Sebastien Pocognoli’s choice of striker for his New Scotland side remains impossible to predict.
One decision, however, appears far clearer: Billy Gilmour is the midfielder capable of making this Scotland team function. It was particularly encouraging to see him back in national colours in Ljubljana on Saturday afternoon, after the knee injury that cruelly ruled him out of the World Cup at the last moment.
Gilmour is still Scotland’s finest technical player. Nobody else offers quite the same qualities or control in possession.
Against stronger opposition, the 25-year-old is essentially the only midfielder Scotland have who can consistently receive the ball in tight areas, retain possession, shift the point of attack and dictate the tempo. He gives the team a way to calm matches that can otherwise become far too frantic.
Gilmour showed even more of his range during Scotland’s much-improved second half against Slovenia. With Bologna’s Lewis Ferguson providing discipline and support alongside him, the Napoli midfielder was able to move into more advanced positions and become central to some of Scotland’s most progressive play.
A key feature of Pocognoli’s Union Saint-Gilloise team when they won the Belgian title in 2025 was their willingness to move the ball forward quickly, either with sharp passing through the lines or by going direct.
Billy Gilmour produced an excellent midfield display for Scotland in the goalless draw with Slovenia
The Napoli midfielder could become the key player Pocognoli depends on in Scotland’s engine room
Once Scotland adapted to that approach after a poor and disjointed opening 45 minutes, and made changes to their shape, Gilmour came to life. He began to control the game.
He competed for second balls, drove forward whenever space opened up, demanded possession and delivered several outstanding, incisive passes that created genuine chances. He might even have found the net himself.
With the match nearing the hour mark, another forward burst ended with Gilmour finding Oli McBurnie. The Hull City striker held off his marker well before laying the ball back into Gilmour’s path.
Having scored for Napoli against Fiorentina only six days earlier, perhaps another goal was asking too much. Gilmour is not a prolific scorer, and adding more goals to his game is one area where he can continue to improve.
His side-footed attempt was well struck enough, though, and Jan Oblak produced a good save for the opposition.
More than anything, it was encouraging to see Gilmour occupying those advanced positions while looking fit, strong and a threat to Slovenia. His new, longer and more relaxed Italian hairstyle was hard to miss, too.
The highlights from that second half should provide plenty for Scotland’s coaching staff to enjoy when they assess the positives from the match. Soon after his own effort, Gilmour released Robbie Ure on the right side of the penalty area.
It would have been preferable to see the Sevilla forward drive the ball across the goalkeeper. Instead, he tried an unconvincing square pass into an empty area. That hesitation seemed to linger just beneath the surface throughout his debut.
The best pass of the match probably arrived with 12 minutes remaining.
Surrounded by several white shirts, Gilmour spotted substitute Kieron Bowie inside the box and picked him out with superb vision and precision. The Sassuolo striker’s first touch was good, and the ball sat up perfectly, but his scuffed attempt with his favoured left foot was hugely disappointing. He should have scored — and at the very least, he needed to test the goalkeeper.
Oli McBurnie’s headed attempt was saved during the second half of Scotland’s 0-0 draw
Gilmour dictated the game and looked like a player who has rediscovered his confidence
Let’s just hope Gilmour can carry on this kind of form when he returns to Serie A and nail down a regular starting place at Napoli. With Scott McTominay missing of late following heart surgery, Gilmour has been playing beside Stanislav Lobotka as a kind of double pivot and doing well.
His head coach Max Allegri has singled him out for special praise recently. That Pocognoli followed his lead at time-up in Slovenia suggests he knows Gilmour is a guy he needs to figure out how to get the best out of.
‘He is a fantastic player,’ said Pocognoli post-match. ‘I really like him. He is really the type of player we miss in the big topic of modern football — creative players who look always forward, who are always ready to find a solution with a clear game plan.
‘Also, he has a good presence around the box and is very good defensively. We’re happy he is back and we can move on with this good performance.’
Pocognoli can certainly take encouragement from a number of performances in that second period. The system worked a lot better after the break. One reason for that was that the wing-backs, Aaron Hickey and Andy Robertson, looked to be getting further up the park from the early stages.
A tactical tweak with McBurnie paid off too. In the first half, he looked to be forming a front two with Ure when Scotland had the ball and peeling off more to the left when we didn’t. In the second half, he looked like he was playing more in pockets, linking up nicely.
McBurnie has a lot to prove. The pre-2021 phase of his Scotland career offered little to suggest the 30-year-old was capable of succeeding at international level. His return to the fray yesterday — and his 17th cap — didn’t offer quite enough to totally convince, but he did pretty well all things considered. He definitely deserves another go.
He adapted well to being asked to play a different kind of role and got stronger as the game went on. The problem was that, just like Bowie and Ure, he passed up a great chance.
Having played a pass into Ure’s feet early in the second half, he benefited from a break of the ball and skipped past Vanja Drkusic to surge into the area. He should have shot immediately. Instead, he hesitated then tried to round Oblak and found the keeper too smart for him.
It might be a sliding doors moment for him. It might not. He admits himself, though, that he really needs to be scoring to make the most of this real shot at redemption.
McBurnie, Bowie and Ure all did fine yesterday. There are still three games in this Nations League quadruple-header for Pocognoli to have a closer look at them all. The problem is that they all passed up big chances — Ure also hit the outside of the post with a shot from distance at the end of the first period — and we’re still none the wiser over who the lead striker ought to be.
Pocognoli clearly likes a back three. When McTominay is back, it is hard to imagine Scotland not using him beside John McGinn in an advanced position in a 3-4-2-1 set-up. It gets all our best midfield players on the park providing they are fit. It would also mean there is only space for one centre-forward.
That’s still all up for grabs. Pocognoli really needs one of his available options to take the situation by the scruff of the neck and show he can be a gamechanger.
It’s a little different in the centre of the park. Gilmour’s back. And looking capable of taking real steps forward under a coach clearly keen to let him show his full range of capabilities.
