JAMES WILSON should relish every second of his time with Scotland. Take it all on board and not be daunted is my advice.
I know what it's like when you first go in there and it can be frightening... seriously.
It's good for Steve Clarke just to take him and get him involved in terms of the bigger picture, have him around the squads so he's getting that experience of training with the international boys - because you need it.
Craig Levein gave me a call-up for a senior squad in 2011 and it was a wonderful moment.
I was buzzing, as you would expect. But my God, what an eye-opener.
The time I went away, I knew Kenny Miller, for example, was a really good player. You only had to look at the teams he was playing for and the level he was operating at in his club career,
But on the first day we trained, we did a box thing - a three-minute drill.
I was against Kenny and I swear I didn't touch the ball once. Now 30 seconds without touching the ball in one of those drills is a long time, never mind three minutes.
It got embarrassing.
I remember going back to the hotel and thinking, 'Holy ***. I'm absolutely miles off it'. Wow, there are levels.
I'm the same as anyone else. You watch guys on TV and think, 'Aye, he's a good player and everything'. But the levels were astounding.
Darren Fletcher was there, Barry Robson, Gary Caldwell was the same in the manner that he passed the ball in to you. The pressure put on to you... it was a huge realisation.
These boys were playing for massive clubs. Phil Bardsley was at Sunderland, Kenny at Rangers.
I was always confident in my own ability but I then realised these boys are so good and we are only a smaller nation - can you imagine going into an England, a France or a Spain camp?
So it was a big realisation for me but one I thoroughly enjoyed. It made me see just how far I was from the very top.
I was at Hearts at the time and trained hard.
But there were days when you could go through the motions and just about get by. That full week I was with Scotland, there was never a slip.
I tried to take it back into my club training as I was desperate to get back involved. I realised I would need to train and play to the very highest of my abilities to even get another call-up.
It was an incredible experience but one that made me realise just how far off the mark I was at times.
Working alongside these top boys can only be good for Wilson's growth at 18 years of age.
You look at the way he has come into the first team at Hearts...
I know what it's like when you first go in there and it can be frightening... seriously.
It's good for Steve Clarke just to take him and get him involved in terms of the bigger picture, have him around the squads so he's getting that experience of training with the international boys - because you need it.
Craig Levein gave me a call-up for a senior squad in 2011 and it was a wonderful moment.
I was buzzing, as you would expect. But my God, what an eye-opener.
The time I went away, I knew Kenny Miller, for example, was a really good player. You only had to look at the teams he was playing for and the level he was operating at in his club career,
But on the first day we trained, we did a box thing - a three-minute drill.
I was against Kenny and I swear I didn't touch the ball once. Now 30 seconds without touching the ball in one of those drills is a long time, never mind three minutes.
It got embarrassing.
I remember going back to the hotel and thinking, 'Holy ***. I'm absolutely miles off it'. Wow, there are levels.
I'm the same as anyone else. You watch guys on TV and think, 'Aye, he's a good player and everything'. But the levels were astounding.
Darren Fletcher was there, Barry Robson, Gary Caldwell was the same in the manner that he passed the ball in to you. The pressure put on to you... it was a huge realisation.
These boys were playing for massive clubs. Phil Bardsley was at Sunderland, Kenny at Rangers.
I was always confident in my own ability but I then realised these boys are so good and we are only a smaller nation - can you imagine going into an England, a France or a Spain camp?
So it was a big realisation for me but one I thoroughly enjoyed. It made me see just how far I was from the very top.
I was at Hearts at the time and trained hard.
But there were days when you could go through the motions and just about get by. That full week I was with Scotland, there was never a slip.
I tried to take it back into my club training as I was desperate to get back involved. I realised I would need to train and play to the very highest of my abilities to even get another call-up.
It was an incredible experience but one that made me realise just how far off the mark I was at times.
Working alongside these top boys can only be good for Wilson's growth at 18 years of age.
You look at the way he has come into the first team at Hearts...
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Daily Record (Digital) - 1 Issue, March 20, 2025