The connection between the pinch technique and the background field method is
further explored. We show by explicit calculations that the application of the
pinch technique in the framework of the background field method gives rise to
exactly the same results as in the linear renormalizable gauges. The general
method for extending the pinch technique to the case of Green's functions with
off-shell fermions as incoming particles is presented. As an example, the
one-loop gauge independent quark self-energy is constructed. We briefly discuss
the possibility that the gluonic Green's functions, obtained by either method,
correspond to physical quantities.Comment: 13 pages and 3 figures, all included in a uuencoded file, to appear
in Physical Review
