that you were giving me an opportunity when you laid me off?
Or was it when you decided I was going to make a significant contribution to the company's success by talking a pay cut?
Possibly it was to hold my hands up and admit I was responsilble for THE failure so I could then show that I'd learnt something from it.

It's a technique that only works on the naive and the supid, so the attempt will backfire in most circumstances and you might as well just have spat it out.