Graeme Souness is the first to admit his tumultuous time in charge of Liverpool was littered with too many misjudgements.
Not least in the transfer market.
And arguably one of his biggest clangers came moments after one of the best moments of his reign, when in November 1991 the Reds overturned a 2-0 first-leg deficit against Auxerre in the UEFA Cup to win the return leg 3-0 at Anfield.
"After the game, Terry Littlewood, who used to look after the players' lounge and my lounge, security-wise, knocked on my door and said there's a pal outside, he's a good friend of yours and he wants to speak to you," recalled Souness in 2020.
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"I said 'who is it?' and he said 'it's Michel Platini'. Not a close pal of mine, the only time I had come in contact with him was when I played against him when I was in Italy.
"He came in and said 'I've got a player for you, he's a real problem in France but he's really talented and he'd be perfect for your club'.
"I said 'look, Michel, I'm fighting fires here at the moment, I'm trying to get some people out of the door that are resisting, I'm fighting a dressing room here. The last thing I need is another controversial figure'."
That player was Eric Cantona, who rather than switch to Anfield had a trial at Sheffield Wednesday before signing for Leeds United and, within 12 months, joining Manchester United.
Souness, though, knew he needed reinforcements and, 30 years ago today, instead opted to take a chance on a player who had caused his Rangers team problems during his previous job in Scotland.
Alas, Istvan Kozma wasn't quite the same rip-roaring success in the Premier League as Cantona, and unwittingly became a symbol of the decline of a team that less than two years earlier had been champions.
Liverpool spent £300,000 to take the Hungary international from Dunfermline, where he had been a crowd favourite in a team that also included a certain David Moyes.
It wasn't quite like that at Anfield.
Kozma made his debut as a second-half substitute in a goalless FA Cup fifth round draw at Ipswich Town before being awarded his first start the following week in the league at Norwich City.
He was substituted after 74 minutes as Liverpool lost 3-0. Indeed, in his three starts for the club, the Reds failed to score a single goal.
Kozma made just seven outings in this first campaign with the Reds and, at the start of the next term, came off the bench late on in the Charity Shield loss to Leeds.
And then came his crowning glory. Of sorts.
With Liverpool 3-0 down at home to fourth tier Chesterfield in their League Cup second round first leg tie, Kozma - who had been thrown on at half-time for youngster Phil Charnock - answered the call.
A crowd of just 12,533 - not counting pandemic-restricted capacities, it remains the lowest Anfield attendance in almost 40 years - witnessed the Hungarian torment the left side of the Chesterfield defence and fire in crosses for both Ronny Rosenthal and Mark Wright to head home as the Reds scraped a ridiculous 4-4 draw.
It was perhaps more Kozma's level than the Premier League, even if he preferred to play in central midfield than out wide.
Four days later, Kozma featured in the last eight minutes of a 3-2 home defeat to Wimbledon and was never seen in action again, although he was an unused substitute for a further four games.
The lack of minutes meant he wasn't granted a work permit the following year and was granted a free transfer to Ujpest FC in his native Hungary, a line drawn under an infamous Anfield career.
There was, though, a happier postscript. Kozma later moved to APOEL in Cyprus and won the domestic double, and then returned to Ujpest to win another league before finishing his career with a fourth spell at the club after seasons with Videoton and FC Tatabanya.
And his son Dominik, who was born in Dunfermline, became a swimmer and represented Hungary at three Olympic Games.
But Kozma's time at Liverpool wasn't without its reward, having been part of the non-playing squad that watched the FA Cup final win over Sunderland in May 1992.
"It was still the old Wembley and a full house," he recalled last year. "We were sitting behind the bench.
"The next day we went home to Liverpool, a huge celebration began. First we were taken around the city on an open double decker bus where a lot of scarves were thrown at us.
"It was a huge experience. I still keep a few of the things."
Plus, of course, he'll always have Chesterfield.
