Ayre slams Whelan over 'sideshow'

Liverpool managing director Ian Ayre has called Wigan chairman Dave Whelan a "comedian" and claims he conducted a "sideshow" during their recent search for a new manager.

The Latics owner gave his boss Roberto Martinez permission to speak to the Reds and then appeared to be speaking to the media every day to give updates. Swansea's Brendan Rodgers was eventually appointed on Friday, after the manager, Liverpool and the Swans concluded negotiations in less than four days in a much more private affair.

"Our aim from the outset was to conduct a proper, thorough, search and do it in the proper manner," Ayre told the Liverpool Echo. "It is disappointing, then, that Dave Whelan felt the need to run the kind of sideshow he conducted via Sky Sports News and various other media outlets."

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