‘Really, really tough’ – Mark Robins makes honest Coventry City admission ahead of Stoke City clash

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Mark Robins returns to the CBS Arena for the first time since leaving Coventry City to become Stoke City boss.

Stoke currently find themselves locked in a never-ending battle with the bottom half of the Championship, and he will be hoping to improve upon their league position and get one over on the club he spent seven-and-a-half years with.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
17	PortsmouthPortsmouth	35	10	9	16	43	57	-14	39
18	Oxford UnitedOxford United	36	9	12	15	37	53	-16	39
19	Hull CityHull City	35	9	9	17	35	44	-9	36
20	Stoke CityStoke City	35	8	12	15	34	47	-13	36
21	CardiffCardiff	35	8	12	15	38	57	-19	36
22	LutonLuton	35	8	7	20	32	55	-23	31
23	PlymouthPlymouth	35	6	12	17	36	70	-34	30

Mark Robins is the third boss for the Potters this season after the dismissals of Steven Schumacher and Narcis Pelach, with the former Coventry City manager taking over a side who find themselves too close to the bottom three for comfort as we head into the Championship run-in.

He did great things for his former side, but Robins has not been able to make the immediate positive impact he would have liked to during his first few months at Stoke, with just two wins from his first ten league outings.

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Mark Robins on Stoke City against Coventry City

Robins’ men revisit a now-rampant Coventry City side eyeing the play-offs under the stewardship of Frank Lampard. It is a side their former manager helped build and they will hope for an edge with Robins knowing so many of Coventry’s weaknesses.

It is his first match as an opposition manager against the Sky Blues since beating them 1-0 with Scunthorpe United almost ten years ago.

Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: “To be fair, I have had little time to think about that [reflecting on leaving Coventry]. I was an employee of Coventry’s for eight years. We had some great times along the way, but all good things must come to an end.

“I don’t necessarily spend a lot of time in the past. All I can say is that I really enjoyed every minute. I thought it was really tough when I walked into the building.

“The first day I went in and it was really, really tough. There was very little there apart from dejection, apart from resignation, apart from a lot of things that needed sorting out.

“But, with the help of a lot of people, we managed to turn that round and put things in place, and put the club in a position where we were able to challenge.

“We missed out on Premier League football with a penalty kick and the FA Cup run last year was fantastic [and] brilliant memories for everybody apart from the goal that was disallowed at the end.

“You cannot take those memories away and they were brilliant. I’ve got nothing but good things to say and nothing but good memories about Coventry. I look forward to going back and obviously representing Stoke City. And we will try and win.

On Lampard and the Coventry supporters, Robins added: “Since Frank’s gone in there, he’s done a brilliant job. They’ve got some good players; but it’s not a surprise.

“He’s done fantastically well, and I’m not taking anything away from him, but the data was suggesting [during my time there] that that was going to be the case.

“You look back on that with pride as well because you’ve helped put the club in a position where it can start to move where it wants to be and where the owner wants it to go. Good luck to them after tomorrow.

“With the supporters, I had a fantastic relationship with them and they were really good with me throughout my time there, but they have moved on now.”

• READ MORE: Who will win the Championship Golden Boot race?

Stoke City must emulate Mark Robins’ Coventry City side

Given the impact he had at Coventry over many years, outside of the run of results that led to his exit from the club, Robins would have expected to come in for Narcis Pelach at Stoke and make more of an immediate impact.

It may very well require somewhat of a rebuild over the summer, which is something Robins is accustomed to, having done so numerous times with various squads and cycles with Coventry.

Instead, Robins will demand changes at Stoke over the coming years and hope to emulate the good work he did at Coventry. For now, they must ensure survival in the coming months with vital fixtures on the horizon.

If and when survival is obtained, Stoke have a massive job on their hands to turn things around this summer, with eight players currently out of contract, but also five loan players returning to their parent clubs.