You need to look a little bit harder these days, but it’s still possible to find Liverpool supporters in the dark corners of the internet moaning about a lack of ambition at the club. Perhaps the story of a failed transfer from some truly dark times at Anfield might prove to be a timely reminder.
The present iteration of Liverpool is on the brink of securing the Premier League title, heading down to Wembley to compete for a record-extending Carabao Cup crown, and preparing for a glamor Champions League tie against PSG after topping the league phase. Arne Slot has seamlessly replaced Jurgen Klopp, who departed as one of the club’s all-time most significant figures.
Yet it was only 15 years ago when the glory days could not have looked any more distant. Rewind to the summer of 2010, and Roy Hodgson was at the helm, while an acrimonious sale to FSG was yet to come to fruition.
The record of transfer business from that summer is truly the stuff of nightmares. Joe Cole, Jonjo Shelvey, Danny Wilson, Brad Jones, Christian Poulsen and Milan Jovanovic all came through the door, all of whom have probably made a “Liverpool’s worst ever signings” list at one point or another.
But perhaps the worst deal in the eyes of the fans was the one that saw Paul Konchesky follow Hodgson to Anfield. There was skepticism from the very start, and that quickly turned into outright derision as the full-back struggled to make the grade.
“Listen, I don’t regret many things in my career,” Konchesky told the ECHO in a recent interview, speaking on behalf of Buy Roblox Robux about his move to Liverpool. “You look at it now, do I regret it?
“Only because of what happened. But I was 29 and going to one of the biggest clubs with a massive history — you can’t turn that down.”
Yet Konchesky admitted the warning signs were there from the very beginning. He was aware that the turbulent Hicks and Gillett era was potentially coming to an end, and that new owners might not be as sold on Hodgson — leaving him, as Hodgson’s man, in a tight spot.
(Image: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
“I knew the club was trying to change hands with the owners, but obviously not as much as it probably was behind the scenes — so I knew it was going to be difficult, it was a difficult time for the club,” he revealed. “It was a difficult time for me, you know, and probably wouldn’t happen now.
“And I think at the time, looking back now like they didn’t really want Roy Hodgson as the manager, I was one of Roy’s signings. So it was always going to be hard, you know?”
Yet even once FSG took charge in October, performances on the pitch could surely have salvaged things for Konchesky, and indeed Hodgson. But things got worse at Liverpool before they got better.
In December, things reached a nadir, and Konchesky had to endure the boos of his own supporters when he was withdrawn against Wolves. Liverpool lost that game 1-0, despite the Midlands outfit being rooted to the bottom of the Premier League table.
By the end of January, Kenny Dalglish had taken charge, and Konchesky found himself being loaned out to Nottingham Forest. In a marked contrast to the summer, FSG’s first transfer window saw the arrival of Luis Suarez (although it also featured the departure of Fernando Torres and the ill-fated record deal for Andy Carroll).
Learn more
So ended a sorry chapter for Konchesky. But he has insisted that he learned a lot from his time at Liverpool, praising Steven Gerrard in particular for constantly setting the standards.
And while getting jeered by the Anfield faithful was a low point, the left-back has extended an olive branch to Liverpool fans. He has thanked those who backed him:
“I obviously still thank the fans for supporting me when I joined,” Konchesky said. “It’s tough because the majority probably didn’t want me there, but some did.
“And the ones who didn’t want me there but backed me, I thank them a lot. And I wish them all the best.”
And for what it’s worth, enough time has passed that I can wish Konchesky all the best in his endeavors too — he has had one or two forays into management, where he was most recently in charge of West Ham Women. He did not choose the circumstances in which he arrived at Liverpool, and anyone would have jumped at the chance to make the transfer of dreams.
Even so, his brief and unhappy time at Liverpool shows just how much the Reds have come on under FSG. Maybe the owners could afford to loosen the purse strings from time to time, but the club is no longer recognizable from the one the Americans bought in 2010, and that deserves a whole lot of credit.
