After being given a regular shot in the first team by the former Queen’s Park Rangers and Blackpool manager after his appointment in October, Wilson scored six goals in 27 games under Critchley.

Before the club’s Player of the Year awards in Edinburgh on Sunday, the 18-year-old broke the silence on Critchley’s dismissal after interim head coach Liam Fox, captain Lawrence Shankland, and chairwomen Ann Budge blanked the Sky Sports cameras. Budge was criticized for dismissing the decision as “yesterday’s news.”

When Wilson addressed the media at a press conference to announce his inclusion as one of four PFA Scotland Young Player of the Year nominees, he was more tactile in his answers to questions about the manager’s departure.

He told Sky Sports when asked how tough the last few days have been: “Yeah, I mean, I scored in his first game and he [Critchley] gave me a lot of opportunities.” Football is involved. We need to get past this and have a strong season finale. There are four games left, and we want to win each one.

As players, we must accept some responsibility for the fact that we most likely haven’t played to our full potential on the field. We must all share that responsibility.

Since Saturday’s opponents, Ross County, are just five points behind them in the relegation play-off standings, Hearts still have four games left to play to guarantee their Premiership status.

Wilson, who is still quite young, talked maturely about Hearts’ need to win back disgruntled fans following a lackluster year.

Saying, “You hear it in the stadium,” “I was raised in the Hearts Academy, and I am aware that our current situation is not what is expected of us. We have to put up a fierce battle to return to our proper position. All we want is to end the season strong and enter the next one with a solid mindset.