Billy Gilmour voted WAB August 2023 Brighton Player of the Month

September 12, 2023September 12, 2023 WeAreBrighton.com 0 Comments

Having finished the 2022-23 season so strongly, Billy Gilmour has continued where he left off by being voted WAB August 2023 Brighton Player of the Month.

It seems mad to think Gilmour started only his third Premier League game for the Albion at the end of April. His performance that day when Brighton hammered Wolves 6-0 was far removed from any seen over the previous eight months of struggle which had followed his £9 million move from Chelsea.

There were two reasons why Gilmour took so long to make an impression. The first was that he had Alexis Mac Allister, Moises Caicedo and Pascal Gross ahead of him in the midfield pecking order. The second emerged in May when a woman pleaded guilty to stalking Gilmour.

With that ordeal over and Mac Allister and Caicedo having been sold, Gilmour now finds himself a happier man receiving a greater amount of playing time.

The result is Billy Gilmour being a popular winner of our Brighton August 2023 Player of the Month award, taking 42.05 percent of the vote.

He was only named amongst the substitutes for the 4-1 opening day win against Luton Town before coming into the starting XI for the trip to Wolves.

Gilmour made the most of the opportunity with a superb display in the middle of the park, the highlight being a brilliant 50 yard raking pass which sent Julio Enciso clear to set up Solly March for the third Brighton goal.

Just one of the 70 passes Gilmour played did not reach its intended recipient, whilst he had a 100 percent pass completion rate in the final third.

The irony of Gilmour seamlessly replacing Caicedo has not been lost on anyone. Chelsea have in effect paid a British record £115 million to try and fix a midfield problem that would probably not exist had they not sold Gilmour to Brighton for £9 million a year ago. Great businessman, that Todd Boehly.

Solly March finished runner up to Gilmour in August Player of the Month having scored three goals in three games.

A lovely header got the rout of Luton started, followed by two clever finishes with either foot at Wolves. As a result, March led the Premier League Golden Boot race for a brief week.

He also found himself in the conversation for a place in the England squad for the September internationals against Ukraine and Scotland.

But despite March grabbing his brace past Wolves with Gareth Southgate watching from the stands at Molineux, Southgate let his phobia of Brighton players rule and so March was not called up.

Third place in August Player of the Month went to Kaoru Mitoma, who just about managed to hold off the challenge of Pervis Estupinan by 2.36 percent of the vote.

Mitoma picked up the BBC Match of the Day August Goal of the Month award for his Diego Maradona-esque individual goal against Wolves.

But his August was about much more than running 50 yards up the pitch with the ball at his feet, past five Old Gold defenders and finishing beyond Jose Sa.

Mitoma also claimed an assist in the win over Luton after cutting in from his left flank and delivering a typically pinpoint cross onto the head of March.