When your manager refers to you as ‘Craig’ in a press conference, and that isn’t your name, it may well be time to seek first team football elsewhere.
That was the situation that Nathan Patterson found himself in not so long ago, when Everton manager David Moyes made the faux pas while listing his backup options at right back.
Moyes may well have simply got his player’s name mixed up with that of a fellow defender of the era in which he himself plied his trade, the former Rangers and Motherwell centre back Craig Paterson, but either way, it was hardly a sign that he was at the forefront of this manager’s thoughts.
The 24-year-old can look back and laugh now. In his farewell message to the Goodison Park faithful, he signed off as ‘Craig’, and now enjoying a new lease of life in Serie A with Torino, he is able to see the funny side.
The potential with Patterson has always been clear since his early days as a young sensation with Rangers, but he admits that a lack of football after his big money move to Everton has hindered his progress.
One of his main aims is to represent his country as often as he possibly can, and to do that, he had to find a place he could play regularly, and he hopes to have found it in Turin, where he says he is settling in nicely.
“Yeah, I was looking forward to just getting away,” Patterson said.
“It’s a new challenge for me. I think it’ll do me good in terms of my development as a player.
“I obviously want to play for Scotland as well. That was one of the main reasons I wanted to leave Everton as well, to play more football and enjoy it again.
“It is a lot different to what I am used to. But it’s exciting to have a fresh start and to be learning a new language as well.”
He does of course have plenty of compatriots playing in Italy to lean on for advice, with striker Che Adams now a teammate for club and country as well as smattering of Scots throughout the league.
“Billy (Gilmour) has been trying to give me tips, and we do speak in Italian quite a lot, but I’m obviously still learning,” he said.
“It’s a new challenge for me. I think the level in Serie A has stepped up this year as well. You can see some of the top players going out there as well. So, the league is great and obviously there's a lot of faces in the squad that are over there. It is exciting times.
“The overall standard and quality is the same as it was in England. It’s just different with the heat and stuff like that.”
It was while in a Scotland jersey that Patterson was feeling the heat on Tuesday evening, and he was frustrated not to be able to fully lean into the attacking wingback role that new national team head coach Sebastien Pocognoli prefers after Jack Hendry’s early red card against Switzerland.
It has been a difficult start for the Scots under Pocognoli as they adjust to the demands of their new manager, but Patterson has urged the Tartan Army to stick with the team, as the rewards could be hugely exciting once everything clicks.
“It was a long night for us,” he said.
“We obviously had a game plan, but that kind of went out the window after just 10 minutes.
“It was just kind of backs-to-the-wall, show some spirit and work as a team to try and stay in the game for as long as we could.
“In the end, you have to credit Switzerland. They are a top side with a lot of quality.
“I thought the fans really stayed behind us for the full game, which is a positive sign.
“There's lots of new faces. There's lots of positivity around the place and in the stands as well. The fans have seen a different style of football. It was obviously tough to show that fully against Switzerland after the red card. But I think going forward, it's exciting times.
“We were looking forward to going up against a top side and really showing what we could do. It’s just frustrating because the red card so early obviously just changed everything. But we showed spirit.
“Switzerland are a top side, we knew that. You just need to look at what they did in the World Cup in the summer.
“That’s the standard we want to try and push on and reach. We were looking forward to testing ourselves against them, but we never got a chance to gauge ourselves.
“It's not going to happen overnight. There are loads of new ideas and new faces as well. It's going to take time, so everyone needs to just be patient.
“Ultimately, the manager spoke to us afterwards and was happy with the way we kept going.”
One of the biggest concerns for Scotland, as it has been for many years, is that goals have proven hard to come by, and while Oli McBurnie, Robbie Ure and Kieron Bowie have all caught the eye at various points over Pocognoli’s first two games in charge, Patterson is looking forward to seeing what clubmate Adams can bring to the party once he is fit.
“Che is a massive player for us,” he said.
“He’s got great quality. I think he would really suit this system well.
“He has really helped me since I moved as well. It’s been great to have a familiar face to help me settle in.”
