MARK Robins spoke of his pride at managing Coventry City ahead of facing his old club in a top-of-the-table clash this weekend.
Coventry sacked Robins exactly one year ago today after a near eight-year stint in charge of the Sky Blues which included two promotions, a Championship play-off final and FA Cup semi-final.
Robins has since returned to the dugout with Stoke City and will be hoping to put a dent in his old club’s early-season promotion charge this weekend.
The former Coventry boss hosts the Sky Blues in a top-of-the-table clash with Stoke four points behind the league leaders in the Championship table.
And while Robins remains focused on achieving promotion to the Premier League with the Potters, he looked back on his time with the Sky Blues with great fondness.
Robins said: “I don’t often [reflect] but if I’m going to do that, I’d go back to some of the first days when I went back in in 2017.
“It wasn’t really healthy and to see where it is now and the journey I went on with the staff and players I had.
“And the change in the players and staff overtime, I was proud and privileged to manage that club.
“I’m really pleased to see that they’re doing so well under Frank’s leadership.
“That’s something I’ll always be happy about and proud about but it’s about the here and now.”
Robins tasted defeat on his first visit back to the Coventry Building Society Arena last season against his successor Frank Lampard.
And Robins praised Lampard for the job he has done since taking over at the CBS Arena.
Robins added: “It’s a very good squad. You don’t sit at the top after 14 games with a plus-26 goal difference [if you’re not any good].
“They’re scoring plenty of goals and playing well, they’re full of confidence.
“They’ve got players who have been there for a couple or three years now. You’d expect that to be the case in this season.
“Frank’s done a brilliant job. I wish them all the best other than when they play us.”
Coventry travel to Stoke on Saturday, November 8 with kick-off at 3pm at the bet365 Stadium.
