Ayre denies Liverpool have shortlisted MartinezLiverpool managing director Ian Ayre has insisted the club are yet to draw up a shortlist of potential successors to Kenny Dalglish as the club's manager.
Dalglish was dismissed from his position on Wednesday, after a season that saw victory in the Carling Cup tempered by a disappointing eighth place finish in the Premier League.
Wigan manager Roberto Martinez has immediately been installed as the hot favourite for the Anfield post, but Ayre denied the Spaniard was already on the club's shortlist.
"Not at the moment, no," Ayre told Sky Sports, when asked if the club already had identified any candidates for the job. "We come back tomorrow and look for a new appointment, that's when we start on that."
Ayre revealed that league form was the primary reason why Reds owner John W Henry decided to remove Dalglish from his position, one the Scot took up - originally on a temporary basis - after Roy Hodgson was fired in the early weeks of 2011.
"Results, perhaps, were not where we wanted them to be and that drives the decision," Ayre noted. "We feel it's the right decision and one we have to move forward with, but there's lots of praise and admiration for him.
"We have a big long-term plan for this football club, we've always talked about progress and moving forward. We've made a lot of progress off the pitch, creating a lot of foundations to build the business on and improve revenues, and the next important thing to move forward is football."
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