A few eyebrows were raised in the Kop when Andy Carroll was named in Kenny Dalglish's Liverpool side to face Wolves on Saturday, seemingly out of faith rather than merit.
After all, the £35 million man has been well below-par this season – not least in the 4-0 defeat at Tottenham six days earlier – and Craig Bellamy had looked extremely sharp in the midweek League Cup win at Brighton.
Yet Dalglish is determined to persist with Carroll until he comes good, despite the worrying parallels with the start of Emile Heskey's career at Anfield.
Carroll arrived on Merseyside to much fanfare on the last day of the January transfer window and the Kop had high hopes for his partnership with Luis Suarez, hoping modern-day version of the famous combination of Kevin Keegan and John Toshack.
If anything, a home clash against a physical Wolves side that conceded three in their previous outing seemed the sort of occasion when Carroll could kickstart his Reds career.
While Suarez oozed class and scored a well-taken goal though, Carroll produced an influential performance but flawed performance as the spearhead of the hosts' strikeforce.
“Everything except the goal,” was Dalglish's analysis of the club's record signing. “We couldn't have got much more out of the big fella yesterday.”
The Scot has rallied against critics of Carroll and will continue to take the positives out of the former Newcastle man's displays in the hope that he rediscovers the form that prompted the Reds to pay so much money for him.
Some of the signs were particularly encouraging from a player who has been publicly criticized by England coach Fabio Capello for his lifestyle off the pitch.
Having seemingly shed a couple of pounds, he looked fitter and leaner than a month ago, and he used his physical prowess to cause Wolves problems in the air, making contributions almost by his mere presence.
That was the case in the build-up to the opener, an own-goal by Wolves defender Roger Johnson in the 11th minute after he deflected in Charlie Adam's shot. Wolves manager Mick McCarthy claimed Johnson had been fouled by Carroll seconds before Adam fired towards goal – and he was probably right.
Likewise, as Liverpool pushed for a third goal in the second-half, Carroll found himself involved, always looking to cause a nuisance, not least when he challenged Wayne Hennessey under a high ball, which then fell free for Suarez to force a fine save from the Wolves goalkeeper.
With just three goals in his Liverpool career so far, concerns are understandably being expressed over Carroll's contribution and whether he could turn out to be an expensive flop.
He is low on confidence. That was made the most clear deep into added time when instead of shooting when the ball fell to him in the penalty area, he tried to walk past Wolves defenders until he was in a perfect position to pull the trigger. By the time he drew back his foot to shoot, a Wolves player was on hand to smother the danger.
Earlier in the half, he had seen his header from five yards cannon back off the post. It was the kind of chance he was bought to bury - and it was the sort of cross from Stewart Downing that could get the 22-year-old rising up the goalscoring charts. He just can't get it right in front of goal at the moment.
His main problem, though, continues to be his restricted movement and clumsy technique in a team that wants to play swift passing football.
On one occasion in the first-half, after taking three touches to get the ball under full control, Carroll tried to spin a Xavi-esque pass wide with the outside of his left-foot but missed his target by at least 20 yards.
The awkward nature in which he attempted to execute the action seemed to encapsulate his lack of incisiveness, in stark contrast to the intelligence and skill of his strike partner Suarez.
While Suarez buzzed around non-stop with world class movement, Carroll is one of the easier players for a defender to mark as he moves little off the ball and slows down the team's one and two touch attacking play.
When the game stretched, Liverpool could have done with the introduction of Bellamy from the subs' bench to exploit the space and to put Wolves on the back foot with his pace.
It is Carroll's lack of technical quality and the negative effect he has on the rest of the team that means it may be time for Dalglish to drop the striker.
Carroll should take heart from his performance against Wolves – it was a step up from his anonymity at White Hart Lane – and he has shown he provides a useful outlet for the Reds.
The problem is: he's not even worth half of that £35m fee and his style should make him a Plan B for a side that has played some wonderful football when Carroll has been absent, but rarely when he has actually featured.
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