Former Hibernian forward Tam McManus has revealed that Chelsea and Scotland sensation Billy Gilmour is second to none when it comes to attitude and professionalism on the pitch.
Gilmour, who was named ‘Revelation of the tournament’ at the Toulon tournament earlier in the summer, is a graduate of the Scottish FA’s performance schools.
The Chelsea midfielder became the first graduate of the academy to play, captain and score for Scotland Under-21s at the age of 16.
McManus is currently working in a coaching role in one of the Performance Schools in Motherwell and revealed that he was invited to help out by Andy Goldie, the person who played a crucial role in developing Gilmour at such a young age.
The former Hibs attacker says that Gilmour’s rise to prominence is purely down to his hard work and commitment at such a young age.
"I am fortunate now to be in a coaching role with the Scottish FA on a daily basis at Braidhurst High, which is one of the Performance Schools in Motherwell”, McManus wrote in his column for the Herald.
“I was invited in to help by Andy Goldie who played a big part in the development of probably one of the stand-out graduates of the Performance School to date – Billy Gilmour of Chelsea.
“Billy became the first Performance School graduate to play, captain and score for Scotland U21s at the Toulon Tournament at the age of just 16.
“I must confess, I had heard a lot about Gilmour, but hadn’t seen much of him until that tournament. He was outstanding.
“He played with a maturity and a hunger that belied his tender years but it came as no surprise to the coaches who had nurtured him from 11 or 12 years old.
“Billy was always first on the training pitch and last off it. He was coachable and took on board everything he was being told.
“Just two days after receiving the Best Breakthrough player award at the Toulon Tournament he was putting in the hard work at the gym down at Chelsea, not off on holiday and drinking with his mates.
“He didn’t take a break. And he certainly didn’t let that award go to his head.
“I mentioned the word hunger and that for me is the key to the success of guys like Gilmour and fellow Performance School graduate, Harry Cochrane of Hearts”, he added.
Gilmour scored on his debut for the Chelsea Under-23 squad in the Premier League 2 and has attended training sessions with the senior team at Cobham.
