It is a moment that is etched into Premier League folklore.

After Sam Allardyce was appointed Leeds United's third manager of the season during the 2022/23 campaign with just four matches remaining, he wasted little time in grabbing the headlines in the Whites' bid to avoid relegation from the Premier League.

At his first press conference, Allardyce boldly told the world's media: "I might be 68 and old, but there’s nobody ahead of me in football terms. Not Pep [Guardiola], not [Jurgen] Klopp, not [Mikel] Arteta.

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“It’s all there with me. They do what they do, I do what I do. In terms of knowledge and depth of knowledge, I’m up there with them. I’m not saying I’m better than them, but certainly as good as they are."

Allardyce's comments garnered an incredible reaction on social media and ahead of Leeds' trip to City. The pressure was taken away from his players.

The former England manager's assistants at Elland Road were Robbie Keane and Karl Robinson, and the latter revealed exactly what was going through the former Newcastle boss' head when comparing himself to the three biggest managers in the Premier League at the time.

"He [Allardyce] turned round me to me and said, ‘I need to do something here, I need to create a bit of a smokescreen. The players look nervous, they can’t deal with the pressure’," Robinson told the 'I Had Trials Once' podcast.

"I said, ‘just make up something, just throw something out there’. He said, ‘I f****** will’.

"I’m in his office with Keano [Robbie Keane] and we’re just sat there having a coffee. He [Allardyce] stormed in with his massive big smile on his big head and just went, ‘I’ve only ‘f****** said I’m better than Pep and Klopp haven’t I’. We all went 'what?!'.

"The press officer then walked in afterwards. He's giving it and [Allardyce] said, ‘let’s see how many bites I get on that one’."

The mind games backfired as City won the game 2-1 and Leeds picked up just one point from Allardyce's four games in charge and were relegated from the Premier League.

Robinson has since returned to management, having previously managed MK Dons, Charlton Athletic and Oxford United, and has made a successful start to life in the dugout at Salford City.

The Ammies have won six successive matches to climb up to second in the League Two table and, as luck would have it, they will travel to the Etihad Stadium on Saturday evening to take on Manchester City in the FA Cup third round.

Robinson has faced Guardiola and City before, twice as Oxford manager. As revealed to The Athletic ahead of their last clash in 2019, the influence Guardiola has had on Robinson's management style is clear.

“He is the greatest manager whose feet have touched British soil. He is the one manager I look to as his style is something that I’m attached to,” he said.

“I’m addicted to Spanish football. I can’t get enough of it. I’m addicted to rotation. I’m addicted to simplicity and that’s the key. I study it. I coach it.

“When we played them here last year (a Carabao Cup third round tie in September 2018), the team that they played shocked us.

“They have the capability on the turnover; the ball changes hands roughly four times a minute, so 360-odd times a game. The difference is the levels you go through in that transition. They have the pace and the power and the talent to exploit us.

“That’s the big one — any error that you make or overconfidence that you gain is when you’re at your most vulnerable.”

Robinson will take his Salford side across Manchester with a quiet confidence. But, unlike Allardyce, don't expect Robinson to make any claims that he is better than the City boss ahead of kick-off.