Mark Robins has been the manager of Coventry for six years and has managed to turn the “horrific start” of this Championship season into a “miraculous” finish. With only one win to their name, a fixture backlog, and a dispute with the owners of their home ground, the CBS Arena pitch had been left ‘unsafe’ by 65 matches of rugby sevens in just three days during the Commonwealth Games. Despite these challenges, Robins has led Coventry to their highest finish since Premier League relegation in 2001, and they are now three matches away from the Premier League. On Sunday (12:00 BST), they host Middlesbrough in the first match of a two-legged Championship play-off semi-final, aiming for Wembley and ultimately the Premier League.
Robins returned to Coventry for his second stint in charge in March 2017 and was unable to stop the club being relegated to League Two, but since then City have been on a constant rise. He guided them out of League Two via the play-off final in the 2017-18 season, their first promotion for 51 years, and then won the League One title while ground sharing with Birmingham in the 2019-20 campaign. Since consolidating their position in the Championship, they have been mixing it with the biggest clubs in the division, some of whom are supported by parachute payments.
Robins was on the shortlist for the division’s manager of the season award but lost out to Burnley’s Vincent Kompany. He will also take on former Manchester United player and assistant manager Michael Carrick’s Middlesbrough in the play-offs, but he is not fussed about getting any acclaim. He says that getting to the play-offs caps off an impressive climb since he returned and he is eager to share the praise.
A lot of managers would have been courted for moves to ‘bigger clubs’ after two promotions and winning a cup competition but Robins says he has not been interested in leaving. He has made it clear that this is his priority and he is totally invested in this project. He believes that if you try to change things drastically too quickly, the wheels can come off and that it has taken some dragging to get Coventry to where they are now.
The club has received plaudits for the way they have played football this season and have managed to constantly find value in the market and compete with clubs whose finances are boosted by recently being in the Premier League. It is doubtful Robins would continue to operate below the radar if he achieved the dream of a Premier League return for Coventry after more than 20 years away.