I WAS only too pleased to have a chance to explain to an irate Liverpool fan that, in suggesting Kenny Dalglish needed a lesson in respect, as I did on this page last week, I was referring exclusively to his comments on referees and not wishing to question the dignified way he has comported himself in the wake of the Heysel and Hillsborough tragedies.

I have the utmost respect for what Dalglish achieved as a player and as a manager and fully understand the esteem in which he is held on Merseyside.

But his whinge after the Stoke defeat, suggesting Liverpool were getting a raw deal from referees, was bang out of order.

Sensibly, he kept his own counsel on such matters after seeing Liverpool thrashed 4-0 at Tottenham on Sunday.

He refused to comment on the red cards shown to Charlie Adam and Martin Skrtel (both correct decisions, by the way) because he did not wish to take anything away from the Spurs performance.

Now that’s more like it.