When Antonio Conte shouts at a player, it usually isn’t a pretty sight.
As Napoli picked up a convincing 2-0 win over AC Milan in Serie A last night, the Partenopei boss was once again his vocal self and it was Billy Gilmour on the end of it.
The signing from Brighton & Hove Albion is slowly growing into his role at Napoli and in the absence of the injured Stanislav Lobotka, he has started the last three games. He started yesterday too and Corriere dello Sport note how Conte was clear about his praise for him.
The ex-Brighton came off for Michael Folorunsho in stoppage time and while he was coming off, there was an exchange involving him and Conte.
The Napoli boss approached the midfielder, smiled at him and said passionately: “Well done, what a match you played, top.”
Conte was also happy with the player at the final whistle, as Gilmour was also hugged and embraced by the staff.
That is a big positive for the player, who had started his stint at the club slowly and had to play very few minutes. Now that he is getting regular time on the pitch, he is starting to deliver the goods.
Gilmour enjoys a good relationship with Conte since their time together at Chelsea and that could prove to be vital in how things go from here.
Now the Scotsman has gone from dealing with the passionate outbursts of Roberto De Zerbi at Brighton to seeing it rise even further in Napoli.