Jurgen Klopp’s decision left me ashamed and embarrassed – I just wanted to go home

Jurgen Klopp was a master of developing young players, but not all Liverpool academy youngsters benefited from his time at the club.

Klopp also had a ruthless streak that comes with being one of the world’s best managers. Former Reds academy prospect Connor Randall 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.

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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 sitting 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.

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“I just wanted to go home, get in the house and stay in the house. I can remember it clearly 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’s 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.