WHEN it comes to negotiating shark-infested waters, Callum Paterson can consider himself an unqualified success.
It is now his turn to adopt the role of predator and it is his prospective opponents in the SPFL Premiership whom he believes run a serious risk of being eaten alive.
The Hearts right-back made his particular contribution to one of Scottish football's more imaginative promotional events when taking part in a shark dive at Deep Sea World in North Queensferry on the same day his club announced that they have already sold 13,000 season tickets for their grand return to the top flight.
Tynecastle and everything offered by its quite unique ambience look sure to form the bedrock of the Edinburgh side's ambitious intentions for the campaign ahead.
Paterson certainly believes it has the potential to emerge as an impregnable citadel in the east and easily the most intimidating venue at the highest level of the domestic game.
"You go to Celtic Park sometimes on a Tuesday night and it has 20,000 people in it," he said.
"It is a massive stadium and intimidating in itself, but it is not great when you see it as empty as it can be.
"When you play at Tynecastle, it is not a massive venue, but it is always packed to the rafters with fans cheering the team on.
"It is different and players in other teams will be a bit scared of it. I hope we can make it a fortress.
"Last year, we had sell-outs for every game and it was just a massive boost for the players.
"I hope we can keep repaying them for all their sacrifices.
"They watched us go down a couple of years ago and had a terrible season with everything, but we repaid them by coming back this season."
Paterson's immediate targets are clear. He wants Hearts in Europe next season. No ifs or buts about it. This is a team that saw off Hibernian and Rangers in the SPFL Championship last term by a remarkable 21-point margin and possesses a desire to impose itself again.
"Even if we had won the league by one point last season, we'd have been pushing for top six and for Europe," he stated.
"The way we won the league, the style, is something I hope we can take forward into the new season.
"Obviously, there is a massive gap between the leagues, but we did have a lot of good teams in the Championship last season, who would have been safe in the Premiership.
"There are different players and different ways of playing, though. It won't be about as many massive tackles and it won't be as rough as it was in the Championship."
Robbie Neilson, the Hearts head coach, will welcome his players back to pre-season training at their Riccarton base tomorrow. If what transpired 12 months ago is anything to go by, shark diving is a walk in the park.
"The triple sessions we do are there to get you fit and keep you fit,"
said Paterson. "It prevailed last season with the results we had."
Of course, a number of familiar faces from last season have left.
Danny Wilson is tipped for a return to Rangers despite reported interest from Celtic while James Keatings has jumped ship to city rivals Hibernian.
"I congratulated James," said Paterson. "It is a good move.
"I am not exactly going to text Danny and ask him if he is going to Rangers or Arsenal. It is about personal decisions for everyone and what works best for themselves."
And back we go to having bigger fish to fry. Amid the puns and hyperbole, perhaps we should offer a spot of perspective on Paterson's underwater adventures.
The sand tiger sharks he saw at such close-quarters as part of a sponsorship deal with Deep Sea World generally content themselves with eating octopuses for dinner and tea. The largest and most fearsome looking one of them was actually called Tinkerbell.
"I love fish and fishing, so it was great," he reported. "I've never caught one that size, although one did get away."
The story of all keen fishermen. Paterson does not intend to let his prey at Tynecastle next term escape so easily.
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