Planet Swans ArchivesMarcos Painter has explained his reasons for coming to Swansea on loan and tried desperately to forget one of his last appearances for Birmingham – a 7-0 defeat at St Andrews against Liverpool in last season’s FA Cup.
Painter was up against Steven Gerrard that day and the England international ran the show as Liverpool romped home – a great learning experience I am sure in a mad mad football world!
Painter was just breaking through into the Brum side as they were relegated from the Premiership last season but just two appearances this time around persuaded him that he needed to be playing football and he didn’t think twice about a drop one division in a bid to help Swansea push towards their own promotion.
“It’s been a bit strange,” he concedes, “because I’ve played less this season than I did last season.” he told the Evening Post “There’s a young lad in front of me, Matt Sadler, and the gaffer told me I was there as back-up. “That’s why I’ve chosen to come out on loan. “At the end of last season, the gaffer was saying to a lot of the young lads at Birmingham that they were going to make up the bulk of the team. “But I think maybe he had more money than he was expecting. For whatever reason, those young lads haven’t played as much as they would have liked. “But that’s the way it goes. I’m at Swansea for a month now and maybe I can impress if he comes to see some of the games, I don’t know.”
Painter’s loan spell started badly when he became the latest victim of sat nav-gate and ended up at the Vetch Field – someone really should tell those nice people at Tom Tom that it’s The Liberty Stadium these days. That makes it two trips to Wales and two disasters for Swansea’s (non) answer to Christopher Columbus “I have been to Wales on a school trip once,” he grins. “We got lost in the mountains.”
And will Painter be enjoying Christmas in Wales?
“I’m just going to enjoy this month and see what progresses from there. “My performances have to be right at Swansea before I think about anything else, so I’m taking it one step at a time.”
