Sam Allardyce’s assistant at Leeds has told talkSPORT the logic behind Big Sam’s infamous first press conference at Elland Road.
The former England boss replaced Javier Gracia in the Yorkshire side’s final throw of the dice in their effort to avoid relegation.
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As if his appointment hadn’t stolen headlines enough as the battle to stay up hit boiling point, Allardyce raised eyebrows even higher when he made some rather bold remarks in his first press conference.
“People think I’m old and antiquated. It’s so far from the truth,” Allardyce said ahead of his side’s trip to eventual champions Manchester City.
“There is no one ahead of me in football terms – not Pep [Guardiola], not [Jurgen] Klopp, not [Mikel] Arteta.
“They do what they do, I do what I do. But in terms of depth of depth of knowledge, I am up there with them.
“I am not saying I am better than them, but I am as good as them.”
Of course, unfortunately for Allardyce, despite comparing himself to some of the world’s best managers, Leeds went on to lose 2-1 and Big Sam he was unable to save them from the drop in the end.
But now, Allardyce’s assistant has confirmed what many people had guessed at the time – that his press conference remarks were to distract attention away from his fragile side.
“It was brilliant, it was genius at work, it really was,” Karl Robinson, who first worked with Allardyce at Blackburn, told White and Jordan.
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“We were having lunch, I can’t remember what day we played, the Sunday maybe? Anyway we were having lunch two days before and he had a presser, and he went ‘I need to take the pressure off the players’.
“You could see it when you walked in, it was so low and down. They were playing Man City, the best team in the world with [Erling] Haaland and [Kevin] De Bruyne and [Ilkay] Gundogan and you think ‘uh oh’.
“He needed something. I said ‘well what are you going to do’ and he went ‘I’ll figure something big man’.”
“So he walked out and we were in the office afterwards with the press guy walked in,” he smiled. “People couldn’t see but he pulled a face and the gaffer pulls the door laughing his head off.
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“And I can’t exactly used the words that he used, but he said ‘honestly, if any fool fools for that!'”
And as if the thought of Allardyce cracking up at himself wasn’t funny enough, Robinson has also revealed that Guardiola himself loved Big Sam’s comments too.
The ex-Oxford boss continued: “I remember when we got to City on the day, Pep just came up to him and started laughing and shook his hand.
“He knew what he meant by it! It was genius in a way.”
Leeds have since said goodbye to Allardyce and Robinson, but are yet to appoint a new manager as they return to the Championship for the first time since 2020.
