for them to begin the really hard work.

Lessons have been learned along the way. Scotland’s progress up until this point has been undeniable, even despite a recent run of results which might suggest otherwise and appeal to the nation’s traditionally gloomy, glass-half-empty state of mind. But, almost in spite of ourselves, this tournament is here to be embraced. And Billy Gilmour may just have arrived in time to start ripping it up.