It’s onwards and upwards says Robins
IF you’d asked Coventry City fans on the eve of the 2023/24 campaign what their hopes and expectations were, one suspects that most would have suggested a season of consolidation lay ahead given the loss of two of the best players in the Championship and influx of so many new faces.
Although big money was spent for the first time in years, including a club record transfer fee of over £7 million for USA star Haji Wright, losing 14 players and adding 10 in the summer (11 come January) meant it was always going to be a transitional year for the Sky Blues, no matter how good the quality of the new-look squad.
It takes time for new players to settle, to gel as a team and get up to speed, with many experiencing Championship football for the first time, so for City to have even been competing at this stage of the season for a place in the play-offs for a second consecutive year, coupled with making the semi-final of the FA Cup, is a remarkable achievement in itself.
The fact that they have come up short with four league games to go is disappointing, of course, but comes as no great surprise to Mark Robins, who is ready to take stock, apply a bit of perspective and come up with an action plan to move things forward again this summer.
There’s a small matter of a date with Manchester United at Wembley to come before that, as well as pushing for as high a finish in the league as possible to ensure the season doesn’t fizzle out, as it appeared to do at St Andrew’s last weekend with a thoroughly flat performance and disappointing 3-0 Midlands derby defeat to Birmingham City.
“We have got to be better than we were on Saturday, that’s for sure, but we will be,” said the Coventry manager, looking ahead to Sunday’s big day out at the national stadium. “I think you can guarantee we will be better.”
City have shown this season that they have the ability to pull big performances out of the bag, not least their incredible display against Wolves in the quarter-final of the Cup and, more recently in the league, the 2-1 victory over Leeds United at the CBS Arena.
But there has been too much inconsistency: brilliant one week, below par the next. Asked if that’s the frustration at this stage of the season, Robins told the Coventry Telegraph: “Well, it will be. It won’t be this week but it will be at the end of the season when we go over things and look what got away from us.
‘‘Life gives you opportunities. Football gives you opportunities and if you keep turning those opportunities down then you don’t deserve it. You have got to earn the right and that’s why it means so much when you win anything.”
The club’s rise up the football pyramid over the last seven years has been thoroughly enjoyable and exciting for the fans, culminating in City gaining a foothold in the second tier. And under new ownership in Doug King and with newfound spending power, albeit a prudent use of the purse strings, the Sky Blues can look forward to incremental progress as the club continues to push ever closer to a sustained crack at getting back to the Premier League.
“When we got into this league a few years ago, the first objective was to stay in it,” he said. “The question then was, can we improve year on year? And we have done that. This year we struggled to pick up results at the start of the season but we were playing some good football, knowing we had to keep everyone fit and yet use everyone.
“And you know at this stage of the season when you really need it, that might not be there. And that’s always been the concern. But I can’t be too critical because it’s not for a lack of wanting to try. It’s just understanding the circumstances, which is difficult for people at times. I understand that and what we need to do. And we have to keep moving it forward the only way that we can.”
Applying perspective to the season, it has been a success considering the turnover in playing staff and loss of such key players as Gus Hamer and Viktor Gyokeres. “It’s difficult to say when you have just played like that at Birmingham but we have to point out a few things,” said Robins. “And I’m not looking for excuses. You know what’s going to happen and eventually what it’s going to look like at the end of the season. But when you are so close it becomes so disappointing because you have got to try to take it as far and as close as you possibly can.”
He added: “But it’s a brilliant point, in fairness, because you lose two of your best players and then there’s a massive turnover – 25 in total involved, with 14 leaving and 11 coming in, and then it takes time in one of the most competitive leagues in the world. It’s certainly one of the most competitive second tiers. So that, along with the limited time we had to work with the new players who didn’t come until after the season had started, makes it remarkable what they have achieved so far.
“It’s just disappointing when you have a performance like that which is a foreign thing to us. But football is like that and if you are not right it will kick you in the teeth, no danger. And that’s just what has happened so we have to dust ourselves down and go again. But it might take a little bit of time.
“It isn’t just a case of next season we will fly again. This division is totally different every season. We want to try to build into next season, where we start brightly, pick up that momentum and have that confidence and energy to see it through.”
Looking ahead to the summer, I asked Robins if increasing his squad numbers was a priority as well as increasing the quality of new additions?
“I am always hopeful, absolutely,” he said, “but we have got to be realistic. We bought some players, which was new to us last summer and was enabled by Doug King and the sale of the two players. But the change at Ryton is also there to see and those are the exciting things, and I have to get to that stage where I can use some players in the squad that are not going to make it as it is not the same level.
“We have got to get everyone to that place, and that’s not putting anyone down because everyone plays their part and everyone has been absolutely fantastic here and played their part in this club’s journey over the last seven years.
‘‘But now we have to make sure that we keep in and learn lessons from seasons like this, and how we
When we got into this league, the first objective was to stay. The question then was, can we improve year on year? And we have done. Mark Robins
can attack it and stay in there.” With a full Championship season under their belts, it is hoped City’s signings from last summer can be even better next term.
“I think, generally, the players improve all the time and we have seen that over a number of years now,” said the City boss.
“I am excited about that happening and getting into a position where we can strengthen further to give us an even better opportunity to get into the top part of this division.
‘‘And hopefully we can do that on the basis of trying to keep everyone together. That’s the next challenge
after this season ends.” The likelihood is that Callum O’hare will be leaving this summer, having declined a new contract, but arguably the biggest concern will be if there is renewed interest in Ben Sheaf; the former Arsenal prospect having been the subject of speculation linking him with Luton in January.
“We have got to look at that and see where we can tangibly go from there and what we can reasonably expect. But if you lose people along the way then things change again and it means there’s just a little bit more change, but there’s more cer
tainty and you can build from there.
“From my point of view that’s always an ongoing thing and always exciting to look at and try to navigate through, but that’s for the future.”
In the meantime, Robins has a fourth Wembley trip to enjoy since taking charge at the club.
“Sunday is a big, big game that the supporters are looking forward to because we have heard them singing about it for the last few weeks,” he said. “So they will get the chance to sing their hearts out on a big occasion. And we have got to be better than we were against Birmingham, just slightly!”