I do get what you are saying, and I strongly agree Robins should be acknowledged by ALL as one of our greatest mangers ever.
But I struggle with the running on empty excuses we continually hear with regard to the end of last season. These are professional sportsmen and they should be capable of playing this amount of matches. It really is not that exceptional. What seemed clear to me is they collectively didn’t have the mental strength to see out the season. Whether some had decided we couldn’t get into playoffs and were planning their beach breaks or whether some just did not have a winning mentality Or whether stuff going on in the dressing room had an impact, I don’t know, but I do know we should have finished stronger and had more fight.
When Robins took over we were a mess. Fast forward nearly a decade and he has ultimately restored the clubs pride and dragged us up from our lowest ebb. During the Sisu years, he consistently extracted performances from players working under microscopic budgets, often assembling competitive squads through shrewd, low cost recruitment.
His ability to outpreform, turning limited resources into competitive teams that punched well above their weight helped to create the platform we now have. The fact he's done this multiple times at the club speaks volumes about his quality and loyalty to the club.
Regarding the end of season performances you mentioned, while professional athletes should maintain standards, the context of a long, grueling season with minimal squad rotation can't be ignored. Robins historically managed these challenges exceptionally well, which made the drop off even more puzzling and I now suspect some of that was due to AV and Marks relationship perhaps ad much as the FA cup.
The manner of his departure (to me at least) still feels deeply disrespectful to someone who has been so fundamental to our survival and rise up the leagues.
Doug's treatment of Robins appears to be part of a larger pattern of arrogant and inflexible behavior but unlike the children's ticket pricing issue, where he could quickly reverse course when faced with backlash, his attitude and leadership style may have more lasting consequences as this matter can't be easily fixed with a quick policy change. If Doug gets this next appointment wrong everything he claimed at the fans forum he was trying to prevent I.e. putting the investment at risk will quickly come back to bite him and we could see a crisis this club has not seen for a while.
I support whoever Doug appoints as I love the club but the last few weeks have made me question Dougs judgement as a strategic footballing leader and if we don't have an appointment by the weekend, it would seem the recruitment process is being as poorly conducted as Mark's sacking.
