Hearts head coach Wouter Vrancken has revealed that James Wilson has made an instant impression on him, praising the Scotland international's 'coachability' and movement after returning from an unsuccessful loan spell at Tottenham Hotspur.
Wilson's Return and Vrancken's First Impressions
The 20-year-old forward spent the second half of last season on loan at the English Premier League side, but Tottenham decided against signing him on a permanent deal. Wilson has now returned to Tynecastle and is eager to prove himself under the new Belgian coach.
Vrancken told reporters: 'I didn't tell anything, I treat him like every other player. I think he did well. I like his movements. I like the coachability, let's say. I like that he's involved and he asks things and he wants to do good and I cannot expect more.'
He added: 'I like his movements, positioning in the box also and you also see the goal he made. It looks simple, but it's a good movement and in the first half, he did some good runs, good positioning. A young guy. It's nice to work with.'
Fresh Start for the Entire Squad
Vrancken insisted that every player, including Wilson and Yan Dhanda who was on loan at Dundee last season, has a clean slate under his management. 'New coach also and fresh start for everybody. You feel it also that guys want to take their moment. Also, James did very good, I think, in the friendly already. But for me, it's good to see because it's a different approach,' he said.
The Belgian coach acknowledged that some players may need time to adapt: 'I think when I see my previous teams, you also always have players who need a period of adaptation. So you'll never know. So everybody, yeah, fresh start.'
Pre-Season Progress and Squad Updates
Vrancken has worked with the majority of his squad during their pre-season camp in Spain, where they played a bounce game against St Mirren and are preparing for a friendly against Livingston. He expressed satisfaction with the team's attitude: 'The players are eager to get feedback or eager to get information and they played a really great season last year. The results were top, but at the same time, they are eager to learn new things and to have some other style of playing. I cannot say anything bad about those things, so I'm really happy about that.'
Regarding players yet to feature under him, such as Eduardo Ageu, Claudio Braga, and Tomas Magnusson, who are returning to fitness, Vrancken said: 'It's also difficult to say now because a lot of players like Ageu and Tomas didn't play yet. So I cannot evaluate them really properly.'
Out-of-contract midfielder Cammy Devlin has yet to decide on his future. Vrancken noted: 'I think in midfield there... like Cammy, I don't know what he's going to do because he's in recuperation. I think he's really strong. So we have to see these situations before we can say something.'
