Former Blackburn Rovers coach Karl Robinson could be reunited with Sam Allardyce at Premier League strugglers Leeds United with Javi Gracia set to follow Victor Orta out of Elland Road.
That is according to Adam Pope, the BBC reporter who specialises in a Yorkshire giant who sacked their long-serving director of football on Tuesday with interim coach Gracia expected to follow.
Orta and Gracia could pay the price for Sunday’s miserable 4-1 defeat at AFC Bournemouth. And while the optics don’t look great – Leeds going from Marcelo Bielsa to Sam Allardyce in the space of just over a year – even the most desperate roll of the dice is better than simply accepting your fate; checking out the Bristol branch of Premier Inn or Googling whether there is a Marriot near Millwall.
Allardyce, according to The Guardian, is in ‘advanced’ talks to take over at Elland Road. The 68-year-old former England, West Ham and Everton boss saved Sunderland from the drop back in 2016. He then failed to repeat the trick at West Brom in 2021.
Allardyce will have far less time to put his stamp on this Leeds team however. There are just four Premier League games remaining. And, in three of them, Leeds will go head-to-head with Newcastle, Tottenham Hotspur and (whimper) Erling Haaland’s Manchester City.
Sam Allardyce taking over as Leeds manager
According to Pope, Allardyce could be reunited with a familiar face in West Yorkshire. Karl Robinson worked as a coach alongside Allardyce at Blackburn Rovers and it seems the 42-year-old has been lined up to form part of his backroom staff at Elland Road.
Robinson, formerly of MK Dons and Charlton Athletic, is currently without a job. The likeable Merseysider left Oxford United in February.
Interestingly, Robinson has turned down the top job at Leeds United in the past. It speaks volumes about his loyalty that Robinson felt an obligation to stay at Stadium MK instead. The Dons had been relegated from the Championship earlier in 2016.
“The Leeds one in 2016 was an interesting story,” Robinson told No Tippy Tappy Football podcast recently, having discussed a move to Elland Road with – yes – Sam Allardyce.
“Something didn’t feel right. Leeds weren’t the Leeds they are today, but they were still Leeds.
“I actually saw Sam Allardyce on the Monday and he said to go and meet them again. They turned up and the conversation was a little erratic, unstable. And I thought, ‘this isn’t me’. It didn’t feel right.
“It just wasn’t the right time. I’d just got relegated a few days before with MK Dons. I felt so guilty for that. My personality meant I had a lot of guilt about that relegation.”
The Telegraph’s Jason Burt backs up Pope’s claims surrounding Robinson’s potential arrival.
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