Football Interviews
Exclusive: Mark Robins Deserved Better After Transforming Coventry, Says Garry Thompson
After years of loyalty and success, Mark Robins deserved better, says Coventry legend Garry Thompson. Reflecting on Robins’ impact, Thompson calls his sacking harsh and unjustified
Mike Hewitt/Getty Images
Former Coventry City midfielder Garry Thompson believes Mark Robins deserved better after being sacked by the club.
Robins, who was at the helm for seven years and eight months, was the longest-serving manager in the Football League before being given his marching orders following a slow start to the season earlier this month.
But Thompson reckons Robins should have been afforded the luxury of more time after the loyalty he gave to the club during his tenure.
Two seasons ago, they lost in the Championship play-off final at Wembley to Luton Town on penalties and last term lost a dramatic FA Cup semi-final again Manchester United after a goal was disallowed by VAR.
“After everything he’s done for the club, he deserved more than a dozen or so games. I’m disappointed in that regard,” Thompson, who came through the ranks at the club and spent his first six years as a professional at the Sky Blues, told SportsBoom.com.
“He’s got to be worth more than that, not bang, see you later. It’s harsh and I think he deserved better.
“They always say Coventry are never seen until Halloween. They have a bad start, pick up once the season gets underway and usually end up being in or around the play-offs. I still fancied them this season for the play-offs.”
I thought it was knee-jerk to sack him. They started poorly, won a couple of games, then they had a bad result against Derby County and bang they sacked him.
Garry Thompson
“You think last year they got to the semi-finals of the FA Cup and were inches away from getting to the final. The year before they’re a penalty kick away from getting into the Premier League.”
“When he was at Coventry and doing really well, he was never really mentioned with big jobs came about. No-one really said: oh, what about Mark Robins.”
“He got on with his job nice and quietly, he did a fantastic job. I’d be very surprised if he’s out of a job for another three or four months because he did such a good job at Coventry, a lot of clubs when they are looking for a manager will look towards Mark Robins.”
Coventry was languishing in League Two when Robins returned to the club for a second stint in 2017.
He secured an immediate promotion, via the play-offs, back to the third tier before winning League One at the second attempt to return to the Championship for the first time in almost a decade.
Reflecting on the upward journey the club took under Robins’ stewardship, Thompson added:
When he walked into Coventry the thing was a mess. In a seven-year period he’s turned Coventry into a competitive Championship club that get themselves in and around those play-offs.
Garry Thompson
“You’re allowed those games for the body of work you’ve put in, surely.”
“A lot of the ex players do a bit of corporate every now and again. When I used to go to Coventry, they had just moved to the new stadium they couldn’t get any fans there, down in League Two.”
“The whole thing was a mess. Mark Robins took over, he had to sell players, had to juggle.”
“He had to sell Gyokeres, a player who scores goals for fun, had to sell him and bring in a couple of players to replace him, the thing stayed moving forward.”
“You sell Gyokeres and still make the semi-finals of the FA Cup and the FA Cup kind of killed their promotion. They were flying and because of that, they end up missing out on the play-offs. You look at that debate, do you take the glory of the cup or not. But it didn’t work out.”
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Shane is an experienced sports journalist with over a decade on the front line, covering everything from football to horse racing. A familiar face in the snooker pressroom, his work regularly appears in the Daily Mirror, Daily Express, and Daily Star, alongside SportsBoom.
While snooker is where many readers know him best, cricket is his true sporting passion, though he tends to keep that side of him separate from his professional beat.
A staunch traditionalist, he’s unlikely to share your enthusiasm if you believe The Hundred is the future of Test cricket.