Loyal Robbo quickly dismisses Blackpool interest
Karl Robinson on the touchline on Tuesday night
IT didn’t take long for Karl Robinson to turn down the approach from Blackpool to make him their next manager.
The meeting between the Dons boss and chairman Pete Winkelman took longer than Robinson had anticipated, but admitted that the topic of the Blackpool job wasn’t on the agenda for a very long time before it was dismissed.
Rumours of an approach for Robinson surfaced ahead of Tuesday night’s FA Cup third round replay with Sheffield Wednesday, but it didn’t seem to hamper the players in any way as they booked their fourth round spot courtesy of a 2-0 win.
And by lunch time on Wednesday, the club issued a statement declaring that Blackpool’s move for Robinson had been refused and that he would remain at stadium:mk.
Robinson said: “The discussion with the topic you all want to know about was a short one! But the meeting itself was long! And all about the future.
“We had a discussion, but it would be unfair of me to discuss another football club. I don’t want to get involved in tit for tat, but the chairman knew what the outcome was going to be.”
Fans took to social networking sites to urge the 32-year-old to stay, something he found out about via his wife who had see the messages. Robinson went on to say that Dons remains a club close to his heart.
“The decision over the last 24 hours has allowed that to come to fruition,” he added. “But the proof is in the pudding and the fans have seen that.
“It was nice. My wife was telling me there were some nice messages. It’s nice to be liked, especially in this industry.”
Robinson has been linked to a range of high-calibre jobs since taking over the helm at stadium:mk, including Leeds and Nottingham Forest. But he said that he still owes a lot to the people who helped him get to where he is, and that includes a lot of people still at MK Dons.
He said: “I think loyalty is important these days, but it’s important to do right by the people who pay your wages. I have a big debt of gratitude to the chairman for giving me a chance.
“But I owe the players a lot too. Darren Potter, Stephen Gleeson and Sam Baldock have all showed me loyalty; Izale McLeod has shown me loyalty in coming back; Dean Lewington has shown me loyalty by turning down things; Alan Smith has shown me loyalty by turning down millions of pounds to stay here; Shaun Williams also could have gone.
“There’s a lot of loyalty in football. It’s important that the players show it, and that the managers and staff are there to stand by them too.
“I told the players that when I’m getting linked to other clubs, it’s because they’re doing well and winning games.”
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Weather for Milton Keynes
Tuesday 21 May 2013
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 8 C to 16 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: North
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 4 C to 14 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: North west
