Well no surprise there , still reckon we should have sold him for £7m anyway I wish him success in finding a new club. http://www.swanseacity.net/page/Latest/0,,10354~2408361,00.html
I was going to say, surely we could have got at LEAST 5mil for him! Hah. Good luck to the guy, he worked his socks off for us and took some abuse for it under Sousa, so hope he has a nice end to his career somewhere sunny where he can score lots of goals.
Always liked him. He always gave his best in a system that never played to his strengths. Scored a couple of really memorable goals - coming on to crosses was his strength, we just couldn't cross the damn ball. Best wishes to him.
he just cant play our style of football, for any team that play his style he will score goals, good luck to pintado where ever he goes......PS....cardiff are struggling for goals and they could do no worse than try and snap him up....
I think every fan wanted him to do well. everyone wanted him to be a cult hero. The goal against forest and we thought. we have one here. Sadly not good enough. i wish him luck and hope he finds a club soon. i also thank him for his tackle on savage. goodbye and goodluck.
I forgot about that! Gorka, you will be forever remembered for that tackle... and if I ever have the money I will commission a statue of that challenge, Savage upside down midflight and everything...
It didn't quite work out for Pintado.He became an easy target of ridicule,and I was very sad about that.He was a committed player here,and deserved more respect than he got. His departure was on the cards,and I wish him every success,wherever he ends up.
7 Million indeed! You can romanticise on here as much as you like, he was simply not good enough, couldn't score for love of money under Martinez and Sousa, new he would never hack it, and while the romantics on here, were blaming everything and anything, Sousa, the system we play etc, etc, you simply could not admit the guy was out of his level, it took the likes of a young lad, in Borini to show what it's all about, anyway he should be able to score for Neath, all the best pantstado, 7 goals in 73 appearances, what a load of bull! 'Por cerca'............... please log in to view this image
Really liked Gorka and gutted that he didn't make it with us. If ever a player gave 100% for us, it was Pintado - even in training. I remember watching aghast when he and Painter went for a ball, not 10 yards from me. The pair of them went in feet up and snarling. Pintado flattened Painter (no faint heart), fairly, rammed the ball home then turned to Painter to see if he wanted to make anything of it. No deal. For me, Sousa ran Pintado into the ground and destroyed him as a credible striker. No player could handle the work load he was given and still score goals. If he could have then he would have been worth every penny of the £7 million that Martinez, obviously on the hype, valued him at. One incident, of very many, at the Liberty typified it for me. Watching from the East stand, Pintado broke down the far right, outstripped the defence and got to the bye line with two defenders in hot pursuit. He checked, looked up for support and what did he see? The nearest Swansea midfielders were 30 yards away standing there watching him. I repeat STANDING! I distinctly remember Pratley and Allen in midfield - perhaps Gower/Britton as well. They were in line abreast across the pitch about as mobile as Greek statues. Not one of them made the slightest effort to get to Pintado to offer support. Heartbreaking for the player - any player. Okay, they might have been playing to team orders - keep the shape, the almighty, sacrosanct, defensive shape that Sousa rigorously demanded at all times; but if I had been Pintado, I might have been tempted to give one or two of them a slap in the dressing room after the game, tactics or no tactics. Look, I know that Pintado didn't get the goals for us - due to circumstance as much as anything, so I can't defend that aspect of his game. But what struck a chord with me was his passion, his commitment, his work ethic, his eagerness to please in whatever capacity he could. Quite simply, his honesty. If his replacements show just a fraction of those attributes to go with their ability then we won't go too far wrong this season and I wish Gorka every success with his football in the future.
Phil, we have agreed about many things in the past but we will always disagree about Pintado. Our system did NOT suit the guy, as much as you deride it as an excuse. Why? It is a perfectly valid footballing reason. Quite obviously he was never going to be a lone striker but many posters agree with me that he would probably have been pretty effective consistently playing in a 442 system. Horses for courses, my mate, and the going was never suited to Pintado's style at the Liberty. As for your remark about Borini, the comparison is entirely misplaced. Borini is probably superior to ANY of the strikers we have had at the Liberty and any others in the Championship. He is a special talent who, imo, will go on to become a world class player, play for Italy and a top, top European club and we were fortunate indeed to have him for the few games we did. Gorka will be honest enough to admit that he was never remotely in that class. But he was a whole lot better than you maintain. Imo.
Phil, i have to agree. i think we all wanted him to be the striker we would cult worship. the @el Torro@ bit. the feed the bull. but i think from the time he came here it was a bit to much above his capabilities. In other words he wasbt good enough. But it doesnt stop fans liking a player fro cetain contributions. Normaly cult heoes arent the best players but ones who put a lot of effort in and do something to take them to the fans hearts and anyone who puts savege up in the air is allright by me. He found his level in Cypruss last year and maybe that is where he will return. But i still wish the guy luck. but yes you are right just not good enough.
Good posts Ivor,agree with you 100%. The £7 million tag was a Martinez joke,and nobody seriously thought he meant it.
it is all plain and simple about pintado, he is a good striker and will score goals like he has proved for teams that dont play the passing game like we do. wherever he goes as long as they play his type of football then they will have one hell of a striker,....he really tried for us and did his utmost best but sadly he could not play our system. I hope he gets the right club that will show his scoring abilities and prove why we were after him in the first place....
Ivor yes we agree on so much, but with the exception of Pintado, I appreciate you see him differently to me and I'm afraid that I could not be taken in by all his running around like a headless chicken, to me he disguised his obvious lack of ability, with this pointless running to show he was doing something, only to cover over his lack of ability in front of goal, he must have surely have known he was out of his depth. When I compared Borini, yes the contrast was vivid, hence why I used Borini as such, but I could have used Emnes or even Moore for that matter, two many times Ivor I witnessed pitch side his poor positional awareness, in and around the box, having to have mid-fielders like Van der Gun show him how to get on the end of crosses into the box, Bristol City away under Sousa is one such game, but if we want a striker just to run around, then there are plenty to get in the Welsh Premier League, though they'd probably score more than Pintado! I think in reality, Pintado's career was over before he came to us, and he'll not do much from here on in, just my view....................... please log in to view this image
Funny how Grenada fans worshipped him but he never reached his potential with us for two reasons: Injury and Sousa who didn't seem to like his strikers ...erm striking. Good luck, Gorka. Cyprus will be a great place to see out your career. Enjoy.
Strange thing about Pintado was he played best for us when he was carrying the hernia injury. We were all waiting with baited breath to see him at his full potentail after getting the operation, and what happened ......Sousa! Thanks anyway Gorka for some cracking memories (Cardiff and Savage definate highlights) So in honour of the Bull....... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZM8HPOGbv8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__RypL2hsTY
