Dalglish defends Suarez saga approach

The Scot was sacked at the end of last season after the club finished eighth in the Premier League, having won the club's first trophy in six years with victory in the Carling Cup.

However, the campaign was dominated by the Suarez issue which resulted in the Uruguay striker being banned for eight matches having been found guilty of racially abusing the Manchester United defender Patrice Evra.

Dalglish was criticised at the time for his belligerent defence of the player and the club's stance in general - ranging from the T-shirts the team wore at Wigan Athletic in support of Suarez to the statements which emanated from Anfield - also came under fire.

The Reds' former player and manager refused to shoulder all the blame for that approach, pointing the finger at more senior figures at the club.

Asked whether the Suarez saga cost him his job Dalglish said: "I don't think so. That was up to them (owners Fenway Sports Group).

"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 for the club.

"They don't want to make a decision which is detrimental to the club because if they did that they would hang themselves because 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 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 added on talkSPORT: "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."

Dalglish, who was critical of the Football Association on a number of occasions last season, called on the governing body to revamp its disciplinary process to iron out anomalies.

Suarez was banned for eight matches while Chelsea captain John Terry received a four-match suspension having been found guilty of racially abusing Anton Ferdinand after being cleared in a court of any offence.

"There is no room for racism in football and the FA have a responsibility to clear it up," said Dalglish.

"If they want to get it cleaned up they need to get closer to the rules and regulations and laws of the land.

"You can't be going to a tribunal with the FA and be seen [to be judged] on probability and you go to a court and it is 'beyond all reasonable doubt'.

"They have to get closer to the law and make sure the tribunal is independent.

"You get different degrees of punishment because there are different people with different interpretations. Why not have the same panel?

"Also, what is the correct terminology, what is the wrong thing to say?

"There are obvious ones out there you wouldn't dream of saying but they need to educate us and give us a guideline."