Martinez was interviewed for the vacant Liverpool job following Kenny Dalglish‘s dismissal from Anfield, and even met with the club’s owners in Miami.
During which, Whelan spoke to the media on a number of occasions informing them of developments, whilst the club owners wanted to do things behind closed doors.
Speaking about the managerial selection process – which ended with Brendan Rodgers being unveiled as the new Liverpool manager on Friday – Ayre also praised the professionalism of Spaniard Martinez, who will remain at Wigan.
“Our aim from the outset was to conduct a proper, thorough, search, and do it in the proper manner,” said Ayre.
“From our point of view, we did all the right things. We approached the clubs we needed to approach, and conducted ourselves properly at all times.
“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.
“To be honest, I always thought John Bishop was the biggest comedian in the north west, but Dave Whelan seems to have taken that mantle over the last couple of weeks!
“It is important to understand that we ran a proper search to find a new manager, and that part of that involved us speaking to a number of candidates.
“We make no secret of the fact we spoke with Roberto Martinez, but that is all we did. He is a great guy, and I can’t speak highly enough of his professionalism and conduct.
“But for his chairman to make suggestions like he has, and suggestions that just aren’t true, well it is disappointing to say the least. We can say with absolute certainty that the only person who was made any offer by Liverpool Football Club is Brendan Rodgers.”
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