Coventry owner King speaks out on Robins dismissal
Rob Gurney, Clive Eakin and Lorna Bailey host a live Fans Forum with Doug King.
- Published
BBC Radio CWR hosted a fans forum with Coventry City owner Doug King on Monday after an unhappy response from fans to the recent dismissal of long-serving manager Mark Robins.
Here are the main takeaways:
"I fully understand what he has done for this city and this community but I still made the decision"
He explained how Robins "dismantled" the coaching staff because of internal conflict
He feels the club are lacking a high-quality first-team coach/tactician but struggled to recruit, though he believes recruitment will not suffer if a head coaching position is offered
He was surprised by the fans' reaction and felt he was in a "difficult position"
There was not a replacement lined up before Robins' dismissal and the decision was made following a senior management meeting in October
He does not intend to sell the club and plans to purchase the Coventry Building Society Arena once financially viable
He has stated that a sporting director will be a "logical position" to add as the club look to appoint a head coach
He does not want a "revolving door" of managers and wishes to build a "sustainable" club but feels that relegation would "squander" what they have already built, so his next appointment will be crucial
Robins' exit has not affected the budget for the upcoming January transfer window
Head of recruitment Dean Austin on the lack of loan signings: "If we bring loan players in, loan players expect to come in and play - and their clubs expect them to play."
Austin spoke about maintaining relationships with other clubs and how he felt loan players would not get a significant amount of playing time.
