x

Call Me El Toro Not Tank Says Gorka

Swans new signing Gorka Pintado says fans should call him El Toro although he may answer to "Tank"

El Toro is Spanish for 'The Bull' and Pintado says that if fans called him that he would be happy because it would mean that he is doing his job for the team.

Speaking after his first full week of pre-season training with the Swans, the striker spoke to Wales on Sunday about his range of nicknames and the full range of songs that already seem to be in composition for the player.

And he also revealed that he would love to follow in the footsteps of John Toshack - someone he knows much about as Gorka hails from the Sen Sebastian area of Spain - somewhere Toshack is held in very high esteem because of his Real Socieadad spells.

Pintado was making all the right noises as the fans built their own expectations of him and he said “It is true the fans seemed to love me at Granada and I had a lot of songs for me – I’m not sure why but I scored a lot of goals for them and that does help!

“But I am also quite strong and I think the supporters in Spain enjoyed that.

“They called me ‘El Toro’, which means The Bull. My team-mates called me The Tank, but I preferred Toro and I’d be happy if the Swansea fans called me it because it means I was doing my job for my new team.

“And I want to score goals – in my last three seasons. I got 18 every year and that’s the kind of target I’d like here.

“That’s how I got to get the love from the fans in Granada and it would be great if the same could happen here.

“I am from San Sebastien and I am a big fan of Real Sociedad so I know all about Toshack.

“And I know he was a hero here for what he did, but he is also a big favourite of mine because of Sociedad.

“Now I want to do well for Swansea myself and I am really looking forward to the new season and the challenge of playing in Britain.

“But I don’t think there will be any problems for me because my strength is my strength and I think that will be important here.

“I do not like letting go of the ball unless it is to my team-mate and I think I can do my job for Swansea City.”

What to read next:

The Coventry Conference – Report
Coventry away, for so long a fixture that loomed almost as large as the spectre of Eoin Jess over Queens Park Rangers, turned into an eighth away win of the campaign and survival party for a manager and support base who both really stepped up when it mattered in 23/24.
Coventry City 1 - 2 Queens Park Rangers - Player Ratings and Reports
If you saw the match, please give us your player ratings and a mini match report.
The season that was - Preview
As QPR, unbelievably, head to Coventry on the final day safe and secure, LFW looks back at a tumultuous two years at the football club, and the lessons it must learn to make the most of the potential it now has to move forwards.
I hear you’re a set piece team now father – Analysis
In his final analysis piece for LFW this season, Dan Lambert looks at how QPR went from being the worst team in the league for offensive set pieces to, eventually, kind of good.
Coventry left to reflect on another Wembley heartache - Oppo Profile
For a second year in a row a promising Coventry City season has ended in penalty shoot-out heartbreak at Wembley, only this time with some added VAR nonsense thrown in for good measure - Neil Littlewood (@littlewood88) and Dominic Jerrams (@SideSammy) take us through it.
The Copa de Ibiza - History
As QPR prepare to visit Coventry City on Saturday, we look back at connections between the two sides, past results, and Rangers’ last successfully foray into European competition with the 2005 Copa De Ibiza triumph.
Smith in charge at Coventry - Referee
Josh Smith, last in charge of QPR for the memorable Good Friday win at home to Birmingham, is the man in the middle for the final day trip to Coventry.
Watch me rise up and leave, all the ashes you made out of me – Report
On Friday night, under the lights at Loftus Road, Queens Park Rangers landed on their wheels, pulled over and asked what you were worried about.
Queens Park Rangers 4 - 0 Leeds United - Photo Gallery
Pictures from Ian Randall on an extraordinary night at Loftus Road as QPR put their season to bed with a 4-0 thumping of promotion chasing Leeds.
Queens Park Rangers 4 - 0 Leeds United - Player Ratings and Reports
If you saw the match, please give us your player ratings and a mini match report.