Football clubs the size of Coventry City and often bigger frequently risk becoming victims of their own success. Players whose careers suddenly take off will always be poached, for example, with barely a season passing without a manager from a higher division or with more financial clout coming calling.
It was Viktor Gyokeres and Gustavo Hamer last summer, and the key to surviving such losses is to have contingency plans in place, or a proactive recruitment process poised to offer up realistic and ready-made replacements. Cue the arrivals of Ellis Simms and Haji Wright who, although not instant hits, have developed and blossomed as the season has gone on, wading in with 29 goals between them to ensure that the Sky Blues are once again in with a fighting chance of making the play-offs.
The procedure demonstrates that a team can advance and flourish even after losing its greatest players if you do it well, which is far from an easy feat to accomplish. But what if a manager were to leave? After Mark Robins and his team’s amazing work over the last seven years, moving the team up the divisions to within a whisker of the ultimate prize—a return to the top table of English football—City supporters would not want to consider it.
“My objective is to elevate our exceptional manager to the Premier League,” ambitious City proprietor Doug King declared this week. “I have established that as my aim and I hope
But King is a realistic businessman, and he is fully aware that his manager might one day be wanted. It’s amazing in and of itself that more clubs haven’t contacted us—that we are aware of, anyhow. The possibility is always present, even though there is no indication that the manager would be persuaded to do so—at least not until he returns the team to the top division.
When King was asked whether his greatest worry during a talkSPORT interview was that someone would say, “Mark Robins, what a fantastic job, let’s take him for a Premier League club.”
“It’s a given in this game,” he said. “I work with him and made a proper deal in front of him last year because I needed to be clear as we embarked on our investment journey that I had the right people that I needed to take that investment and make the most of what we’re doing on the pitch.” He went on: “Obviously, if things change, and things always change and everyone always survives. Look at Brighton; they’ve had many managers and have succeeded with good organisation and succession planning, so look, I’m a businessman. People don’t really understand what I do, but the truth is I’ve been in business for a long time and I don’t own
We therefore take a close look at everything and work to get as much advantage as we can, and I think we’re moving in the right direction. And in the fifteen months after taking over, the team’s progress to the FA Cup semi-final and play-off final probably couldn’t have gone much better. However, I think I’m more proud of the long-term improvements we’re making to the club to make it viable, upgrade the facilities to attract our ideal clientele, and ensure future success.
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