After eighteen days without a fixture due to the pre-Christmas freeze, Liverpool resumed where they left off against Newcastle with an ineffective, passionless, inept display against bottom-placed Wolves.
Quite understandably most of the after-match discussions, phone-ins, and column inches centred on the immediate future of the current manager Roy Hodgson, who quite far from upholding the club’s values with a steadying hand, has overseen some truly dreadful performances and an abdication of the old pass and move style , whilst along the way has publicly criticised his players, questioned the support of the fans and delivered some of the most bizarre public utterances in attempting to justify his stewardship.
His reign thus far has been so far removed from what Liverpool supporters have been brought up to expect, that it is almost as if the Anti-Shankly has been brought to bear on them.
As I stated above, every man and his dog has had his say on the manager, so I think it is unnecessary for me to go too deeply into that particular subject.
After seventy-one minutes of last evening’s match the fourth official raised the board to signify that number 3 was to be replaced with number 6. Fabio Aurelio to replace Paul Konchesky.
Sadly, but almost inevitably this change was greeted by a cheer from a sizeable portion of the home support, which must have had a devastating effect on the 29 year-old left back as he made the long trek across from the far touchline.
Now, I am not a huge Paul Konchesky fan, and if I was in charge of selecting Liverpool’s team I would favour Aurelio at left back, but although the lad’s performances have not been great to date, there is no way that they have warranted such a cruel reaction.
Paul Konchesky along with Christian Poulsen is suffering by association with Hodgson. Both were brought in by the manager having played under him previously. Both have decent if unspectacular track records. Both were thrilled to be given the chance to sign for Liverpool Football Club and stated as much when they arrived.
Agreed they have not been consistent in their performances this season. But that also applies to many of the club’s established stars, never more clearly evident than last night against Wolves.
Konchesky has never, as far as I am aware, been guilty of lack of effort. I presume he is training as hard as any other player. He has not shied away from the fact that his form is below par. After the Spurs defeat he stated
“I’ve got to up my game. Where I’ve played before has not been as high a standard as Liverpool, but this is a good pressure. The fans want you to be in the top four because that’s where Liverpool belong. Straight after (Lennon’s winner) I knew that I’d have to hold my hands up, but we also had chances to win the game. I was gutted (with the winner); being the last minute as well it didn’t give us any time to get back into the game. But that’s life, we’ve got to put it behind us, and I’ve got to put it behind myself for the next game.”
Another factor in the fans’ relationship with Paul Konchesky is the reaction to some unsavoury Facebook comments made by the player’s mother, Carol, in which she defended her son, and said words to the effect of ‘the scouse scum do not know what they’re talking about’. Regrettable, certainly. Ill-judged, most definitely. However these comments were made after her son was criticised after the Stoke defeat, at 3am in the morning, and probably in an alcohol induced state.
We can debate all day long the entitlement of a mother to react when her son is being singled out (in her opinion) for a disproportionate share of blame and abuse, but to use it as a rod to beat the son is not something I can condone.
The bottom line for me is that Paul Konchesky was given a chance to sign for the greatest football club in the world. He is fighting for form. He has not personally done anything to warrant booing. He does not pick the team.
More importantly he will, along with Poulsen, be at Liverpool Football Club after Roy Hodgson has left.
Let us not visit the sins of the mother/manager upon the player and whilst he wears the red shirt of LFC we should support him.
(…stands back and waits for the volley….)
Follow me on twitter @briandurand56
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Here Here, lets not tarnish our name by going down the route of vilifying and abusing our own players, that might be the way of clubs such as Chelsea and Man U but we are better than that!
Hear hear?
Igor Biscan, Salif Diao, Smicer et al were all shown the door straight after Houllier.
Get rid of the detritus, starting with Hodgson and the rest can follow.
This is a horror show.
All shown the door STRAIGHT after Houllier?
Watch the DVD of Istanbul again!
Smicer scored, Biscan was on the bench and Diao was on the pitch after the penalties celebrating.
jn122, get your facts right and educate yourself before making your point.
I think that’s a fair point, you have made and I for one will give him a chance.
Erm no… Konchesky is shockingly bad and gives the ball away more times than most. He doesnt offer anything going forward and is scared of making a forward pass. Not his fault that he has limited ability and a £3.5mil move to liverpool was too good to be true. I wanted it to work out for him but Insua is just as good if not better and 9 years younger, he deserved another season at LFC.
I agree to an extent, it is not his fault, and the blame for him being signed and consequently playing week in week out lies solely at the feet of the manager. It isn’t helping anyone by cheering for him going off, it wasn’t even one of his worst games. I think the mistake was getting rid of Insua who for me was about the same level but a lot younger and improving, where as Konchesky is much older and probably starting to decline as a footballer. That is not Konchesky’s fault and I am not saying we need to sing his name but the sarcastic cheers are unecessary.
it is the fact that insua is twice better than this clueless english/polish. everything in him is to english. Too bad for a team which supposedly should be of champions league standard.
Personal abuse is never justified, of Konchesky, Poulson, or Hodgson, come to that. I can understand the deep frustration fans feel, but campaign for change, yes. Abuse, no
As a lifelong red, it made me ashamed how Konchesky was jeered. What is happening these days is not the Liverpool way – fans included. We all need to buck up and uphold the values of Shankly and Paisley or we are no better than any other club in the land. YNWA
He doesnt deserve the abuse being given, you lot are blaming him and Hodgson as if they are the reasons you are in this demise.
Konchesky was good against Chelsea, but hes a left back for god sake he isnt going to win you matches, hes made 1 mistake against Lennon but every full back in the world Evra, Cole etc struggle with him.
Are you telling me if you had a good left back and manager that you would be with this squad of players in the top 5 if you think so then you are deluded.
To be fair, Konchesky has been just as awful as the rest of the squad. Our passing has been dreadful across the board, and the less said about our ability to retain the ball, the better. He didn’t deserve that reaction from the fans, though.
That being said, even in top form, he wouldn’t really be good enough to hold his place. As many here have said, Insua would have been a much more shrewd option at left back.
But, while the players need to shoulder their share of the blame, Roy Hodgson needs to sort his ideas out and find something that works. If Alex Ferguson can find a way to make Rio Ferdinand look like a world beater, Roy can surely make Konchesky look half decent!
I like this part of the article, “…he will, along with Poulsen, be at Liverpool Football Club after Roy Hodgson has left…”
Wouldn’t have minded Poulsen leaving but thought we should still keep Konchesky. I still smart at what he did against us in the 2006 FA Cup final. I still feel he has unfinished business here. With the latter in particular, one never knows how the duo would fare under a different coaching mentality (say Rijkaard or Deschamps, even King Kenny).
One thing that we ought to be rid off is Hodgson though. At least on that we’re fully agreed. Broughton left, after ousting G & H, yet majority felt he ought to have stayed on. With him went Purslow. Why can’t this last relic from that era leave?
Fair piece, valid points.
konchesky is one of a long line of useless left backs we have been lumbered with, he’s not the worst and certainly wasnt the worst in the wolves game but he needs to take a leaf out of lukas’s book and tell his mum to stick to bingo.
PFK he’s a poor player and i don’t know how bring him instead of by insua ?
i think its pathetic how all our ‘fans’ are abusing Konchesky and Hodgson. I myself am gutted the way things are at the moment, the performances have been shocking, but why not just cheer both of them on… the owners clearly have some faith in Hodgson becasdue they have left him in charge. HE has asked for backing i.e. the 12th man. If it gets the team moving forward then its a good thing. i support my club not just individuals in LFC!
Let’s make things clear first. Liverpool shouldn’t even have signed Paul Konchesky in the first place. Carlos Salcido, his replacement at Fulham, was available at one third the price at 1.5 mil. He’s a Mexican international who played for a respectable PSV and flourished at the World Cup. Hodgson did not want to gamble on Salcido so decided to bring this flop Konchesky to the club. Saying his performances have been poor would be a compliment. The guy let’s attackers get past him way too easily and is only average in helping the attack, constantly misplacing passes. Konchesky just isn’t up to the task of playing for Liverpool. Also, Roy’s decision to loan Insua out baffled me. The guy’s no worse than Konchesky and at 21, he’s got potential and he’s already an Argentinian international. Roy’s choice to make Konchesky his no.1 left back has proved to be a big mistake, especially if you consider that we had Insua and now Aurelio is fit.
roy says wont resign, who would and lose the pay off ? it should not be an issue he is only lucky the american owners dont understand liverpool fans or football. he has time after time unknowingly and knowingly insulted our club and our history. i could list at least 20 instances, it’s his utterings more than his results that have turned the fans against him.
good article, agree 90%, no he’s not the best but, like you said, was he really going to turn down the chance to play for Lfc? yes he’s had some shocking displays but at least he tries, unlike our superstar striker who’s had probably more stinkers than PK yet doesn’t look bothered at all and gets no stick from the fans at all!
the other 10% is saved for CP, USELESS with no effort, passion or desire, a total waste of space!
as is the clown who bought him!
Are you MENTAL? Konch is awful, truly awful. At least his mum tries to defend.
Never write another column again. Piss off to sky or something ty.
Great article, I agree Konchesky although not a great player for us at the moment he still does not deserve the treatment he got he is playing to his ability, he got the chance to move to a bigger club and took it wouldnt anybody else? he is obviously trying unlike some of our current top players, so dont take it out on the player who is trying to play his best for us every week regardless of the abuse we are the LFC 12th man why cant we act like it rather than booing our own
Thank you, Brian, for this post. I agree that although Konchesky has not been a world-beater, I think his performances, such as they are, are associated symbolically with Hodgson for many of the fans. It’s not fair to him, but that’s the way it is. He definitely was not the only Red who stunk it up on Wednesday, and actually he didn’t really do anything particularly more offensive than anyone else randomly standing around or sending the ball repeatedly back to Pepe.
As an American who CHOSE a while back to pull for Liverpool over other EPL regulars for the main reason that I believed their fans are by far the best in the world, I’m really surprised at how a good portion of the Anfield crowd was uncharacteristically antagonistic toward Konchesky and the other boys.
I hope Konchesky realizes that not all LFC fans boo one of their own (though it’s not the first time and won’t be the last), but I hope he’s the type for which it’s a motivation instead of an excuse.
Konchesky has been disappointing this season but there was no need for Hodgson to throw him under the bus as he did against Wolves. He wasn’t having a particularly bad game and it wasn’t a change likely to have any significant impact. Hodgson just unnecessarily put him in the spotlight as a scapegoat with that move