Billy Gilmour urged to quit Norwich after Scotland midfielder subjected to 'back to Chelsea' chant

Cheikhou Kouyate of Crystal Palace battles for possession with Billy Gilmour of Norwich City during the Premier League match at Selhurst Park. (Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images)

In videos circulating on social media, a number of Canaries fans could be heard singing 'f*** off back to Chelsea' in a chant apparently aimed at the Scotland midfielder, who is currently on loan from the London club.

This is despite statistics showing the 20-year-old was among Norwich's best performers on the day as he had more touches, made more tackles, and completed more passes than any of his teammates.

Dean Smith's side are currently bottom of the Premier League and appear certainties for relegation to the Championship with just two wins from their opening 19 fixtures and a goal difference of -34.

Gilmour's situation was discussed on talkSPORT on Wednesday morning with pundits in agreement that the loan should be terminated as Gabriel Agbonlahor insisted staying at Norwich would be “wasting six months of his career”.

“I can’t believe the audacity of the Norwich fans to chant that,” Agbonlahor said. “I hope it’s a small section from the away fans, I hope that home fans wouldn’t sing that.

“He’s a 20-year-old footballer, we’ve seen what he’s done in a Scotland shirt, seen what he’s done for Chelsea.

“If I’m Chelsea, I’m bringing him back now. Pack your stuff, get yourself back and we are going to find you a club in January that are going to play to your strengths.

“He’s playing with Championship players, they’re not good enough. He needs to play with players who want to play football and his sort of football.

“He’s going to waste six months of his career staying there until the end of the season. I would drag him back.

“Sometimes fans want a scapegoat, so they are picking on a 20-year-old loanee. They would be worse off without him.

“They are losing 3, 4 or 5-0, without him they’d be losing 8-0 as he’s a quality player. I’m sure Dean Smith will speak about it when he next does an interview and will be disappointed he’s had such stick.”

Host Ally McCoist also weighed in, comparing Gilmour's situation with that of his Stamford Bridge teammate Connor Gallagher, who has broken into the England squad after moving on loan to Crystal Palace.

“I said at the time that I wasn't convinced that that particular club was a good move for him,” McCoist said. “He’s the type of player that likes to play football and pass through teams.

“I’m not sure Norwich are that sort of team.

“Connor Gallagher’s gone to Crystal Palace who are an attack minded team a Palace side as I've seen in a long, long time. They’re incomparable to Norwich, who don’t have that.”

Paul Parker meanwhile believes the Gilmour should look to escape Carrow Road for the sake of his development and questioned why he went to Norwich in the first place.

“I didn’t hear it [the chants] but I’m sure Billy would’ve heard it,” Parker told talkSPORT.

“If you’re him and you’re Chelsea you’re wondering what he’s actually gaining from being there. All he’s getting is 90 minutes under his belt.

“He doesn’t need that. Everyone knows how good he is, he’s just at a club which is not him. When you see him playing for Scotland but more when he’s playing for Chelsea you saw how good he was.

“He’s having to do so much in this team. It’s very, very difficult for him. It’s not just about him, there are many players letting this football club down.

“When Gilmour signed [for Norwich] I thought ‘oh, that’s a strange one.’

“Norwich is a lovely club in a great part of the country but when you look at your football career and want to get to that next level, you want to be around the best players you can be. He hasn’t got that at Norwich.

“Did he get a choice? If there were choices then the other choices would’ve been better than Norwich.

“It’s not doing him any good playing there, it could be ripping him apart.”

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