Kenny Dalglish has said he was not dismissed as Liverpool manager due to his defence of Luis Suárez and believes more senior Anfield figures should have taken responsibility for the club's handling of the striker's racism charge.
Dalglish was at the forefront of Liverpool's belligerent support for Suárez after he was found guilty of racially abusing Patrice Evra and handed an eight-match ban last season. He was often the only person to defend Liverpool's position with the club's owners, Fenway Sports Group, silent throughout and the managing director Ian Ayre extending an apology only after Suárez refused to shake Evra's hand at Old Trafford.
Asked whether the Suárez saga had cost him his job, Dalglish, who led Liverpool to the Carling Cup trophy and the FA Cup final, but only eighth in the Premier League last season after major investment in players, said: "I don't think so. That was up to them [the owners]. I can go to sleep at night knowing what I did I did to the best of my ability and if that does not come up to their expectations or they want to go in another direction – they own the club.
"The owners made the decision they thought was best. They don't want to make a decision which is detrimental to the club because if they did that they would hang themselves, they have a huge investment in it. I think anything that is not done in a positive manner cannot help you but I was only the manager. There are other people with greater intelligence than me and greater responsibilities than me when it comes to something like this.
"I think [it was] the club as a whole. It wasn't just me [making decisions]. The T-shirts [worn in support of Suárez at Wigan] were the players wanting to show their support for a team-mate. It might have been misguided and not have been right but it was not me who decided it."
Dalglish was highly critical of the process that led to Suárez being found guilty by an independent panel appointed by the Football Association. In an interview with TalkSport, he claimed he would not be as co-operative with the authorities should he find himself in a similar predicament in future. He added: "A lot of things were misguided, misinterpreted and misrepresented. I was always brought up to tell the truth and what I believed to be the truth, I said. If it ever came up again I would do it differently. I would be less helpful and less forthcoming and I think that is sad."
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