but Liverpool move was one of the biggest failures of my career

Steven Gerrard was wrong about me - but Liverpool move was one of the biggest failures of my career

Paul Konchesky reveals all on being booed by Liverpool supporters, his mum's angry rant and how he really feels about his Reds career in an exclusive interview with the ECHO's Theo Squires

Paul Konchesky's move to Liverpool did not work out (Image: 2023 Getty Images )

Paul Konchesky insists he was good enough to play for Liverpool but admits he regrets his move to Anfield and considers it the ‘biggest failure’ of his career. The England international joined the Reds from Fulham on transfer deadline day in August 2010, signing in a £3.5m deal that also saw two youngsters move in the other direction to Craven Cottage.

However, the then 29-year-old was not a celebrated signing with supporters as he followed unpopular new manager Roy Hodgson in making the move from Fulham to Liverpool.

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The left-back made just 18 appearances for the Reds before being deemed surplus to requirements after Hodgson was dismissed by new owners FSG.

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Konchesky’s relationship with supporters had already soured after his mum went viral on social media for an X-rated Facebook post at 3.45am in which she branded them 'Scouse Scum' in response to backlash her son was getting as Liverpool were inflicted to their worst start to a season in 50 years.

The defender would later be jeered by supporters when he was substituted in a shock defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers in one of his final appearances for the club.

Yet Konchesky, who turns 44 today, has no ill-feeling towards supporters of his former club despite such sour episodes.

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While he admits joining Liverpool is one of the only regrets of his career, he insists that is only because his brief stint with the Reds did not work out, with his switch itself still considered a ‘dream come true’.

“Listen, I don't regret many things in my career,” he exclusively told the ECHO, speaking on behalf of Betting Tools. “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.

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“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. 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?

“But if someone comes to you at 29 years old and it’s a club like Liverpool with that massive history, I think everyone will bite their hands off. And it was a dream come true.

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“I learned loads from it, I played with some fantastic players and I met some fantastic people along the way.

“Obviously I knew Stevie (Gerrard) was a fantastic player, but he sets standards and he reaches them standards every day and he makes everyone train properly, recover properly, eat properly.

“He was like the manager really if you like, because his standards, everyone has to do it. And if you don't, he’d soon tell you and you wouldn’t be around and you wouldn’t be liked at the club.

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“But I played with some fantastic players there. Lucas Leiva was someone who went under the radar, I think, because he was a fantastic player. Raul Meireles… I loved playing with Martin Skrtel and Daniel Agger, so I could name them all. But that was a fantastic group and it was just a shame it didn't work out.

“I obviously still thank the fans for supporting me when I joined. 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.”

Konchesky isn’t the only one with regrets, with the full-back admitting his mother, Carol, made a mistake when with her viral social media post as he recalled how it all unfolded.

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“I remember we played Stoke away, I think, and it was only when I woke up the next day, someone texted me to say that my mum had said this,” he said. “It wasn’t until I went into the training ground that day that we sat down with the press officer and had to go through it.

“So yeah, listen, it is probably a mistake that my mum probably regrets, but looking back, she was probably only sticking up for her little boy really.

“I think you see in today's game, people say what they want and get away with stuff. So yeah, it was what it was. I had to deal with that. And obviously it also didn't go down well.”

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Of course, Konchesky was already facing backlash from supporters, prompting his mother to stick up for him on social media in the first place.

And he admits having played for Hodgson before at Fulham ultimately made his Anfield experience a harder one - culminating in the full-back being booed in what would prove to be his penultimate appearance for the club.

“Yeah, I do,” he admitted when asked if he was damned by association to his manager. “I went there hoping to do really well. But straight away it went a little bit against Roy.

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“I think Roy bringing me in, I probably wasn’t a signing the fans expected. They like big names and it's a big club, let’s get it right.

“It's a massive football club so they expect big names and big, big players. And maybe I didn't fit that bill. And it was tough for me.

“Yeah, of course (it was hard to hear supporters booing me). But you know, when you are going through a bad, bad time, not just personally but as a group, it's easy to target players.

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“I was one of the easy ones to target. It's not always nice when the fans boo you and you have to deal with that. But I think that's part and parcel of football.

“Yeah, it's not nice, but you have to be stronger than that and try and back yourself because you're a good footballer.

“It was still unbelievable playing for Liverpool at Anfield. We all know what Anfield is like. You come out and the Kop is singing.

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“But when you're a Liverpool player and that happens, it puts hairs on the back of your neck and they all stand up. It was unbelievable. You feel more.

“It was probably more frightening playing for Liverpool than it is against them when I was playing because of what was going on. But them fans singing ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’. How passionate they are about the game, it is phenomenal.

“I really enjoyed the first six months, played every game, but obviously when Roy went it was quite tough. But I learned loads and I became a stronger person and a stronger player from it.”

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Konchesky never made another appearance for Liverpool following Hodgson’s sacking, and was only named in one matchday squad by interim boss Kenny Dalglish.

He subsequently joined Nottingham Forest on loan on transfer deadline day in January 2011, before signing for Leicester City permanently the following summer. But the full-back reveals the Reds legend was happy for the defender to stay put at Anfield and fight for his place, if he had chosen to.

“Yeah, I spoke to Kenny when he came,” he said. “I could have stayed and tried to fight my way back in.

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“But I think if you ask most footballers, all they want to do is play. So knowing you're not going to play and it's going to be a tough, tough six months to the end of the season, it was probably easier for me to go out and build my career back up.

“And then in the summer, then it was quite obvious that it was time for me to move on, and it had to be the right time and right place to move before I went anywhere. But to be fair, Kenny was really good to me and I couldn't thank him enough in the summer.”

Konchesky admits that Liverpool supporters never saw the best of him as he lost confidence during his time at Anfield.

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“No, I don't (think they ever saw the best of me),” he said. “I think the first… I’d say probably the first six weeks were really good for me. And then it was hard for me and the team.

“So when it’s hard for the team it is always hard for an individual to be at their best. It wasn’t a good time for the club. And no, I don't think they say the best out of me.

“But I then went to Leicester, get promoted and I did really well. So listen, all football players, all professional footballers now, I think they breed on confidence. When you are confident, you play well but at the time I wasn’t confident and obviously didn’t do well.”

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However, Konchesky disputes Steven Gerrard’s claim that he was never good enough to play for the Reds.

In his autobiography, the Liverpool legend wrote: ‘Konchesky was a good lad and I knew him before he joined us from Fulham. The harsh truth was that he was not good enough to play left-back for Liverpool.’

After being read the aforementioned quote, Konchesky insisted he would not have joined Liverpool if he didn’t consider himself good enough, but conceded he considers his time at Anfield as the ‘biggest failure’ of his career.

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“Yeah, I do, yeah,” he said when asked if he thinks he was good enough to play for Liverpool. “I obviously wouldn’t have gone if I didn't back myself to play for a football club like that because you don't want to embarrass yourself.

“But it didn't work out. I think you just have to bite the bullet on that one. And I have to say that it is probably one of the biggest failures in my 20-year career.”

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