Liverpool owner John W Henry has revealed that former manager Kenny Dalglish would still have been sacked if the club had lifted the FA Cup.
The Scot parted company with the Reds following a dismal finish to their Premier League campaign and a Wembley defeat at the hands of Chelsea.
Addressing the matter for the first time, Henry said that the FA Cup final outcome was irrelevant as the team's league form had sealed Dalglish's fate.
"The FA Cup would not have made any difference had he won it, no, no," The Mirror quotes Henry as saying. "For us, we were 17th over the second half of the season and Liverpool should not be in that position.
"The play was lacking - I think it was obvious to every Liverpool fan that something was wrong and something needed to be done in the current circumstances."
Henry went in to say that the blame for Liverpool's underachievement does not rest solely with Dalglish or his deputy Steve Clarke, and refuted reports that the Luis Suarez race row had a bearing on the managerial change.
He added: "[The Suarez incident] did not really play a part. It did not come into play. Basically that did not come into it, and we have been into the factors why," he explained.
"No one man is bigger than the club and no one issue is going to determine the long term viability of the club."
Brendan Rodgers was named as Dalglish's successor earlier this summer.
Mark Langshaw
