VIDEO Damien Comolli: Liverpool Boss Kenny Dalglish Speaks About Sacked Director Of Football

Liverpool's director of football, Damien Comolli, became the first casualty of the club's below-par season, as he left the club on Thursday by mutual consent, according to owners Fenway Sports Group.

The suspicion is that the club's hierarchy took decisive action following the club's dismal form after several big-money signings have failed to perform.

Despite the decision coming just two days before Liverpool's massive FA Cup semi-final with Merseyside rivals Everton at Wembley, Liverpool chairman Tom Werner said this was the right time to take action.

We're coming close to the end of the season and the transfer window for the summer, and we felt it was important to make this change expeditiously, he said, according to the Guardian.

Comolli, who previously occupied the same role at Tottenham, was responsible for bringing in Andy Carroll, Stewart Downing, Charlie Adam and Jordan Henderson for a combined £80 million ($128m). All four have been heavily criticized for their performances at various points during the season.

And, although the signings of Jose Enrique and Luis Suarez have fared better, Comolli's legacy at Liverpool will not be a positive one.

I am grateful to have been given the opportunity to work at Liverpool and am happy to move on from the Club and back to France for family reasons, Comolli said, according to the Telegraph. I wish the Club all the best for the future.

Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish has also spoken about the decision and clarified that he was the man who had the final say in all transfer dealings.

[Comolli] has been really helpful in every transfer target we've gone for, said Dalglish, according to the Telegraph.

Everyone who has come into the club since Damien has been here was of my choice.

Once I made the choice who I wanted Damien went away and did a fantastic job of bringing them in.