'I'll be honest' - Michael Rose reveals thoughts when his old boss took Stoke City job
Michael Rose is optimistic that Mark Robins can recreate the kind of momentum he built at Coventry as he gets his teeth into Stoke City.
Rose was signed for Coventry by Robins and helped win promotion to the Championship and establish the side back up in this division before moving on to Stoke 18 months ago. They have been reunited again this year at Clayton Wood and Rose has now got his chance again at centre-back, helping pick up four points in the last two games.
It has been another tough season for a Stoke side
READ MORE: The free agents available to Stoke City and the wingers who could tempt Mark Robins
READ MORE: Stoke City summer signing gets 70-minute chance to catch Mark Robins' eye
that has ended up in the bottom half in each of the past six years
but Robins is used to challenges.
“He’s just very experienced,” said Rose. “He knows this level inside and out. He did brilliant things at Coventry, while I was there as well when I think we had a pretty successful time. I think he’s a really good fit for the club, where it’s at and where it wants to be. He’s the right person to move it forward if given time because he’s got that experience of difficult situations.
“We had that at Coventry, which was a difficult club at the time, but he moved it in the right direction. It’s a good fit and hopefully he can do the same thing here.”
Rose played 116 times for Coventry over four seasons, including the shortened lockdown 2019/20 season when they won the League One title.
He admits it wasn’t all milk and honey but looks back fondly at that time, including playing the best football of his career – and even if he left Robins in 2023, he holds the manager in esteem.
“I’ve got a good relationship with him,” he said. “He brought me down to England and when I look back at my time at Coventry it was a successful time. I probably played my best football under him.
“I’ll be honest as well that we didn’t really see eye to eye towards the back end and that’s probably why I moved on but it wasn’t anything personal, it was just football matters. We’ve spoken about it since but the respect has always been there and it was nice to see a familiar face when he came in.”
He added: “We’ve done all right since he’s come in. I think we’ve only lost one game so it’s trying to get a couple more wins and that makes everyone more positive around the club. A win is the best thing for everyone, not just the players. It’s the best way to get everyone together.”
Robins was Rose’s manager all through his time at Coventry, just like Ian McCall had been in charge for his entire time at Ayr United in the first three years playing regularly in his career.
At Stoke, however, he has already worked with four different bosses and that might be a hard thing to get your head around.
He said: “I had a really difficult season last season I think and learned a lot. Probably just moving to Stoke in the first place anyway there was change and I’ve always been at a club that has had the same manager the whole time. Last season and since I’ve come here has all been new to me so it’s adapting to that kind of thing.
“It’s made me grow up quite a lot. I’m a bit older now as well obviously. It’s dealing with the difficult things better.
“Don’t get me wrong it’s been difficult since I’ve been here but I’ve weirdly enjoyed it a lot because I’ve learned a lot from it. (The manager) is probably the better one to answer (how I’ve changed) in a few months but I’d like to think I’m just a little bit more experienced now about how other things happen and work, not just on the pitch.”
While you're here, we have launched a new WhatsApp group to deliver the latest Stoke news directly to your phone. Click on this link, select 'Join Chat' and you're in. If for some reason you decide you no longer want to be in our community, you can leave at any time by clicking on the name at the top of your screen and clicking 'Exit Group', simple as that.
