Sir Alex Ferguson believes Kenny Dalglish's handling of the Luis Suarez race row contributed to his sacking by Liverpool.
United boss believes manager paid price for defence of striker
Sir Alex Ferguson believes Kenny Dalglish's handling of the Luis Suarez race row contributed to his sacking by Liverpool.
Reds legend Dalglish was axed at the end of the season after a dismal Premier League campaign which ended with the club languishing in eighth spot in the Premier League.
But their season was overshadowed by Suarez being found by the Football Association to have racially abused Manchester United defender Patrice Evra at Anfield last October.
A subsequent eight-match ban and £40,000 fine was followed by Liverpool players and manager wearing T-shirts in support of their South American team-mate, with Dalglish opting to keep the argument rumbling on.
Suarez's failure to shake hands with Evra prior to the Premier League rematch at Old Trafford in February finally forced owner John Henry to intervene, and Ferguson feels the episode did not do much for Dalglish's standing amongst the Liverpool hierarchy.
Part of it
"I wasn't surprised at Kenny leaving," said Ferguson. "John Henry has obviously looked at that (the Suarez incident) and felt it wasn't handled in the right way.
"It certainly wasn't a nice thing to happen and it must have been part of it."
The matter came to the fore once again this week as, in an interview in Uruguay, the former Ajax striker claimed United exert too much power over the FA, and it is that what led to him being found guilty, a verdict, he said, reduced him to tears.
"It's not going to go away if Suarez keeps on making headlines out of it," said Ferguson. "It was nothing to do with Manchester United.
"It wasn't Evra's contribution, it wasn't Suarez's contribution. What killed Suarez was the guy who explained the cultural differences."
Embarrassed
A lot has been made of the Suarez not shaking Evra's hand, and whilst the striker was roundly condemned at the time, he is not the only one who felt Evra's body language suggested he was avoiding contact given his hand was held out loosely, and below the level you would normally expect.
But Ferguson believes there is a reason for that, admitting: "I think Evra expected him not to shake hands.
"He actually said that to the lads. He just felt that he wasn't going to shake his hand. He was embarrassed to put his hand there. But there is no doubt Evra put his hand towards him.
"It's Suarez who should be making the effort to do something about it."
