Robins will carry the can (6 Viewers)

[Diogenes]

Robins is responsible for some of the issues you can't lay everything at his feet.

Team selection/tactics/in game management: all on Robins

Failure to sign CM: on King

Failure to sign any loans: King

New coaching system: seemingly Not MRs decision - so probably King/performance director

Lack of No2: as above, what even happened with that? At one point sounded like they were about to announce a new no2 and then just nothing?

Player attitude: this is on the players - a manager should motivate them but they are supposed to be professionals

Poor signings (let's be honest some of those we brought in are dross): MR repeatedly says signings are out of his hands not so that's on King.

Looking at all the issues that aren't working or have gone belly up, so much of it is nothing to do with MR (which is even more worrying long term). King has to take most of the responsibility for what looks like will be the failure of Op Premiership 2.0.

Who would you trust more the guy who has spent 7 years continually improving and taking us up through the leagues, or the person who said he's never even been to a game before running the club? I am one of those who feels we may be reaching a ceiling with MR, but he has been let down massively by others.

It's a moot point though, because whoevers fault it is, MR will carry the can for it. King won't sack himself, the backroom is too huge to shift on, he isn't going to bring AV back or get rid of the "performance director". Robins will pay the price for everyone's mistakes.

When we got the money for Vic/Hamer they should have tempered expectations and gone down the route of "this money is going to stabilise the club" rather than whipping everyone up into a frenzy.

In truth, mid table with outside chance of a playoff challenge under MR and a stable club would have been a success compared to where we have come from. The expectations now though deem that to be a failure, it's promotion or bust.

We got high on the fumes of success with the recent Wembley visits etc and we've shit the bed and fucked everything that made us successful.

 

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[Grendel]

There are so many threads on this

Most sports journalists fancied us for a top 6 place

The club has sold record numbers of season tickets because of expectation. Mid table can’t be an ambition or expectation if you have a record number of season tickets and also premium pricing for match day tickets.

 

[olderskyblue]

The poor signings question….

most though Vik was a poor signing, same for Simms & Wright.

too early to say about all the newer ones yet, but Bassette & Rudoni looking good so far.

 

[Old Warwickshire lad]

King has too much control. Yet we know he will not take any of the blame.
He is a control freak who likes the adulation, and the constant compliments.
He won’t be able to stand criticism.

 

[Skyblue Bangkok]

King has too much control. Yet we know he will not take any of the blame.
He is a control freak who likes the adulation, and the constant compliments.
He won’t be able to stand criticism.

Do you really know that ,have you been chatting do him have inside information ? Just all speculation .

 

[skybluecam]

Poor signings (let's be honest some of those we brought in are dross): MR repeatedly says signings are out of his hands not so that's on King.

Who’s dross?

Dovin, Rudoni & Bassette look like good additions individually.

BTA would be fine as a rotation player.

Mason-Clark is the only one that looks worryingly bad.

 

[Sky Blue Goblin]

Do you really know that ,have you been chatting do him have inside information ? Just all speculation .

To be fair King has often fronted it when he’s got stuff wrong.

Also on the signings note above, from a Robins press it sounds like recruitment bring players to him and King and they both sign off on it. So surely the blame lies with all three if that’s the case.

No idea on the coaching staff or number two but Robins did say they impressed both him and the performance director so assume mutual decision there.

At the end of the day, the squad on paper is better than the performances regardless on the coaches and if Matty James had signed.

Robin knows this and is clearly feeling the pressure. Feel like without Adi he’s become a bit lost on how to proceed.

 

[skybluecb]

Mark Robins looks a lonely figure on the touch line. The coaches behind him just sit there for the whole game looking at their ipads, what contribution do they make during the game? They only time I have seen them do anything was when we scored the late winner against Oxford and they jumped on Robins back,. Worrying times

 

[Nick]

So now Robins hasn't got his "hands tied" it's still trying to blame everybody else?

 

[HuckerbyDublinWhelan]

So now Robins hasn't got his "hands tied" it's still trying to blame everybody else?

Exactly this. Everyone is excusing everything. The new coaching set up will in the long term move this club forward.

Robins is happy with it and regularly bemoaned that we didn’t have it. The team selections and players not having a clue is entirely on him.

This squad is a strong one for this league. It’s missing a CM but the fact we look like a team of strangers in a league where we have the highest squad retention rate from last season is just unacceptable

 

[glasgowfan]

Poor signings (let's be honest some of those we brought in are dross): MR repeatedly says signings are out of his hands not so that's on King.

That's not my understanding. MR said he can't do everything himself as in the past. He works with the staff to identify the type of players he wants, the staff find the players and MR has a big say (maybe the final say) in the final decision

 

[Earlsdon_Skyblue1]

Not sure about this. Feel like it is a bit easy to blame Doug so we can let MR off the hook. They both probably have some culpability, but due to his history with us, I think some find it hard to critique Robins.

Pre-cooked substitutions regardless of game dynamics
Starting another season poorly
Not knowing his best team
Leaving good players on the bench
Not reacting when the opposition change the game

All of these are on Robins. They pre-date this year and are effecting us especially badly this season. There's many other factors of course: Transfer spend on certain players, back room staff, coaching structure, hierarchy of players etc. The biggest issue for me is lack of leaders and just a poor mental strength and attitude. If I was playing a match against a team of players like us I would have confidence we could win based on these things alone. Robins needs to pick his strongest team with those that will apply themselves, and bin off anyone who isn't committed to the cause. That's the logical next step, and that action sits with him. I do hope he can turn it round.

 

[alfielloyd]

I would probably be willing to give Robins more time but the performances since the FA Cup semi final have been very disappointing. The managing expectation theme is definitely not the way forward. Who could do better with this squad of players probably John Eustace and possibly David Moyes. Sometimes good managers simply runout of steam.

 

[Jamesimus]

Not sure about this. Feel like it is a bit easy to blame Doug so we can let MR off the hook. They both probably have some culpability, but due to his history with us, I think some find it hard to critique Robins.

Pre-cooked substitutions regardless of game dynamics
Starting another season poorly
Not knowing his best team
Leaving good players on the bench
Not reacting when the opposition change the game

All of these are on Robins. They pre-date this year and are effecting us especially badly this season. There's many other factors of course: Transfer spend on certain players, back room staff, coaching structure, hierarchy of players etc. The biggest issue for me is lack of leaders and just a poor mental strength and attitude. If I was playing a match against a team of players like us I would have confidence we could win based on these things alone. Robins needs to pick his strongest team with those that will apply themselves, and bin off anyone who isn't committed to the cause. That's the logical next step, and that action sits with him. I do hope he can turn it round.

I would say the main one for me was rotating the defence immediately - too early on in the season. Was a little impatient and tbh not what he usually does.

Should have had a settled back line and given them a bit more leeway in the early games. At the moment it’s a different CB pairing nearly every game.

 

[Cally Fedora]

We haven’t made poor signings. They look excellent. We’ve just created a bit of lopsidedness. The squad is missing a right back. I don’t buy the midfield issue although a loan in there would have added depth. But the problem we have is the one signing I think we’ve got wrong - Torp. It happens. No one can be right all the time but it just so happens we needed that one to come off more than most.

 

[TomRad85]

So now Robins hasn't got his "hands tied" it's still trying to blame everybody else?

Yeh weird, everyone going for King for some reason. He's given Robins more than he'd have ever dreamed of under previous ownership.

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[steve101]

Here is the second part of the CET interview with our Performance Director. Maybe the standard psychometric assessment isn't gold standard.
Evidence based practices are certainly important but intuition and experience have got us a long way.

In the second part of CoventryLive’s in-depth interview with Dr Roberts, she explains: “At the moment I am working really closely with Dean (Austin) and the recruitment team to make sure that the people we are thinking of signing have got the right sort of character profile; the right psychological profile to fit into our existing team.

“And secondly, to make sure that we have got decent human beings in the squad that are going to want to develop and play, and don’t have an ego. People who are going to respond well to coaching and be able to meet the psychological demands of the game.

“We can do all the fitness testing and medical testing in the world. Everyone does that and there’s nothing different in what we do from the physical assessment side of things, but we are looking at how we measure character and how we select players on the basis of their psychological profile that’s going to enable us to get the best out of them. So that’s one element of my role.”

She added: “My background is in psychology, and the team dynamic of Coventry City is one of the most important things for us. We want to make sure that those individuals gel and are cohesive, want to support and play for each other and are able to build, foster and sustain really strong relationships not just with each other but with the performance staff and coaching team as well.

“So in terms of my expertise, I want to make sure I bring that to help our player selection, so I am working really closely with Dean and his team to make sure we understand as much as possible about the players that we are bringing in.”

Coventry City's new head of recruitment Dean Austin during his time as manager of Northampton Town
Dr Roberts has been working closely with Coventry City's head of recruitment Dean Austin this summer
That judgement call – and it’s been the same at most clubs for years – has often previously been down to the manager to have a half an hour chat with a prospective new signing, get a feel for them and make a few calls to old coaches and managers, maybe ex-teammates, to check them out. It was all part of doing your ‘homework’ on a player.

So how do you measure someone’s character scientifically?

“There’s only one way to measure someone’s character and that’s with a gold standard psychometric instrument,” said the 46-year-old, former Olympic standard swimmer, who also played football for Aston Villa.

“There are a number of them available but this is the only one that provides a deep insight into someone’s values and core personality, which have a high degree of validity in terms of actually being able to be predictive about someone’s personality. And it’s something I have used extensively in my previous jobs.”

She added: “A little caveat, they are not utterly fool proof but they are the deepest measure of personality that you can get. They provide an insight that you can triangulate with other data including observable behaviour, references and previous working relationships.

“We talk to the scouts and the recruitment team about their experience of the player. We also do a lot of research around the individual to make sure that the way they appear in public projects the right image for the club, so there’s an awful lot of work that goes on behind the scenes to make sure that we’re putting our investment in the right place.”

“I would say it’s not a common approach that’s used (in football),” she said.

As for how it fits into the recruitment process – which can be a difficult and drawn out exercise in itself, involving speaking to the agent, opposition club, the player and negotiating a deal – and at which point she steps in, she said: “It depends, is the answer.

“So prospectively, I have had some meetings with some players who are on our shortlist, if you like, and there might be some red flags. What we’re ultimately trying to do is make sure we don’t sign anyone who is going to be a risk.

Dr Roberts added: “For a club like Coventry, unlike a club like Newcastle, we’re not awash with cash, so we have to use our money in the most appropriate way. From a secondary perspective, we have to make sure that individual has the best possibility to learn and continue to develop as a player. We know that one of the biggest barriers to learning and development is a high ego, and those individuals can disrupt the dynamic of the team so we want to try to avoid this.


“From a third perspective, just understanding the person we are bringing in helps us to help them transition into the club a bit easier. I can give Mark and insight into how that individual might respond to coaching and what their preferences might be. You would get there eventually but we are trying to short-cut that process to make sure people integrate quicker within a team, to allow us to hit the ground running when we start our pre-season preparations.”

Asked if such a test would potentially put off a higher profile player, she said: “There’s absolutely nothing to hide. And there’s no right or wrong answers on these things, so every personality variable exists on a continuum. You would have more of one thing, me less of another, for example. So it’s not a process to try to catch people out, it’s just trying to give us an insight into the person we are potentially signing.”

Mark Robins has prided himself on creating a strong, tight-knit dressing room with an excellent team spirit and work ethic – a constant during his seven year tenure despite an ever changing and evolving squad. The foundations appear to be there, so is this just taking it to the next level?

“I think in terms of the evolution of the club and where we are shopping, with Doug coming in, the resource that we have got has to be used in the most effective way,” she said.

“And what I am trying to do is make sure that is protected at all costs by making the best decisions with the most information. And making sure that team dynamic and cohesion is protected and sustained. It is really easy to disrupt it with one rogue individual.

“You only have to think about Cristiano Ronaldo when he went back to Manchester United and the detrimental impact that had on the team’s cohesion. I know that’s an extreme example but what we are trying to do is avoid any situation where we disrupt something that is so precious to us, which is the team dynamic and team spirit.

“That’s something that is strong here. We have a fantastic group of players and by inadvertently bringing someone in who could impact negatively on that, it’s like a pack of cards and everything could come down. So we’re trying to sustain and protect that, and that’s fundamentally important to us.”

 

[Boicey]

We haven’t made poor signings. They look excellent.

LMFAO

 

[Gint11]

I would say the main one for me was rotating the defence immediately - too early on in the season. Was a little impatient and tbh not what he usually does.

Should have had a settled back line and given them a bit more leeway in the early games. At the moment it’s a different CB pairing nearly every game.

Agree with this. You need two solid CBs and rarely change it. Look at Arsenal with saliba and Gabriel for example. Not a chance they rotate that.

 

[Deity]

That's not my understanding. MR said he can't do everything himself as in the past. He works with the staff to identify the type of players he wants, the staff find the players and MR has a big say (maybe the final say) in the final decision

Robins has consistently said he has the final say.

much of this anti King agenda stems from City not signing 33yr old free agent Matt James.

The same Matt James that no other club has signed either.

There are only 3 reasons for that:

1) his demands are too high for everyone so far

2) other clubs scouts don’t rate James as highly as some on here appear to

3) he has a failed Medicals which has scuppered deals.

None of those reasons would make me feel that King had done something to lose the support of any sensible fan.

 

[Sick Boy]

Not sure about this. Feel like it is a bit easy to blame Doug so we can let MR off the hook. They both probably have some culpability, but due to his history with us, I think some find it hard to critique Robins.

Pre-cooked substitutions regardless of game dynamics
Starting another season poorly
Not knowing his best team
Leaving good players on the bench
Not reacting when the opposition change the game

All of these are on Robins. They pre-date this year and are effecting us especially badly this season. There's many other factors of course: Transfer spend on certain players, back room staff, coaching structure, hierarchy of players etc. The biggest issue for me is lack of leaders and just a poor mental strength and attitude. If I was playing a match against a team of players like us I would have confidence we could win based on these things alone. Robins needs to pick his strongest team with those that will apply themselves, and bin off anyone who isn't committed to the cause. That's the logical next step, and that action sits with him. I do hope he can turn it round.

The majority of the players that played away at Wolves are still at the club, yet we look miles away from that. Something isn’t quite right behind the scenes.

 

[AFCCOVENTRY]

The majority of the players that played away at Wolves are still at the club, yet we look miles away from that. Something isn’t quite right behind the scenes.

We finished the season poorly. The players only cared about the FA Cup against the big boys. Results have been piss poor in the league in 2024.

It’s down to tactics and the players motivation for me. I feel Robins is one dimensional and doesn’t know what to do at the moment.

Let’s hope he figures some of the answers out before Leeds otherwise we’re going to get smashed.

 

[Sick Boy]

We finished the season poorly. The players only cared about the FA Cup against the big boys. Results have been piss poor in the league in 2024.

It’s down to tactics and the players motivation for me. I feel Robins is one dimensional and doesn’t know what to do at the moment.

Let’s hope he figures some of the answers out before Leeds otherwise we’re going to get smashed.

We beat both Leicester and Leeds this year but I agree that something in wrong.

 

[TomRad85]

Not sure about this. Feel like it is a bit easy to blame Doug so we can let MR off the hook. They both probably have some culpability, but due to his history with us, I think some find it hard to critique Robins.

Pre-cooked substitutions regardless of game dynamics
Starting another season poorly
Not knowing his best team
Leaving good players on the bench
Not reacting when the opposition change the game

All of these are on Robins. They pre-date this year and are effecting us especially badly this season. There's many other factors of course: Transfer spend on certain players, back room staff, coaching structure, hierarchy of players etc. The biggest issue for me is lack of leaders and just a poor mental strength and attitude. If I was playing a match against a team of players like us I would have confidence we could win based on these things alone. Robins needs to pick his strongest team with those that will apply themselves, and bin off anyone who isn't committed to the cause. That's the logical next step, and that action sits with him. I do hope he can turn it round.

Correct, the go to for most fans at times like this is to start having a little moan about the manager, which is fair enough imo. But Robins is deemed untouchable by many so King gets it instead.

 

[Evo1883]

We finished the season poorly. The players only cared about the FA Cup against the big boys. Results have been piss poor in the league in 2024.

It’s down to tactics and the players motivation for me. I feel Robins is one dimensional and doesn’t know what to do at the moment.

Let’s hope he figures some of the answers out before Leeds otherwise we’re going to get smashed.

Our form in the league from 1st January up until the last 6 games last season was won 9 drew 2 lost 4

Again I can't help but pull up everybody on their hypocrisy especially on this very site about the end of last season , when most people were happy to call it a tired small squad , but now upon losing 3 from the first 6 league games this season want to keep pulling up the end of last season?

It's absolutely not related to the form 3 months later ffs

We've a completely new backroom team , several new players etc .. mental logic ffs

 

[Diogenes]

Yeh weird, everyone going for King for some reason. He's given Robins more than he'd have ever dreamed of under previous ownership.

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In the original post i said that team selection/tactics/in game management are all on Robins.

That's a massive failing so hardly the case that all the blame is being put on King. It would be pretty disingenuous though to ignore all the other failings though as he isn't solely at fault for this mess.

 

[TomRad85]

In the original post i said that team selection/tactics/in game management are all on Robins.

That's a massive failing so hardly the case that all the blame is being put on King. It would be pretty disingenuous though to ignore all the other failings though as he isn't solely at fault for this mess.

I'm not even Robins out... yet
But he's been honestly pathetic for all the reasons Earlsdon mentions above, then we have to listen to the same dreary excuses every game and bullshit about how we always start slow. How reassuring.
He deserves the shit he's getting atm.

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[Cally Fedora]

LMFAO

Which ones aren’t then?

 

[TomRad85]

Which ones aren’t then?

I agree, i think all the signings will prove to be reasonable at worst once settled.

 

[Boicey]

Which ones aren’t then?

None of them have been 'excellent'.
Rudoni has done decent the last 2 games, Bassette showed some promise without scoring, BTA average at best, EMC poor.
Last seasons signings Collins, Kitching cant get a game, Simms being benched for a 19 year old, Wright subbed at half time, Saka off his game this year.
Who do you think have been EXCELLENT during our terrible games this year??

 

[Boicey]

I agree, i think all the signings will prove to be reasonable at worst once settled.

'reasonable at worst' isn't 'looking excellent' is it?????

 

[TomRad85]

'reasonable at worst' isn't excellent is it?????

I think most will be very good for us, some will be mediocre... that's normal isn't it? Tearing down new signings is completely pointless, no one knows what they are doing on the pitch, it's a complete mess top to bottom. But it's my belief we still have a good collection of players.

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[Matt smith]

'reasonable at worst' isn't 'looking excellent' is it?????

I don’t think it’s the players to be honest.

Think we’ve got a decent squad

 

[TomRad85]

I don’t think it’s the players to be honest.

Think we’ve got a decent squad

We do. Short in midfield as we all know but way way better than the performances are showing right now.

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[Mucca Mad Boys]

We’re still only 6 games in - the obvious issues are there and they probably don’t have an overnight fix.

This panicking and writing off the players and MR is becoming an annual event now.