PRIZE GUY MARK SHARES GLORY...
HIS team are top of the table – and now Coventry manager Mark Robins has been rewarded with the Sky Bet League One Manager of the Month award for February.
Robins picked up the manager trophy after the Sky Blues helped themselves to 16 points from six matches, and insisted it was a team effort.
Speaking before the EFL was suspended until early April, the modest boss said: “We are delighted to accept this award, which is really for all of the players and staff.
“This award is a product of the team performance and the hard work from everyone
“We are taking each game at a time, concentrating on ourselves and looking forward to an exciting end to the season for everyone involved.”
Sky Sports’ EFL pundit Don Goodman said: “Now unbeaten since December, Coventry City are playing like a Championship team-in-waiting, making February’s Manager of the Month something of a no-brainer.
“The Sky Blues have been exceptional in recent times. It’s all the more impressive given he’s lost some of his best players since promotion to this division and, in effect, every game is an away game.
“This is truly testament to the job Mark Robins is doing with his players in an otherwise bizarre and difficult situation for the club.”
West Brom boss Slaven Bilic bagged the manager gong in the Championship. The Baggies picked up 16 points from seven games and scored 13 goals in the process.
He said: “We had had a bit of a dip and it was important that we came back to show resilience, passion, physicality and, more important than that, our quality.
“Now we want to stay on that wave which is not easy because the hardest thing is consistency, especially when you need consistency not to be average but to be at the top of the table which we need if we want to win the Championship.”
Goodman said: “The Baggies’ quest for promotion is at full speed ahead as we approach the business end of the campaign and that is thanks to a fabulous February. After a couple of wayward results towards the end of January, Slaven Bilic steadied his ship once more in February, picking up five victories to consolidate West Brom’s position in the all-important automatic promotion spots. A superb run, right when it was needed the most.” Propelled
Cheltenham boss Michael Duff has scooped the League Two managerial accolade.
Six wins from seven games propelled Duff ’s side into the automatic promotion picture.
He said: “The award is recognition for the team doing well – it’s not about me. It’s about the XI who are out on the pitch at any one time.
“We have used our squad and different individuals have made an impact over the course of the month.
“The team has found a resilience and we’ve fallen the right side of some close games during the month. The players have stepped up and everyone has contributed whether it’s been the players, staff or supporters.”
Goodman said: “When push comes to shove in the latter stages of the season, having the right mind-set is vital and Cheltenham seem to have it in abundance.
“Michael Duff has managed to instil a never-saydie mentality into his charges, and it paid off in February as they clinched some valuable points with late winners truly showing a winning mentality.
“They’re in position for a promotion charge and it’s tough not to fancy them with their form and character are so strong.”