---
title: "Total Duds: Paul Konchesky’s woes summed up a miserable time in Liverpool’s history"
canonical: "https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/total-duds-paul-konchesky-liverpool-hodgson/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Liam Togher"
section: "Features"
published: "2020-08-23T12:00:37Z"
modified: "2020-08-23T12:00:37Z"
---

# Total Duds: Paul Konchesky’s woes summed up a miserable time in Liverpool’s history

**This article forms part of our Total Duds feature series, which is where Football Transfer Tavern takes a look at how a player has fared since being signed or sold, using statistical figures and statements from pundits to prove how bad a deal the club got.**

In recent days, Liverpool’s Andrew Robertson [named his four favourite left-backs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dve7MPuESEM) in world football, with Bayern Munich’s Alphonso Davies and Leicester’s Ben Chilwell among those name-checked. Indeed, the Scottish left-back has himself been [acclaimed as the world’s best in his position](https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11661/11836844/manchester-united-against-liverpool-is-still-the-biggest-game-says-jose-enrique) by Jose Enrique, a man who previously played in that role at Anfield.

Ten years ago, the occupant of the left-back slot at Liverpool wasn’t quite in the same fabled category. A few weeks after [Roy Hodgson](https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/premier-league/liverpool/liverpool-fans-reflect-on-how-far-the-team-have-come-since-the-roy-hodgson-era/) was [named as the club’s manager](https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/l/liverpool/8721942.stm), he brought one of his [Fulham regulars](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/paul-konchesky/leistungsdatentrainer/spieler/3296/plus/0/trainer_id/1775) to Merseyside in Paul Konchesky, who had played for the Cottagers [in the Europa League final](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/spielbericht/index/spielbericht/1019361) three months previously. The [twice-capped England international](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/paul-konchesky/nationalmannschaft/spieler/3296/verein_id/3299) cost the Reds £3.78m, as per [TransferMarkt](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/paul-konchesky/transfers/spieler/3296).

\[freshpress-quiz id=”313155″\]

[His first four Premier League games](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/paul-konchesky/leistungsdatendetails/spieler/3296/verein/31) for the Reds set the tone for his time at Anfield – 0-0 at Birmingham, defeat at Old Trafford, a 2-2 home draw with Sunderland and a 2-0 Merseyside derby defeat, after which Liverpool were 19th in the table, kept off the bottom [only on goal difference](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/premier-league/spieltagtabelle/wettbewerb/GB1/saison_id/2010/spieltag/8).

[Three wins on the bounce](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/paul-konchesky/leistungsdatendetails/spieler/3296/verein/31) took Hodgson’s side back into the top half but a miserable November defeat at Stoke laid bare the difficulties that Konchesky was facing – online criticism of the defender was so vitriolic that his mother felt compelled to take to the Internet and take aim at her son’s detractors following that game (as per [lfchistory.net](https://www.lfchistory.net/Players/Player/Profile/1226)).

Two weeks later, the ex-Fulham man was beaten all ends up by Aaron Lennon in the move which led to the Tottenham winger scoring a stoppage time winner, with the Liverpool defender [publicly apologising afterwards](https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/konchesky-i-can-say-now-that-liverpool-was-a-mistake-6271414.html) – and the nadir had not even been reached yet.

That came on the night when the fleeting Liverpool careers of Hodgson and Konchesky effectively ended. Playing host to [19th-placed Wolves](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/spielbericht/index/spielbericht/1029541) at Anfield just after Christmas, the Reds lost 0-1 and, when the left-back was substituted, ironic cheers [echoed around a disenchanted stadium](https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/konchesky-i-can-say-now-that-liverpool-was-a-mistake-6271414.html).

\[freshpress-poll id=”315367″\]

Hodgson was [sacked](https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/l/liverpool/9350630.stm) less than a fortnight later and his successor, Sir Kenny Dalglish, did not have the same faith in Konchesky, who was promptly [loaned out to Nottingham Forest](https://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/n/nottm_forest/9382000.stm) for the remainder of the season before joining Leicester in a permanent deal in July 2011 for a fee of £1.53m (as per [TransferMarkt](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/paul-konchesky/transfers/spieler/3296)), with Liverpool taking a significant loss on the defender.

The left-back managed just 18 appearances for the Reds, 15 of which came in the Premier League. Of those top-flight games, all of which came in a four-month period, he was on the winning side in only five and lost seven (as per [TransferMarkt](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/paul-konchesky/leistungsdatendetails/spieler/3296/verein/31)) – to put that into context, Liverpool have lost [nine league matches in total over the past three seasons](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/fc-liverpool/platzierungen/verein/31).

Just as Hodgson’s brief time at Anfield [went down among the darker periods](https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/roy-hodgson-liverpool-revisiting-match-11373393) in Liverpool’s history, Konchesky’s ill-fated signing somewhat characterises an era which Kopites won’t remember with fondness.

***Liverpool fans, are you still astonished at the decision to sign Konchesky 10 years ago? Comment below with your views!***