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Derby hero Wilson aims to make the grade at Hearts and avoid academy route down south By Stephen Halliday Published: 18:30 EDT, 28 October 2024 | Updated: 18:30 EDT, 28 October 2024 e-mail View comments After scoring the goal of his dreams at Easter Road, it was back to reality for James Wilson when he turned up for class at Balerno High School the morning after. The 17-year-old didn’t have much time to revel in his derby-day heroics for Hearts on Sunday as he spent the evening completing some course work for his advanced higher in PE. Remaining grounded comes naturally to Wilson.
It’s a trait which also forms his approach to a professional career which has achieved lift-off under new Hearts manager Neil Critchley. Unlike many of his contemporaries and youth international team-mates, the striker is determined to resist the lure of English Premier League clubs who have been snaffling up the best prospects from Scottish academies in recent years. That talent drain has seen the likes of defender Charlie McArthur leaving Kilmarnock for Newcastle, midfielder Dylan Reid moving to Crystal Palace from St Mirren and striker Rory Wilson joining Aston Villa from Rangers .
Despite being very much on the radar of the English scouts, with Villa among those monitoring him closely, Wilson is determined to stay put. Wilson celebrates with the Hearts support after his late equaliser earned a draw at Easter Road After finding the net, Wilson immediately retrieved the ball because he wanted to score again Wilson is keen to learn from Lawrence Shankland, who has been a mentor to him at Tynecastle His contract is up at the end of the season but he makes it clear that he is just as keen as Critchley for a new deal to be agreed. The financial rewards of heading south would clearly outstrip anything Hearts can afford to pay him.
Wilson, though, is wary of finding himself restricted to youth or Under-21 football at one of the big English clubs. ‘The reason I stayed the last time my contract was up, and there was interest from down south, was because I wanted to play first-team football,’ he said. ‘It’s a choice that not a lot of people make.
I’m just hoping to prove there is another option here where you stay, you fight for your place, and you try and have an impact. ‘If I went down south, I don’t know where I’d be at the moment. I could be playing Under-18 football down there, so I’m just trying to prove there’s another option.
‘So, yeah, I hope to stay and sign a new contract. I hope to keep on just working hard every day, trying to do what I can do.’ The striker came off the bench to score his first senior goal in Critchley’s first game in charge, a 4-0 win over St Mirren, then repeated the trick to claim a point for Hearts against their city rivals on Sunday.
Wilson has been in and around the first-team squad since the summer after shining for Hearts B team in the Lowland League last season when he scored 14 goals. While previous boss Steven Naismith was also an admirer, Wilson now seems poised to truly flourish under Critchley. ‘As a young player, you’re never quite sure what will happen when a new manager comes in,’ said Wilson.
‘But, yeah, he’s been very good to me. It’s nice having that trust from him. It’s been important for me.
It’s been quite a quick turnaround. People tell you that in football, it’s going to change quite quickly. ‘It’s come at me quite quickly, scoring my first two goals for the first team.
The manager just tells me to keep going, keep working hard in training. ‘He wants me to have an impact on the game when I come on. He was happy last week with the goal against St Mirren and then the message was the same again against Hibs.
’ Wilson would have been excused for milking his celebrations in front of the Hearts fans behind the goal when he scored but his reaction instead made it clear he possesses a winning mentality to complement his finishing prowess. ‘I went straight into the net to retrieve the ball because I wanted to score again,’ he said. ‘I wanted to get the winner, I wanted to go and win the game.
‘The more senior boys told me to slow the game down a bit and just relax. But I was just buzzing to score against Hibs. You dream of that as a Hearts fan.
’ Wilson received the warmest congratulations for his goal from captain Lawrence Shankland who, along with fellow striker Liam Boyce, are mentors as well as team-mates. ‘Shanks was buzzing for me,’ he said. ‘Both him and Boycie are really good to me, they are guys in my position that I’ll have daily chats with.
I want to learn from them as much as I can.’ As he prepared for education of a different kind back at Balerno High, where Hearts run their own performance academy for pupils, Wilson had to find an alternative subject for his PE studies. ‘Sadly I couldn’t do the assignment about my goal against Hibs’, he said.
‘I wish I could’. Happily for Wilson, he now appears capable of writing a compelling story as a Hearts first-team player. Share or comment on this article: Derby hero Wilson aims to make the grade at Hearts and avoid academy route down south e-mail Add comment.
