Perfect storm, play-offs, Ryton and a message to agent as Mark Robins’ big Coventry City interview was released
Coventry City news from CoventryLive as Sky Blues reporter Andy Turner sat down with manager Mark Robins to discuss the way forward for club on the up
Mark Robins says Coventry City will ‘aim for the stars’ next season following what looks set to be a busy and exciting summer transfer window. The manager insists the Sky Blues are a ‘serious football club with serious ambitions’ and revealed that the club’s close season plans are already underway following the final game of the 2023/24 campaign.
Robins and his trusty right-hand man Adi Viveash have had detailed discussions about how to move the club forward to become a firm top six side, including addressing defensive issues and finding more goals from midfield, and also spoken about wanting players with ‘independent minds’ who are ‘laser focused’ players, both new and current, and needing to ‘get on board’ with it, because if they’re not then, he said, ‘they’re not for us.’
The City boss has also revealed his Ipswich ‘envy’ after the Suffolk club achieved back-to-back promotions to return to the Premier League, saying the Tractor Boys serve as an ‘inspiration’ and model for what can be achieved by keeping a squad together, and that he ‘longs’ for nights Town enjoyed when they celebrated being a point away from promotion in the penultimate game of the season at the CBS Arena.
Speaking to CoventryLive, Robins took time to reflect on the season just gone, before laying out his plans for taking the club on another level.
“What we have done this season is rebuild and galvanise,” he said. “We have played some really good football, we have had some real excitement and some really good games as usual, and there have been things that have happened within those games that have been fantastic.
“There have been things that haven’t been so great but we have got to address those, so it’s multifaceted and we have to look about how we go about moving forward. Adi and I have already spoken about a lot of things that we want to do next season and things will move quickly now. There’s lots of things to sort out, and more besides. We have been working on things for a while and that work never stops anyway. And then it’s just a case of putting things into practice as we move forward.”
One area on the pitch that is a priority is the amount of goals conceded. Although the Sky Blues have scored 11 more goals this term with 69 in the Championship compared to 58 in 2022/23, they have gone backwards in terms of the goals against column, having conceded 11 more goals with 57 this year compared to 46 last.
“We give people too many good opportunities to score, and that will be addressed,” insisted the 54-year-old. “While it was important to play well and try to get a result on the last day, it wasn’t the be all and end all. And when we talk about the results that have gone, the results haven’t been good enough but I already know the reasons for that. It was always going to be that way and that isn’t defeatist, that’s knowing what is likely to come around the corner if certain things happen.
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