Daniel Farke urging caution after Billy Gilmour impresses in preseason debut for Norwich City

It may have been just 45 minutes against non-league (fifth tier) opposition, but Billy Gilmour turned a few heads over in East Anglia yesterday as Norwich City beat local side King’s Lynn Town (the re-formed version of King’s Lynn), 3-1. The occasion was certainly far from playing in the Euros at Wembley, but the 20-year-old midfielder was thrown into the cold water and chose to swim rather than sink.

That was the assessment from Norwich boss Daniel Farke, who was clearly among the ranks of the impressed.

“He is a great character. He only arrived on Thursday after some more days off for the Euros. We did some tests and his first training session was with the team on Friday morning. I wouldn’t do that with a 37-year-old but with a young player you can throw them into the cold water. He proved he could swim.”

That said, Farke isn’t getting carried away, and he’s trying to temper expectations so that others don’t either. We all have high enough expectations of Gilmour already, after all.

“We are happy to have him but we have to be realistic. We don’t want to praise him too much or put too much pressure on him [we] have to be a bit careful. [...] Let’s not talk too much, let’s being him on the pitch and let him show what he can do. He did that in this game. He showed some glimpses, some nice passes.

“Of course he has to adapt to us, how to press, when to press, and that will come.”

-Daniel Farke; source: Eastern Daily Press

Obviously, it’s just preseason, but a good start is a good start, and Gilmour should have a great chance to play a key role as Norwich try to survive their return to the Premier League.