Mark Robins to Stoke City - playing style, strengths and why he left Coventry
Mark Robins has been appointed as Stoke City latest manager, replacing Narcis Pelach and tasked with ending a carousel of failed bosses and bringing back success.
The 55-year-old certainly provided stability at his last job, Coventry City, where he was in charge for eight largely successful years before a controversial exit in early November. He had guided the club up from League Two to challenge for a place in the Premier League.
Robins has penned on a three-and-a-half-year contract at Stoke, and he will be in the dugout for the first time against Plymouth Argyle at the bet365 Stadium on Saturday, with Ryan Shawcross continuing as caretaker at Burnley today.
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Coventry City reporter Andy Turner has offered an insight into what Robins could bring to the bet365 Stadium.
How would you describe Robins’s style as a manager? What are his strengths?
Andy Turner: He’s very much a man manager whose big strength when he was with Coventry, going right back to when he took over with the club in the languishing in League Two, was galvanising the players and fans as one with the mantra ‘rise together,’ regardless of the club’s well documented off-field problems.
He likes to play entertaining and attacking football that excites the supporters, and has a knack of producing dressing rooms full of good characters who help create a strong team spirit. He also has vast experience and a calm head in the toughest of situations.
Why did he leave Coventry?
He was sacked – a decision that was widely condemned by the majority of Sky Blues fans – by club owner Doug King who blamed Robins for dismantling the hugely successful coaching set-up that included assistant manager Adi Viveash who was recognised as a key part of the club’s success and rise up the leagues in recent years.
King also stated that he wanted to act when he did, on November 7, the morning after a 2-1 home defeat by Derby when the team were on 15 points from their first 14 league games, explaining: “I’ll tell you what happens when things go wrong, if you get to Christmas with 26 points the pressure will be triple, the players will be thinking about the summer, ‘the season has gone, we came here for promotion to the Premier League and the big Coventry project - all gone wrong’. And it would have got way, way worse and put this football club at risk and that’s why I acted as I did on Thursday.”
Ten games on, including seven under Frank Lampard, the Sky Blues have 28 points.
What’s he like as a character?
He’s a fairly affable chap who always keeps a level head, never getting too carried away when his team win and not getting too down when they lose. He’s very measured and honest in his post-match assessments, and easy to get along with.
Is there anything you can tell us about him that we wouldn’t already know?
A fortnight after he was sacked he was recognised by Coventry University with an honorary doctorate for his “...role in helping Coventry City come out of a dark few years and helped restore pride and belief among the fan base. His outstanding leadership and dedication to Coventry, which stretches further than just on the football pitch, and for his contribution both on and off the field over the past near decade, to acknowledge the enormous and positive impact he has made in Coventry.”
