Marcos Painter

Last Friday Brighton & Hove Albion left-back Marcos Painter joined AFC Bournemouth on loan for the rest of the season. Painter is the third Brighton defender to move along the south coast, following Steve Cook and Tommy Elphick from Sussex to Dorset. With Charlie Daniels, Tommy Elphick and Miles Addison out injured Painter joins Southampton loanee Dan Seaborne as the second loan defender on the Cherries' books. Importantly, his addition allows fellow recent signing, Matt Ritchie, to move to his preferred position on the wing. As it seems Daniels might be out for the rest of the season, Painter has the chance to make the left-back spot his own as Bournemouth push for promotion.

No, that's not John Terry

Painter boasts a wealth of experience in the Football League at the age of 26 and Bournemouth is his third new club since coming through the ranks at Birmingham City. He made 5 appearances for The Blues' but failed to establish himself and joined Swansea City on loan from 2006-07, where after appearing 8 times he subsequently joined the Welsh team on a permanent basis in 2007. Marcos would in total make 80 appearances for Swansea before he joined his current club Brighton on loan in January 2010 for the rest half of the season. He would go on to play 19 times for The Seagulls, and then agreed a 3 year contract in the summer of 2010 to join them permanently from Swansea.

Painter in action against former Bournemouth winger Liam Feeney in 2010

The following season was arguably Painter's most successful in his career, as he established himself as a regular in the first team as the Seagulls took League One by storm, ending up as champions. Painter also notably managed to start all 46 league games that season, an impressive feat in the modern game. Some Cherries fans may remember him as he played for Brighton in their two matches against Bournemouth that season, a 1-1 draw at the Withdean and a 1-0 win for Bournemouth in the return fixture. Similar to his time at Swansea, promotion to the Championship resulted in Marcos losing his spot in the starting line-up. In the 2011-12 season Painter drifted in and out of the team making a total of 22 appearances, a combination of new additions and a lack of pace stopping him from becoming a regular in The Championship. Having only played 3 times this season, he has now joined Bournemouth on loan to aid our defensive problems but it would seem his time in Brighton is over. His three year contract is due to expire this summer, and I'm sure he will be using this opportunity in an attempt to earn himself a new contract elsewhere. 

A few Brighton fans were kind enough to give their verdicts on Bournemouth's new signing via twitter- they're both worth following if you have an account:

@MattCorr34: "Solid 7/10 every week. Class defender, just don't expect anything going forward. Great signing for you lot."

@LiamHolister: "Class for us in league one of our most consistent players in our promotion season! Can't really cut it in the champ though"

Unfortunately Painter's debut for Bournemouth couldn't have been worse as The Cherries found themselves down 2-0 and he was pulled off at half-time with the away fans not exactly raving about his performance. However, given the time to settle in the squad hopefully Marcos can show the skill that made him so important to Brighton during their promotion season and play a vital part for us as we seek promotion to the second tier of English football.