‘I felt so guilty’: 42-year-old says he turned down the chance to become the Leeds United manager

By Charles Jones

Speaking on the No Tippy Tappy Football Podcast, Karl Robinson has been discussing some of the decisions he made in his managerial career and his links to Leeds United in 2016.

The 42-year-old was strongly linked with a move to Elland Road before the arrival of Garry Monk, and he’s now shared the story of how he rejected the Whites.

Robinson says that he lost sleep over this job offer, and he turned down the role because he really didn’t have a good feeling about a move to Elland Road, claiming that the conversations he had when he was approached were erratic and unstable.

Robinson rejected Leeds

The ex-MK Dons boss spoke about his conversations with Leeds.

“The Leeds one was an interesting story. I met them on the Friday, I didn’t sleep on the Friday or the Saturday. So I was like ‘I don’t feel right.’ Leeds weren’t the Leeds of today, and I arranged a meeting and got a phone call and the conversation has gotten a bit erratic, unstable, and I just thought ‘nah, this is not me.’ And I told them. It wasn’t the right time, I’d just been relegated a few days before with one of the lowest budgets in Championship history, and I felt so guilty for that, and I got sacked two months later,” Robinson said.

Big chance

Robinson may have been right to reject Leeds. After all, the words ‘erratic and unstable’ perfectly describe the club under the ownership of Massimo Cellino.

However, there must be at least one small part of Robinson that regrets this decision. After all, Leeds would easily have been the biggest club he’s managed in his career.

Whether or not he could’ve been a success at Elland Road is up for debate, but this has to go down as quite an interesting ‘what if’ in the recent history of Leeds United.

This was Robinson’s big chance to manage a huge club, and he may not get this kind of shot ever again.