REMARKABLE
Boss Robins has barely any budget and no ground to call home, but Coventry are just one step from the big time
WITH two promotions in three seasons – not to mention a cup final victory – it’s clear Coventry City boss Mark Robins is a man in a hurry.
But anyone who thinks the ride is over had better think again, because Robins has a message for those supporters who may have paused for breath: strap yourselves in, and get ready to go again.
The club without a home to call its own has punched so far above its weight that it doesn’t bear thinking about.
However, the handicap of playing at St Andrew’s, 23 miles down the road, did not stop him last term.
Nor does the regular problem of selling on the club’s best assets, with Sam McCallum following a wellworn path to fame and fortune – sadly for Coventry City, not with them but with Norwich City instead.
Robins takes it in his stride, saying: “Promotion was a great achievement and it’s a huge shame we weren’t able to celebrate with the supporters – possibly the biggest of my career.
“I’m sure the players missed it – they missed out on a lot. It’s been a long time coming and there’s been a lot of pain.
“But it’s gone. We have to get our heads together and improve. We will need to do better.
“Yes, we have gone faster than the club anticipated. We are now in a league where the competition is very serious. We have to move with it.
“We have to get better, and quickly – and there is only one way we can do it.
“We cannot spend anywhere near the money that’s being spent by a lot of other clubs in the Championship.
“We will have the lowest budget in the division – barring none – and I know that Wycombe have been promoted too.
“But I don’t want to dwell on that because it’s pointless. I need to bring in players who can grow with us.
“And it’s going to be a damn sight harder now. It’s not really been picked up yet but games are going to come at us all thick and fast because the start of the season has been pushed back and you are finishing at the same time.
“There’s a huge challenge heading towards us, and if people think, ‘Fine, no worries’, then we have to change that. We have to get up to speed. There’s a huge gap between League One and the Championship.
“There are clubs working with budgets for their first team of £50-60million – and upwards of that. We are competing in a league that, in terms of the finances, is totally out of our league.
“But there are always things you can do to bridge that gap. I’m not making any predictions, or forecasts. I don’t want to limit people’s minds.
The message is, ‘Get out there and play without any fear’.”
The big news from Coventry City this summer was not about a player signing, but rather an agreement struck with the University of Warwick who own land suitable for the club to develop a new stadium.
Negotiations with rugby club Wasps to play at the Ricoh Arena fell through, so the Sky Blues headed back to Birmingham. But they have their eyes fixed on a new home.
Robins called the news “really exciting” and the club finally appears to be gaining upwards traction after a largely lost decade.
He said: “It’s been a perfect storm. The circumstances of not being in Coventry, of Covid, and the television revenues going down make it so.
“We need to make sure that the instability that has characterised the place is taken away.
“We need to become the masters of our own destiny. Then you can build, your fanbase builds, your revenue builds. You can work and improve upon the infrastructure.
“I have so much admiration for the people who work at the club because everyone there is up to their necks – not just to keep the club going but to keep it moving forward.
“If you keep it moving forward then people will come with you. That’s what’s changed. Chief executive Dave Boddy has been fantastic.
“There’s a glass ceiling there. Financially we’re not capable of doing it. But we have some brilliant signings. We have the raw material. The recruitment boys have done a tremendous job.
“I’ve been trusted to get on with things. That’s a big thing for me.
“We might just surprise one or two this season.”