Eager to avoid appearing insincere, the midfielder opted not to reveal upon signing that he had followed the Reds from afar growing up in Czechoslovakia, or that he classed Kenny Dalglish as his 'childhood hero'.
As such, it is easy to understand why the six-month wait for rumours of interest from Anfield to become something more concrete was so excruciating.
Smicer did not even have confirmation that he was a target from either then Reds boss Gerard Houllier, or his club of the time, Lens.
Initially, the only word he heard from Liverpool came courtesy of an unusual source: Patrik Berger.