In McManaman's final games for the club in the 1998–99 season, he began turning in mixed performances, with the media accusing him of playing out his final season in a "desultory manner". His form dipped at times, largely due to a combination of injuries (his first recurrent Achilles injuries for over five years having set in after years of playing constantly)- where he had already missed an entire month from mid-November, only to return and reluctantly limp off the pitch (as Captain) following a tackle by future Liverpool player Dietmar Hamann on his return game on Boxing Day (another compound injury that sidelined him for another month), while other factors included his later being restricted to substitute appearances (as Houllier wanted to cut the side's dependency on his gameplay and replace him,) as well as suffering a loss of confidence in certain games where even the home fans turned against him over the contract debacle, with some labelling him a "traitor" and a Judas figure.