‘You want to entertain the fans, of course you do, but you want to try to win for them and thankfully we can say that today’
ROBINS WON’T DWELL ON CITY’S PROBLEMS, PAST AND PRESENT... WITH VICTORY AT WEMBLEY HE ONLY WANTS TO LOOK FORWARD
MARK Robins saluted the symbiotic relationship between Coventry City’s players and supporters after the Sky Blues reclaimed their League One status with a superb 3-1 Wembley win against Exeter.
Robins was asked whether the success was all the sweeter after a miserable spell which saw two relegations sandwich a temporary exile to Northampton at the height of a bitter civil war between the fans and owners Sisu. But Robins, in his second spell as manager, insisted: “I don’t want to touch on what’s happened in the past. It happened, there’s no getting away from that, but rather than go back to those days we look forward to what we can do moving forward.
“We’re playing at the Ricoh and hopefully we can have a good relationship with people, building bridges where needed, because the connection between players and supporters is massive and fundamental to building anything.
“I don’t know what the future holds but there’s a feelgood factor there. The supporters were unbelievable – the expectation comes from and for them because they back the team. Since I’ve come back they’ve backed me and the players and for me the reconnect ion between the players and the supporters is everything.
“You could see that today because they were so behind the players. They have been all season – the support home and away has been phenomenal. You want to entertain them, of course you do, but you want to try to win for them and thankfully we can say that today.
“You try to kid the players that it’s only another game but of course it’s not – it’s a big, big, big game and you need a big-game mentality. Young players who started to struggle a little bit found their feet and that was really pleasing today.” Robins was asked if he had drawn up separate lists of possible targets depending on whether or not they clinched promotion – the first time since 1967 that Coventry have moved up a division.
‘We had a list of players that could do both,” he explained, “and hopefully they’re good players so it doesn’t necessarily matter and we’ll be able to bring in those players now. It’s great for the club, bodes well for us improving next season and having another go because that’s what it’s all about, isn’t it?
“Momentum’s a key thing. We’ve got to see what we can do with players coming in and the players that are
already here. We’ve got to make sure that, like everybody else, we live within our means, but we’re in a strong position financially. The players are under contract so at this moment in time there’s no pressure on me to do anything. We’ve had a great Cup run this year which obviously generated some money and we’ve had a play-off campaign that’s been successful so financially we’re in a better position than last year – miles better.
“The players deserve all the credit because they’re the ones who go out and get the results -– a brilliant Cup run capped with promotion.”
Asked if this win signals a Sky Blues revival, Robins insisted: “No, the start was last year. We honestly felt that with the Checkatrade win, even though we went down. That team last year shouldn’t have been relegated but it was and the win here against Oxford for me was the wood in the door, stopping that slide.
“We weren’t complacent because you’ve seen what’s happened to Chesterfield this year – a good, stable club who have gone out of the Football League.“You know how difficult is so I’m grateful that we’ve managed to recruit well, that we’ve got a good academy which produces players, and I’m thankful that we can work to develop young players and give them a platform to play at a really intense football club where the expectations are really high. Can we get a little bit of help? Can we recruit as well as we did last season and do it again? Coventry City supporters deserve the best in my opinion and we’ve got to try to deliver as close to that as we can.”
“I said when I came in that it’s not about me and it really isn’t. It’s about the players, and it’s about the supporters and it’s about reuniting a club that was desperately in need of it – galvanising them. I’m delighted for everybody connected with the club. It finishes on a real positive for everybody and I think that’s where we can run with it.”