Jurgen Klopp was a master at bringing through young players at Liverpool, capping off his time as manager by winning the League Cup with a team of academy graduates against Chelsea.
But Klopp also had a ruthless streak that comes with being one of the world’s best manager. Former Reds academy prospect Connor Randall, who made his debut on this day in 2015, can vouch for that, as he was hooked at half-time when Liverpool were trailing Wolves 2-0 in the 2017 FA Cup fourth round at Anfield.
The match would turn out to be his last for the club. Liverpool lost the cup clash 2-1 to the Midlanders, who were a Championship side at the time. While the pain of defeat is enough to sting any player, Randall admitted he was hurt by his early departure from the match.
In a previous interview with the Football Journeys Podcast, Randall, who is now 28, said: “I can remember it clear as day, going into the changing room and getting taken off. I just stood in the shower, I think the game was on in the changing room on the telly and I felt ashamed.
“I felt embarrassed, I felt like [I was] letting everyone down and things like that. All my mates who’d come to watch me, a few of my mates, my family, they were upstairs and obviously you [usually] go and speak to them and whatever.
“I remember just going straight to the car. I was sat in the back of the car, putting my hood up and hiding. Not that that makes any difference, but at the time that’s the way I felt.
“I just wanted to go home, get in the house and stay in the house. I can remember it clear that night. My sister, my little nephew and that came round and when they left I just went up to bed and tried to go to sleep, sort of just shut off from everything.
“If I’m being honest I did find it tough. Not just football, I probably took it with me outside of football as well. The biggest emotion is being half-ashamed, even going out, you don’t want to go places and for people to see you and go ‘that s*** player’ or whatever.”
The right-back admitted it took him a long time to get over the heartache of his early departure from the game. He added: “I definitely kept it with me for a lot longer than I probably should have and I did dwell on it and let it get to me in a way that I would never do now.
“When you step up and you do get that opportunity it’s brilliant, but it is tough on the mental side of things. It’s just a completely new sort of pressure that you’ve never experienced before.”
Randall would be loaned to Hearts in the following summer for a season, before being sent out to Rochdale on a six-month loan one year later. After departing the Reds in July 2019, Randall was without a club for three months before he joined Bulgarian side Arda Kardzhali.
He left the Eastern European side after less than one year and moved to Ross County on a free transfer, where he has resided ever since.
