Morph will own more flags than gat receipts soon
Snake Plissken
Snake? Snake!? Snaaaaaaake!
Obligatory Halloween nickname added.
Loal reporter
Callum Paterson reveals how Neil Warnock played a special role in his Cardiff City move AND recovery -
Monday 30th October 2017
By Chris Wathan
Callum Paterson has revealed Neil Warnock's instrumental role in bringing him to Cardiff City Stadium and believes he's in the best place to kick on.
The Scot made his name as a goal-scoring right-back for Hearts, but moved to Cardiff on a summer Bosman hoping to add to his five international caps.
And though the start of his season was hampered by a long-term knee injury, Paterson — who made his home bow for the Bluebirds against Millwall on Saturday — has explained how Warnock helped him through the recovery process.
Paterson also says the veteran manager was a key factor in his decision to agree terms with Cardiff back in June.
"With just the name of Neil Warnock, everyone wants to play for him," he said.
"Even when I was out injured and nowhere near the first team he knew what was happening with my recovery and when I'd be back.
"It was amazing and when I came down he showed faith in me to offer me a contract. Hopefully I can pay him back as much as I can.
"He's old school, it's nice to have that faith and backing."
Paterson made a number of impressive performances for Cardiff's Under-23s side, before entering the first team picture as a late substitute at Middlesbrough.
He then played almost an hour at right wing-back against the Lions after Joe Bennett limped off with a calf strain.
On making his home debut for the Bluebirds, Paterson said: "It's obviously a massive step for me in my rehab and to do it here at home and grind out a clean sheet, I'm really pleased.
"I'm more than happy to play in the Under-23 games, get some game time and help them, but this is where I want to be. I want to do it on the big stage. Thankfully I got more game time and showed what I can do."
Paterson is renowned for his versatility but insists he's happy to play anywhere for the Bluebirds this season
"Pick one!" he joked when asked about his favourite position.
"I'm happy to play anywhere, but right-back is my favourite position because I get to see more of the game from there. I feel like I've got a good attacking threat about me from anywhere."
With games against Ipswich and Bristol City around the corner, the Scot is desperate to play a big role having endured the frustration of sitting on the sidelines during the Bluebirds' scintillating start to the campign.
Bennett's injury may have given the 23-year-old a chance to start for Warnock's first team, after Lee Peltier switched to the left versus Millwall.
"They're massive," said Paterson about Cardiff's upcoming fixtures.
"We've got some big games coming up and we've got to keep this run of clean sheets going. We need to put this result behind us and look forward to Tuesday.
"There's a long way to go, we haven't even played everybody yet, and we have to keep going. We want to keep our destiny in our hands and make sure it's up to us."
ATTACHMENTSundefined
Walter Sobchak
over the line
Ok I have to know, how the fuck is he called Dr Funk?
Technically he hasn't done his viva voce yet and isn't a full Dr of Funk, so it's more an affectation.
Charlie Kelly
Viva Mexico!
Zizou
Drunk Cretin & Hassle Magnet
Charlie Kelly
Viva Mexico!
Gigolo-Aunt
Senior Service
Cardiff two goals to the good.
The Great Naisy
Morph is a wee wank
First of all the flag thing is a no-goer(got told well and truly I'm afraid) so I've come across this interview which is very informative especially the bit about the difference between the championship and your league.I know last year when we were after Jonny Russell the Aberdeen fans were defensive about the merits of the Scottish prem and the english championship but in this article you get it straight from someone who should know.
Interview: Callum Paterson on Cardiff and his debt to Hearts
Callum Paterson: “Every footballer in the world wants to play in the Premier League. If they say they’re not then they are lying." "Cardiff have that desire"
The Scotsman
Sunday 12th November 2017
There was a twist on the footballer heading to the wrong dressing room on a first return to his former club for Callum Paterson this week.
Scotland duty brought the 23-year-old defender back to the Oriam training centre used by Hearts for the first time since he left the Tynecastle club and moved to Cardiff City in the summer. The fact he made that switch while six months into a ten-month rehabilitation from a cruciate ligament injury meant instinctively the treatment rooms at Oriam called to him on walking through the doors of the complex.
“I know where to go, eh? The lads had to pull me back,” said Paterson with a grin. It might be considered that this impish individual hasn’t had much to cheer since he snapped his cruciate against Kilmarnock last December but that is not how he frames his existence.
Paterson can point to being included in the Scotland squad for Thursday’s friendly against the Dutch – he did not feature in the 1-0 loss – despite having made only one full senior appearance for Cardiff, which came last weekend in a defeat to Bristol City. His career is firmly back on track but he concedes there were times across the past ten months he had fears for where it was going.
He sustained the injury when his departure from Hearts was a given after his refusal to sign a new contract. Indeed, it was expected he would move on in a seven-figure deal when the transfer window opened the following month. Then, when it was known he would be out for so long, it was considered he could have a rethink and sign an extension. That way he would not have to find a new club during rehab, and Hearts could receive a proper fee for him, instead of the £400,000 compensation figure they are believed to have collected.
Paterson, who had a sell-on fee for Hearts inserted in his contract, does not feel any guilt about the Tynecastle club requiring to provide his medical attention without then receiving any recompense. He does though feel gratitude.
“They’re a massive club and they were great with me,” he said.
“Even though they knew I was going, they kept me going through my rehab, the physios kept me going. But my head was a bit of a mess because I didn’t know what was happening. Everything got sorted out in the end though but they were still good enough to keep me on.
“But I’ve sacrificed a lot in the past for them so they obviously thought it was right for me to stay. It felt horrible [before Cardiff came in, in June]. I was obviously out of contract at Hearts, nothing was happening on that front, and I was kind of stagnating.”
Patterson says that “maybe at the start” of his time out attention from other clubs did start to drift, with a number of English Championship sides having expressed interest in the summer of 2016.
“It’s a mental injury as well as a physical one so you don’t want to start dwelling on the ‘what could have beens’ and ‘what ifs’. It’s more to do with what happens from there on and clearly at that moment it wasn’t my time to go anywhere. Thankfully Cardiff showed some faith in me.
“My job was just to get fit and get playing and that’s what I concentrated on – my agent looked after the rest of it. I’m quite a happy guy in general, I’m a big believer in what’s for you won’t go by you, so you have to maintain positive thoughts. Smile that you’re alive and healthy and worry about getting fit again.”
Even an irrepressibly upbeat character such as Paterson could not escape the worries over whether he would return to the all-action, adaptable performer who was such an integral player for the Tynecastle side, and who earned five caps for his country through being so.
“Of course, 100 per cent,” he said of fretting over whether he would be restored to the same player following the ACL, as he calls the anterior cruciate ligament injury he suffered. “When I did my meniscus before, I went to a surgeon in Leeds, Dr Bolan. You always go back to people you trust. I will always be thankful to him as he has rescued my career. The operation was massive and you are pretty doped up.
“It might be a long-term injury, 90 per cent, or maybe more of that, is in the mind. You need to keep your brain healthy and get the negative thoughts out. It’s not easy to do, especially when you’re stuck in a room for nine months but thankfully I’ve come through on the other side. I’m maybe lacking in sharpness but fitness is there and I want to kick on.
“I’ve had a lot of positive people around me in the rehab room. There was another guy who had an ACL, Rhys Healey, and we’ve become good friends and it’s easy to get on with it if you got somebody who is positive. My family are positive and I had my girlfriend with me the whole way through it.”
As Paterson began to take to the pitch again – his comeback including a hat-trick for the club’s under-23 side – the six footer realised that the bustle to his game that made him such a domineering figure in Scottish games wouldn’t survive his resettling in England’s second tier. It might be something to do with genetics…
“It’s physical, a lot more physical than I thought it would be,” Paterson said. “Everyone is bigger, faster and stronger. I’m fitting in so far and hopefully I can kick on. When you’re lining up at corners it’s a bit different as well, people are taller than me and better than me in the air. It’s a bit different but it’s good to welcome a new challenge.”
Neil Warnock’s Cardiff lie third in the Championship. Paterson feels good working for “a casual, calm and assertive” Scotophile manager who is “exactly what I need”.
For the defender a “massive “ draw in going to Wales was the club’s desire to be among the elite again. “Every footballer in the world wants to play in the Premier League. If they say they’re not then they are lying.” "Cardiff have that desire."
The Comedian
Slide it up Slide it up Slide it up
A goal for the funk tonight
Hotel Scorpio
The Priority
Scores his first goal for cardiff to put them 1-0 up with seven minutes to play.
Can't wait to see the goal. And the celebration.
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