Coventry City Owner Doug King Addresses Fans Following Mark Robins’ Departure

Coventry City owner Doug King disclosed that a summer reorganization of the club’s coaching staff was the fundamental reason for the circumstances that resulted in manager Mark Robins’ widely criticized dismissal. King engaged in an hour-long discussion with disgruntled City supporters at the Coventry Building Society Arena. Speaking openly at a Fans Forum at the Coventry Building Society Arena, five days after Robins’ unexpected exit and amid extensive criticism, King surprised fervent attendees by confessing he lacked a future strategy and an immediate replacement for Robins. He also started by revealing that the separation between the club and Robins’ long-standing assistant, Adi Viveash, was the Sky Blues manager’s choice, contrary to the common belief that King had orchestrated it. The club aimed to pursue the strategy of appointing a head coach, and King described the separation of 54-year-old Robins from 55-year-old Viveash as a “divorce.” Furthermore, they have since been unsuccessful in their search for the “elite tactical coach” they sought. King informed BBC CWR, “It was Mark who dismantled the coaching staff at this football club,” adding, “That is the thing people don’t realise.” King stated that “The fall-off after the FA Cup semi-final last season was obvious. I told Mark to take time out at the end of the season and have a rest. But I then had a phone call from him saying that he could no longer work with Adi Viveash. That annoyed me.” He continued, “We started interviewing other people. And Mark brought in [academy coaches] John Dempster and Mark Delaney to go on the pre-season tour. That was his decision.” King clarified that a senior management meeting held on 30 October, which included himself, Robins, head of recruitment Dean Austin, and new performance director Claire-Marie Roberts, subsequently laid the groundwork for the decision made on 6 November. King remarked, “It had been on my mind for a while,” adding, “I believed in Mark Robins and Adi Viveash. “The best contracts of both Mark and Adi’s careers both came from me. They worked well together. But marriages break up. They broke up, but I backed the manager.” He further elaborated, “It’s disappointing, but people get divorced. They love each other but then they get divorced. I didn’t see it coming but it was coming.” Last week, when Coventry officially announced Robins’ departure, they stated their intention to take time in making a decision. King reaffirmed this, expressing his desire for a new person in charge when the transfer window reopens on 1 January. This stance was bolstered by the Sky Blues’ comeback from a 2-0 deficit at half-time to secure a draw against league leaders Sunderland on Saturday. King has now emphasized that Rhys Carr, a first-team coach for the club, will continue as caretaker manager when the team resumes play after the international break, with a home match against Sheffield United on 23 November. Asked why he had not followed the common modern football practice of having a successor ready, he responded plainly: “That’s not the way I work. “I’ve always tried to be transparent about what’s going on. We have had a lot of applications. We have a recruitment process in place.” King concluded, “The next appointment is very important. I cannot have the risk of us getting relegated. Nobody thought Birmingham would get relegated – and they did.” He acknowledged, “You can argue that this was a big mistake. But I had to do something.” He further stated, “Sometimes a tough decision has to be made. I like Mark Robins. And we’ve had good times together – but it had to be made.”