Chris Wilder pays 'incredible' tribute to Mark Robins and claims Coventry City successor decision 'close'

Chris Wilder paid tribute to his absent managerial colleague Mark Robins ahead of Saturday's draw between Coventry City and Sheffield United at the CBS Arena.

The experienced Blades boss insists the former Sky Blues manager will be defined by the “bulk” of “absolutely outstanding” work at the football club over the last seven and a half years – a successful spell that was brought to an end when he was sacked by owner Doug King a fortnight ago.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference ahead of Saturday lunchtime kick-off, Wilder said: “First of all I’d like to pay tribute to Mark Robins and the work that he did at that football club. I’ve known Mark for a long time, when he was local at Rotherham United as well, it’s an incredible batch of work that he’s done at that football club and I think that will be recognised by everyone around the city and most importantly everybody at the football club.

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“We all understand the journey he was on and where they were and the issues they had, financial issues, supporter issues and the tough journey that club has been on, to get them within a penalty kick of the Premier League and within an incredibly tight decision to an FA Cup final, the group he assembled.

“An owner makes a decision and Mark has lost his job. I think it’s quite lazy for journalists to define someone’s career over 10 games, I had that at Middlesbrough, his career won’t be defined by 10 or 15 games at the start of a season. It’ll be defined by the bulk of his work and the bulk of his work has been absolutely outstanding.”

As for the team that Robins has left behind, Wilder warned that he expects the players to have a “extra spring” in their step as they look to impress the next man to come in to take charge.

“They’ve got a real talented group that should be higher in the league,” he said.

“I do believe that they’re close to a decision so their players will know that a new man is coming in so maybe there will be an extra spring in their step, there shouldn’t be because they should be consistent footballers as every group of players should be, but we all understand when either a new manager is in-situ or just about to be put in place that there’s going to be a change. We’re expecting the best Coventry City and if it’s the best Coventry City they’ve got some really talented players and it’s going to be a tough afternoon if we’re not on it.”