Across Manchester, Mark Robins is probably best known for scoring the winner for Manchester United in the third round of the FA cup against Nottingham Forest in 1990 - widely considered to be the goal that saved Sir Alex Ferguson’s job at United.
But in the West Midlands, he’s better known as the man who is ‘resurrecting’ Coventry City.
Robins has transformed Coventry from a League Two side into the in-form side in the Championship, all whilst battling off-field problems concerning the club’s stadium and even spending two seasons playing their ‘home’ games at Birmingham's St Andrew's.
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When appointed manager in March 2017, he couldn’t quite perform a miracle to keep Coventry in League 1. He did, however, manage to lead Coventry to an EFL Trophy win at Wembley, which was their first piece of silverware since winning the FA Cup in 1987.
Coventry fans understood that Robins could do very little to prevent the Sky Blues' relegation that year, but the suffering wouldn’t last long, as he led them to a 3-1 play-off final win against Exeter to secure promotion back to the third division the next season. This is where Coventry fans really got a sense of what football under Robins was like.
With one of the league’s lowest budgets, across the club's two seasons in League 1 he signed striker Matty Godden, centre-back Kyle McFadzean and secured a loan for attacking midfielder Callum O’Hare, additions who helped form the spine of the team that can still be seen in the Championship to this day.
Off-field troubles regarding ownership of the then-Ricoh Arena saw Coventry forced to play the 2019/20 season at St Andrew's, 30 miles away from Coventry, yet despite this Robins took Coventry to the Championship after winning the league with just three defeats all season, earning him the League One Manager of the Year award.
With the second-lowest budget in the league, Robins managed to recruit Gustavo Hamer in the centre of midfield, permanently sign O’Hare on a free from Aston Villa and he secured a deal for Sweden international Viktor Gyokeres, all of whom would play a major part in securing a 16 th place finish in the club's first season back in the Championship.
Progress was made in 2021/22 season, where the Sky Blues left St Andrew's after signing a 10-year lease at the Coventry Building Society Arena. They finished the season in 12 th , however, Coventry’s start to this season was absolute mayhem.
They didn’t play a home game until August 31 due to the quality of the pitch, after rugby games were played at their stadium during the Commonwealth Games. Although some referred to it as a ‘false position’, the postponements saw Coventry rock bottom of the Championship in October, and fears of relegation back to League 1 began to grow.
But, remarkably, Robins has pulled another rabbit out of the hat.
The Sky Blues began the season with no wins in their first eight games across all competitions, but fast forward a couple of months and Coventry have entered the break on a four-game winning streak, going from the bottom three to within two points of the play-off places.
Heading into the break, Coventry fans knew they might struggle to turn down handsome offers for their star men in the January window if their recent form continued.
They managed to survive the summer transfer window with their only major loss being defender Dominic Hyam, who signed for Blackburn. They managed to withstand Burnley’s offers for O’Hare, and multimillion-pound offers from various clubs for striker Gyokeres.
It was a relief when their owners sold 85 per cent of the club to local businessman Doug King, subject to EFL approval, who told BBC CWR’s Simon Gilbert: “We’re not going to be sellers in the January transfer market if I get approval to be the new owner. Not a seller at all. We have great players, a great manager and great momentum.”
Although a lot is still up in the air regarding the club, including how the relationship between new owner King and former Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley, who acquired ownership of the vacant Coventry Building Society Arena on November 17, unfolds.
But one thing is for certain, with Mark Robins at the helm, and the right backing, Coventry are on a one-way path to completing the ‘resurrection’ and heading back to the Premier League.
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