Karl Robinson relives 'erratic' 2016 Massimo Cellino meeting after Leeds United arrival - Leeds Live 7/5/23 May 2016

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Leeds United's new assistant manager looked back on a chance he had to lead the Whites dugout back in 2016.

Leeds United assistant manager Karl Robinson has recalled the time he turned down a job offer to manage the first team from the club's previous owner Massimo Cellino back in 2016 after an 'erratic' conversation with the Italian.

The 42-year-old was manager of Milton Keynes Dons at the time, but was offered to take over from then-Whites manager Steve Evans following his departure in May.

And while he now sits as the assistant boss under long-term friend Sam Allardyce at Elland Road in trying times, he could've been in Allardyce's position seven years ago.

"The Leeds United one is an interesting story actually," Robinson claimed on the No Tippy Tappy Football Podcast alongside Allardyce. "They weren't the Leeds like they are now, Leeds fans will probably say they were the Leeds when Karl got offered a job!

"But I was meeting you [Sam Allardyce] on the Monday in London, so I was meeting Cellino at 9 o'clock and Sam at 12:30, 1pm. I got a phone call and I arrived at the place.

"9 o'clock, not there. 10 o'clock, not there, 10:30, not there. So I phoned the gaffer and said, 'What do I do?' He's gone: 'Just wait, give him until 11 and then leave'.

"Eventually Cellino did turn up, but then the conversation just got a bit... erratic. Unstable. And I just thought it wasn't for me, I remember calling my agent and my family on the way out and the fact it was Leeds, it just wasn't the right time.

"I'd just been relegated two days before with MK Dons on the lowest budget in Championship history, and I felt so guilty for that and I got sacked two months later."

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