Coventry heading for calmer waters as Mark Robins brings order to the chaos | Ben Fisher

In some ways trying to find a passage out of the fourth tier at the first attempt seems trivial beside the other items on Coventry City’s concerning to-do list. The club are 17 league matches from homelessness; their successful Category 2 academy remains at risk of closure and the training ground could be sold off for housing. On the pitch, at least, it seems they are moving in the right direction once more.

A bruising 0-0 draw at Barnet on Saturday acted as a barometer both of how the club has fallen and of the steady progress being made on the pitch under the manager, Mark Robins, in his second spell in charge. Robins described the teams’ first competitive meeting as “rubbish” but equally alluded to positives; Coventry have kept eight clean sheets in 12 league matches and they extended their unbeaten run to four games. Robins has galvanised the team after a difficult summer, one of wholesale change in which 13 players arrived, 19 departed and office staff lost their jobs because of the club’s relegation to a level it has not known since 1959.

While Steve Taylor continues to recover from illness, Robins’ right-hand man is Adi Viveash, the former Chelsea Under-18s and development squad manager. Steve Ogrizovic, the goalkeeping coach and a club legend, remains a key pillar of the backroom staff. Coventry’s hardy supporters continue to make their voices heard, with 1,390 of them packing into the North Stand at Barnet. They deserve much better.

Coventry’s agreement at the Ricoh Arena, the sleek stadium purchased by Wasps rugby union club in 2014, expires at the end of this season. The club’s chief executive, Dave Boddy, says resolving the issue is a “priority”. They are seeking to widen their use of the arena, with the first non-matchday event since 2013 – an evening with Kevin Keegan – taking place next month. All the while Sisu, the hedge fund which took control of the club at the end of 2007, continues to pursue legal action against the city’s council, with the owners appealing against the sale of the ground to Wasps. They will attend the court of appeal in London later this month. The tumultuous reign under Sisu seems never‑ending and the supporters’ group, the Sky Blue Trust, understandably has grave concerns.

The long-term future of the academy, based at the Alan Higgs centre, which has developed such players as Callum Wilson, Cyrus Christie, George Thomas and Cian Harries, who joined Swansea City in the summer, is another worry. More recently Charlie McCann, an England Under-16 international, joined Manchester United. Coventry secured an extension at the site until the end of this season but finding a solution that reaches beyond then is top of the agenda for the academy manager, Richard Stevens.

Many in this Coventry side have the club at heart. The goalkeeper Lee Burge, the defender Jordan Willis and the forward Devon Kelly-Evans (whose twin brother, Dion, is a defender at the club) are academy graduates, while the captain, Michael Doyle, is in his second spell at Coventry. Off the bench came the 20-year-old Jordan Shipley and the 19-year-old Jordan Ponticelli, a striker who has been prolific at youth level since arriving from the former manager Gordon Strachan’s football foundation. Ponticelli scored his first senior goal last Tuesday and made his league debut five minutes from time at The Hive, roared on by the away contingent. Then there are Ben Stevenson and Callum Maycock. As Robins said himself, the academy is the “lifeblood of the club”.

Credit to Rossi Eames, whose Barnet team was well-organised and suitably stifled Coventry’s attacking impetus. Jodi Jones, the 19-year-old City signed from Dagenham & Redbridge last year, flashed a couple of efforts wide but Maxime Biamou, who starred in Sutton United’s remarkable FA Cup run last season, was kept quiet. Duckens Nazon, the on-loan Wolverhampton Wanderers striker away on international duty with Haiti, was sorely missed.

Jones was once of Senrab, the east London boys’ club that kickstarted the careers of Jermain Defoe and John Terry. Brimming with confidence and slaloming past defenders, he is an exciting talent but Doyle is mindful that the teenager cannot be expected to come up with the answers every week. “We cannot always rely on people like Jodi being that spark,” he said.

The 36-year-old Irishman is part of a gutsy and industrial central midfield alongside Liam Kelly. Robins signed both this summer, after they left Portsmouth and Leyton Orient respectively. “The players that were here last season, it was quite a young group of players,” Kelly said. “To balance that squad out I think they needed some experience, people who have played in League One and League Two and know what it’s all about.”

Kelly witnessed first-hand the farcical mismanagement behind the scenes at Orient last season, which culminated in the club dropping out of the Football League. He went months without getting paid, without knowing who would take charge of training and on a match-day was sometimes one of only two senior players in the starting lineup. He has no such concerns about Coventry.

“I think Leyton Orient was a special case – I don’t think Coventry is anywhere near what that was,” he said. “Leyton Orient was just a surreal experience, so I don’t think Coventry’s got anything like that to be worried about in the near future. As long as we keep getting the support that we’re getting, the results are coming and we are trying to build something for the future here.”

Talking points

• This time last season Newport County were rooted to the bottom of League Two. Fast forward 12 months and Mike Flynn’s side sit outside the play-offs on goal difference (and seven points off the top), with his side having amassed 43 points from a possible 72 since he took charge in March. After beating Yeovil 2-0 at Rodney Parade, they have officially made their best start to a Football League campaign since 1982. These are still early days but Newport have reasons to be cheerful. It is a measure of their progress that Flynn had urged supporters to keep their feet on the ground in the buildup to Saturday. That is easier said than done at the moment.

• In 2012, Nick Powell joined Manchester United from Crewe Alexandra aged 18 and was instantly tagged as one of the country’s most exciting prospects. He signed a five-year contract at Old Trafford, with Sir Alex Ferguson his mentor. The following few years did not go to plan. Now in the third tier with Wigan Athletic, where he enjoyed a fruitful loan spell in the 2013-14 season, he is evidently enjoying his football again. Powell scored what was ultimately the winner at Scunthorpe last weekend and Wigan, too, are riding high once more after six wins in seven matches. “We all love him around the club and he’s got that magic that can change games,” Paul Cook, the Wigan manager, said.

• From Pep Guardiola to Simon Grayson and just about every manager in between, the ‘Man of Men’ pin badge is proudly worn by hundreds across professional football. The badge raises awareness of prostate cancer, the most common cancer in men. This season, the EFL’s official charity partner, Prostate Cancer UK, continue to encourage fans to get involved. By volunteering for match-day collections across the country, at designated matches, supporters can get themselves a free ticket. Several ‘Men United’ match-days are taking place this month.