The Ghost of Full Backs Past

Say what you like about Paul Konchesky, the one thing you could never accuse him of is being your stereotypical 21st century full back. To begin with, he doesn’t exactly look the part. He may have been born in Barking but he always seems to have stepped straight out of a ploughing competition and his game is, to put it mildly, anachronistic. The main reason for this is that he favours the long ball so much it borders upon addiction and as a result he becomes very predictable. In fact a short pass from Konchesky is a true collector’s item for which you feel someone would pay an absolute fortune if only it could be sold on eBay.

But for all his rough edges, the 25 year old is sometimes more sinned against than sinning. Against Fulham at Craven Cottage, he was dismissed with indecent haste by referee Chris Foy after a last ditch tackle on Routledge in which he appeared to get a touch of the ball.

It wouldn’t have happened in the old days.