There is a question that Liverpool are said to ask themselves every time a decision is ready to be made at boardroom level.

It's a simple strategy that theoretically runs any situation by arguably the most iconic figure in the club's history.

"What would Bill say in this situation?”

The Bill in question, of course, is Shankly - the mastermind behind Liverpool's transformation from Second Division also-rans to the most dominant side in the land in the 1960s.

Beyond the tangible honours' list, however, Shankly stands for more in the Anfield corridors. A working-class Scot from the heart of Glenbuck, his socialist values tied in perfectly with the patrons of his adopted Merseyside home.

To this day, he is revered more for what he stood for than the silverware he brought to the club.

"We had this amazing historical figure: Bill Shankly," Liverpool CEO Peter Moore told El Pais last year. "[He was] a Scottish socialist who built the foundation.

"Even today, when we talk about business, we ask ourselves: 'What would Shankly do?'"

So what would Shankly have done when faced with the prospect of using a government scheme to prop up the lowest-paid members of the 'LFC Family'?

How would the legendary Scotsman feel about a Tory government being asked to ensure Liverpool's traditionally left-leaning workers are not laid off during an unprecedented global health crisis?

First and foremost, it must be acknowledged that Liverpool's non-playing staff will be paid their salaries in full.

The government's furlough scheme will account for 80 per cent of the workers' pay with the remaining 20 to be topped up by the club itself.

No-one will go without during this worldwide coronavirus pandemic, for now.

That the staff will still be paid in full during this crisis has come as a huge source of relief to those affected, the ECHO has been told by those impacted.

It is the source of the income that has been the subject of much derision, however.

Jamie Carragher, Didi Hamann and Danny Murphy have all queued up to voice their displeasure over the weekend, while influential supporters' union Spirit of Shankly have confirmed they will write to the club for an explanation over what is viewed by many as exploitation of a government scheme designed to help struggling businesses keep their staff in the black.

The timing was as clumsy as the message itself.

Saturday's statement came less than six weeks after the club announced record revenues of £533million and a pre-tax profit of £42m. Is this really a business that can't continue to pay its most modestly-paid set of workers?

Hot on the heels of the much-criticised news, Manchester City - a club who stand in 2020 as the Reds' main on-field rival - told of a different course of action.

‘We can confirm, following a decision by the Chairman and Board last week, that Manchester City will not be utilising the UK Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme," a spokesperson was quoted as saying on Sunday.

"We remain determined to protect our people, their jobs and our business whilst at the same time doing what we can to support our wider community at this most challenging time for everybody."

A huge thumb in the eye to Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group? Possibly.

But it should also be tempered by the fact that Manchester City are quite probably the richest club on earth with a determination to rebuild a public image that has been battered over the last 12 months.

The whataboutery of certain sections of Reds supporters provides little shelter for the brickbats, either. Bemoaning the activities of bigger, non-sporting businesses is a strawman argument. British Airways or Nissan, or Primark or McDonald's don't proudly trump their employees as 'family'.

Simply put - if the name on the top line was not 'Liverpool FC' would the defending be so staunch?

Liverpool are doing right by their workers, at least. Not one of them will feel the pinch as a result of COVID-19. But the use of taxpayers' money is probably better spent at a time when the club's captain is spearheading a drive to donate to a chronically underfunded NHS.

Quite why the country's health service has been cut to the point where it is forced to rely on the goodwill of millionaire sportsmen is another question entirely, but Liverpool must take their medicine on this one.

The club, as extensively reported in these very pages, have done an awful lot of good work to help ease the worries and concerns and fears of a community in crisis over the past month or so.

But FSG's decision to utilise furlough was a big misstep.

What would Shankly have said?