Ex-Hearts star Callum Paterson celebrated as ultimate EPL '˜cult hero'

Callum Paterson's presence in the English Premier League has been described as 'a Christmas miracle' by a Vice article praising the former Hearts star's impact in the world's richest league.

Paterson has played 15 league games for Cardiff City this season as Neil Warnock’s side bravely battle against relegation back to the Championship following last year’s promotion.

The 24-year-old, who started the season as a back-up in midfield, has managed to make the No.9 position his own over recent weeks, netting four goals in the process.

Former Hearts star, and current Cardiff City favourite, Callum Paterson. Picture: Getty

Just as he was at Hearts, the Scottish international is beloved by Cardiff fans for his eccentric antics on and off the park, including his boisterous goal celebrations.

To honour his impact, Hydall Codeen paid tribute to the player’s personality and “old-fashioned” approach to the beautiful game, as he constantly puts his body on the line.

Codeen writes: “Come on down, Callum Paterson, a man so far out of time and place that his mere presence in the Premier League feels like a Christmas miracle, the story of a working men’s club Santa Claus who somehow taught his plastic reindeer to fly.

“Callum Paterson is a cult hero in the truest and most traditional sense of the word, a right-back converted into a striker who better resembles a streaker, a joyous interloper stowing away in the bowels of the world’s most avidly consumed elite division.

“Perhaps best of all is the sense that Paterson is building his own legend in a manner bordering on the unconscious. If he’s the Premier League’s weirdest player, that’s because he appears to be a man wholly bereft of pretence and artifice, bullocking his way through English football’s multi-million-pound defences with a plan thrown together off the cuff and a moustache that looks like it doesn’t owe its existence to craft beer or Peaky Blinders.”

Paterson is in his second season with Cardiff having joined them from Hearts in the summer of 2017. He made over 150 appearances for the Jam Tarts after graduating from the club’s academy.

You can read the full article over at vice.com.