Coventry City Owner Doug King Addresses Mark Robins’ Dismissal

Rob Gurney, Clive Eakin, and Lorna Bailey hosted a live Fans Forum with Doug King on BBC Radio CWR on Monday. This event followed an unhappy response from fans to the recent dismissal of long-serving manager Mark Robins. Key points from the forum included: King stated, “I fully understand what he has done for this city and this community but I still made the decision.” He explained that Robins had “dismantled” the coaching staff due to internal conflict. He feels the club is lacking a high-quality first-team coach/tactician but has struggled to recruit for this role, though he believes recruitment will not suffer if a head coaching position is offered. He expressed surprise at the fans’ reaction and felt he was in a “difficult position.” No replacement was lined up before Robins’ dismissal, and the decision was made following a senior management meeting in October. He does not intend to sell the club and plans to purchase the Coventry Building Society Arena once financially viable. He has stated that a sporting director will be a “logical position” to add as the club looks to appoint a head coach. He does not want a “revolving door” of managers and wishes to build a “sustainable” club, but feels that relegation would “squander” what they have already built, making his next appointment crucial. Robins’ exit has not affected the budget for the upcoming January transfer window. Regarding the lack of loan signings, Head of Recruitment Dean Austin commented, “If we bring loan players in, loan players expect to come in and play – and their clubs expect to play.” Austin also spoke about maintaining relationships with other clubs and how he felt loan players would not get a significant amount of playing time. The full fans forum is available for listening on BBC Sounds.