Boss: Top flight is our goal – but immediate aim is that we don’t want to be relegated
COVENTRY City fell just short of the play-offs in their second season back in the Championship – a remarkable achievement in the grand scheme of things.
The mere fact that they were anywhere near shows huge progress from their first season up when they battled successfully to stay in the division on a bottom four budget.
But having proved to be a highly competitive side that spent much of the first half of last season in the top six, Sky Blues boss Mark Robins is determined to go one better in the 2022/23 campaign when the team will face a host of fresh challenges.
The first hurdle will be successfully negotiating the summer transfer window, hoping to strengthen key positions and hold on to their star men to ensure the squad isn’t weakened in any way.
Robins and his staff, meanwhile, will analyse the data from this past season and look at what needs to be improved upon. Home form, for example, started off like a house on fire but then faded as City’s away form picked up in the second half of the season.
A top half finish, albeit only just in 12th, was a clear improvement on the previous year’s 16th spot. But the buzz word is “incremental” – the manager’s favourite description of year on year gains.
“League position is important from a psychological perspective and from an optics perspective because people want to see the progress in your league position,” he said, speaking to the Coventry Telegraph.
“It doesn’t always translate to that. Our home form has dipped off and hasn’t been brilliant in terms of returning results but our performances have been good. But we have to be even better. We have to remember we are in a tough, tough league.”
Robins is quick to point to his former club, Barnsley, who have gone from play-off semi-finalists in 2021 to relegated in 2022.
“We have to mention Barnsley again because it’s incredible what happened to them this season from last,” he said. “It’s tough and every point is difficult to get, and this season has been really difficult. We have to concentrate on what we’re good at and what we do and not veer away from it. We need to try to evolve and improve.
“Ultimately we want to be in the Premier League like everyone else. Every season you don’t set off to avoid promotion, that’s for sure, but we have to stay in the league and every year we do that we can build and keep build
ing, so league position in that sense. As long as you’re not in the bottom three and you are playing decent football and you can see that you’re competing well against the teams that have come up, teams that have come down, teams with parachute payments, that’s what’s important.
“Next season we have Norwich and Watford coming down, potentially Burnley or Leeds – they are all fighting to stay up but whoever comes down is going to be really, really strong. “We’ve got Rotherham and Wigan coming up and then Sunderland as well. The league changes by six teams each season, 25 per cent, so that’s a huge swing and we have to try to see that increase in quality and points totals.”
He added: “We will set targets for next season based on what we have done this season but everything has to be achievable, so we will work hard in the summer to improve the areas we can, not just the players coming in but the new pitch, one or two bits of equipment.
“We want to try to get as close to those play-offs as we can do. It may take time, it might be three years away, it might be two. It might be five years away, it might be next season. Who knows. We have to keep building incrementally and then we will have a chance.
“We have to look at what we can do with our finances to try to maximize those numbers to bring in the most quality and components of the team to make us better.”
Ultimately we want to be in the Premier League. Every year we do that we can build and keep building, so league position in that sense.
Mark Robins