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• Bolton beat us for commitment, says Kenny Dalglish
• Liverpool players thought they only had to turn up to win

Kenny Dalglish tore into his under-performing Liverpool players after a lacklustre defeat at Bolton Wanderers, accusing them of thinking they only had to turn up to win and disrespecting both their opponents and the traditions of their own club.

“The most disappointing thing for me was that I don’t think the approach was correct,” the Liverpool manager said after Bolton’s surprisingly comprehensive 3-1 win. “The foundations of this club have always been based on respect for other people. You can’t come to places like this thinking all you need to do is turn up to get a result. That’s what I think we did today, and that’s why we were taught a lesson. It’s not the right way to represent the club. I don’t think we were even ready to play the game. That’s probably why we lost a goal after four minutes. I don’t think the way we went about our work was correct.”

Liverpool have two important cup games against more illustrious opponents coming up, the second leg of the Carling Cup semi-final against Manchester City on Wednesday followed by Manchester United in the FA Cup fourth round at the weekend, and the suspicion is that Dalglish’s players were looking too far ahead rather than concentrating on the matter in hand. “This philosophy of this club has always been that the next game is the most important one, not the one two or three games down the line,” Dalglish said. “You have to match the opposition for effort and commitment and today we didn’t do that. I hope a lesson has been learned. I don’t want to take anything away from Owen or the way Bolton played, but we have to see what we can do to prevent this happening in the future.”

After climbing out of the bottom three with victory, Bolton’s manager was naturally elated. “We have had our problems this season but we always knew we could address them,” Owen Coyle said. “We have been working to put things right, we have players coming back and we have played well in our last few games. We deserved this result: we were terrific in possession and organised when we lost the ball.

“It’s not very enjoyable, to be honest, waiting for a late kick-off and watching all the other results coming in, not when you are in the bottom three anyway. But we played to a very high standard today, we showed what we could do and we will continue to believe in ourselves. It was a fantastic team performance.”

LiverpoolKenny DalglishOwen CoyleBolton WanderersPaul Wilson
guardian.co.uk

• ‘I don’t think the players have caused any trouble,’ said Dalglish
• Liverpool await independent commission’s verdict on Suárez

Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish has maintained that the club’s support of Luis Suárez has been right and proper saying that it has not “caused trouble”.

The club came in for criticism for their strongly-worded statement in the wake of the Uruguay international’s eight-match ban imposed for using insulting words towards Patrice Evra, with a reference to the Manchester United player’s skin colour.

When the players issued their statement prior to Wednesday’s goalless draw at Wigan and wore T-shirts in the warm-up depicting an image of Suárez with his name and number seven on the back there was further outcry.

Dalglish, however, defended the club’s stance in giving their full support to Suárez. “The statement couldn’t have caused anyone any trouble and I don’t think the players have caused any trouble with the FA either by their statement or support by their T-shirts,” said the Scot.

“If we are not in any trouble we will leave it at that before we do get in any trouble.”

Dalglish said Suárez had been moved by the show of support from the club and his team-mates. “He’s been quite emotional and very grateful,” added the Reds boss.

“I don’t think it is ever a disappointment when the people you work for give you their undivided support and I think that is the least he deserves.”

Liverpool are still awaiting the full written verdict of the independent commission who heard Suárez’s case but are not expected to receive it until after Christmas.

The moment it does arrive the club will have 14 days to consider their response and appeal if they choose, otherwise the suspension will begin.

Dalglish, aware of how much debate was taking place about the case and the anticipated production of the written summary, said it was a matter of being patient.

“Whenever it is ready,” was his reply when asked when he expected to receive the documentation.

“Most of the people have had their say, we’ve had our say but we will wait for the judgement and take it from there – but it won’t be tomorrow.

“The club have issued the statement, the players have issued their statement visually and verbally, but we have to wait for the written report because no-one knows [what it contains].

“At this moment in time I don’t think the club are permitted to go into any further detail than they have done,” he concluded.

Kenny DalglishLuis SuárezLiverpoolguardian.co.uk

• Bellamy returns to action after death of Gary Speed
• Liverpool beat Chelsea 2-0 in Carling Cup quarter-final

The Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish has praised Craig Bellamy after the Wales forward inspired their 2-0 Carling Cup quarter-final victory over Chelsea.

Bellamy returned to action little more than 48 hours after being withdrawn from the squad for Sunday’s match with Manchester City after learning of the death of the Wales manager Gary Speed.

The 32-year-old stood with his head bowed during the minute’s applause held at Stamford Bridge in remembrance of Speed, and in the second half produced a memorable performance, setting up goals for Maxi Rodríguez and Martin Kelly as Chelsea were swept aside.

“Craig is a fantastic footballer who had a hugely disappointing day on Sunday. He regarded Gary Speed as a mentor,” said Dalglish. “It was great for the wee man, making the first goal. For the second he took the free-kick. He told Martin to leave it, it was going in!

“I don’t know if we took Chelsea apart but we were delighted with the way we played. We’ve had a good day and we deserved to go through.”

Dalglish again criticised competition organisers for the scheduling of matches that forced Liverpool to play two games in three days.

“The way we’re progressing is more significant than reaching the semi-final of a cup that’s been cheapened by the actions of the people who run it,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean to say we wouldn’t love to win it. We’ve got our reward and we’ll look forward to the next game.

“Three teams in the quarter-finals have problems with fixtures. Do us a favour. I’m not clever but I think I could have avoided that. The solution is to get someone a brain.”

The Brazilian midfielder Lucas was taken off with a knee problem, but Dalglish refused to speculate on the severity of the injury.

“Lucas has damaged his knee, we don’t know what the problem is. We’ll get it looked at and take it from there. Rather than speculate we’ll wait until we get a medical update. We’ll let everyone know in due course.”

Kenny DalglishCraig BellamyLiverpoolguardian.co.uk