Thanks for joining us for coverage of this special Coventry City Fans' Forum as chairman Doug King faced fans after the sacking of manager Mark Robins.You can listen back to what was said on BBC Sounds. And the Sky Blues Fancast is on-air between 19:00 and 20:00 GMT for fans to have their say on what they've heard.

Ged Scott
BBC Sport

Doug King has made it quite clear that he was reluctant to make the decison that he made last week, that he got on well with Mark Robins and liked him. But he also made it quite clear that he felt he had to.

Equally, the Coventry City fans have made it clear that most of them still don't agree.

The biggest take-away from it was the surprise revelation to most present that it was Robins himself who chose to part company with his number two Adi Viveash back in the summer - contrary to popular belief.

Doug rather threw Robins under the bus on that one.

But fans and owner are agreed on one thing: that the next appointment is crucial. And that City were already intent on going down a 'head coach' route, even before Robins was sacked.

Most of all, we have learnt just what a refreshingly frank operator Doug King is. He openly admits that he is not a football man. And that it was just not his way to "have a plan" in place when it came to sacking Robins.

"This is a business as well as a football club," says King.

"Obviously the appointment now is very important - Dean Austin is supporting me on that as is Dr Claire-Marie Roberts and so are other people who I chat to within the industry.

"I consult widely on lots of things.

"You could argue that this was a big mistake, and that's fair enough. I say it was necessary to protect and not squander what has been created through the sale of high-quality players."

"I cannot have the risk of us getting relegated," says Doug King.

"Nobody thought Birmingham would get relegated - and they did.

"The next appointment is very important.

"You can argue that this was a big mistake. But I had to do something. And everybody will make their judgement clear."

"No," said Doug.

Nor will it have any impact on the amount of money to spend in January, as asked by another fan.

"I'm fully at liberty to explain what went down, I actually wish I'd done it when I put the announcement out in July.

One fan has asked exactly what the role is of Clare-Marie Roberts, who was appointed as the club's first performance director in June.

"The players are as fit as they have ever been," said Doug.

"I've come up today and we're having an open conversation.

"I'm trying to be open and transparent.

"I work hard and I give honest answers.

"Sometimes a tough decision has to be made.

"I'm sorry it had to be made. I like Mark Robins. And we've had good times together - but it had to be made."

"My intentions are to stay.

"[I put a three-to-five year plan in place] to do it properly, to get the club to where it should be.

"I'm interested in doing it right here, right now, getting the facilities right, getting the infrastructure right.

"There's zilions of things I need to do because no one was doing them for years and years, and it's a challenge."

"We have had a lot of applications. We have a recruitment process in place."

Doug has emphasised the club's stance, originally outlined in the Robins sacking press release last Thursday, that they would take their time to make a decision.

He has said that he hopes to have someone in by the time the January transfer window opens to deal with further new recruitment.

He was also questioned as to why he did not have a replacement lined up.

Doug's answer was simple: "That's not the way I work."

"We had a lot of injuries on Saturday but we still had an effective deck.

"You cannot stack a bench with loan players"

Dean Austin is coming up to two years in charge of recruitment at Coventry City. He and Doug King are taking it in turn to explain the Sky Blues recruitment process - loans in particular.

Doug King has kicked the evening off by dropping the bombshell that it was Mark Robins who said he could no longer work with his number two Adi Viveash - and that Viveash's departure was not a decison made by the board.

It is that "break-up" that appears to have been the backdrop to Coventry's poor start this season.

"I believed in Mark Robins and Adi Viveash," said Doug.

"The best contract of both Mark and Adi's careers both came from me. They worked well together.

"But marriages break up. They 'broke up'. It annoyed me, but I backed the manager."

Coventry City owner Doug King is facing fans at a BBC CWR fans' forum after sacking Mark Robins.

And most want to know why?

Listening in is BBC Midlands Today sports editor Nick Clitheroe, who is at the CBS Arena in Coventry, and has been talking to fans.

"I've always tried to be transparent about what's going on.

"It's disappointing, but people get divorced, they love each other but they get divorced, and I didn't see it coming but it was coming.

"He has dismantled the coaching staff at this football club. That is the thing that people don't realise.

"The fall-off after the semi-final was obvious. I told Mark to take time out and have a rest.

"But I then had a phone call from Mark saying that he could no longer work with Adi Viveash.

"That annoyed me but we then started interviewing other people. And Mark brought in John Dempster and Mark Delaney to go on the pre-season tour. That was his decision.

"It had been on my mind for a while, but we had already been interviewing for a head coach to work with our exisiting manager.

"But we had a senior management meeting on 30 October. . ."

We're off and running - and Doug King gets ready to answer the first question. Which comes from BBC CWR's Rob Gurney.

Image source, Rex Features

One key question this evening is bound to be "Who's next, Doug?"

Looking at the latest odds with the bookmakers, and some of the headlines in the tabloids, Frank Lampard is currently the odds-on favourite.

Former Sky Blues star Robbie Keane has also been listed as a contender, following his managerial experiences in the Indian Super League and with Maccabi Tel Aviv, which ended in June.

But neither would appear to tally with the sort of "head coach" role that the club advertised when they made the decision to part company with Robins last Thursday morning.

The club said that it would "take its time to appoint a successor to Mark, although the position will be that of Head Coach working within the new structure set up by the Club over the last two years."

Sounds more like a role for potential, young hungry applicants like Matt Bloomfield, boss of League One leaders Wycombe Wanderers, who has also been linked.

BBC CWR

BBC CWR's Rob Gurney, Clive Eakin and Lorna Bailey will host the hour-long forum, which starts at 18:00 GMT.

They will be joined by representatives from supporter groups which make up the club’s Supporter Forum and also regular contributors to BBC CWR sport programmes.

Supporters have the chance to listen to the Forum and to text or e-mail in their questions. There will also be a special edition of the Sky Blues Fancast from 19:00 with fans' reaction to what they've heard.

City will be represented not only by owner and chairman Doug King - but also Dean Austin, the former Spurs and Palace full-back, who has been City's head of recruitment since December 2022.

Image source, Getty Images

What are the likely key questions and hot topics on tonight's agenda?

Why now, Doug? And not in the summer, maybe, when Mark Robins' much respected and trusted number two Adi Viveash was disposed of.

Why, after two poor starts to the season in 2022-23 and 2023-24, did Doug believe that Robins would turn round results this time?

Why were the big-money sales of Viktor Gyokeres and Gus Hamer - and the loss of Callum O'Hare - perhaps not taken into account more?

What is the timescale on any new appointment? And what is the interview process?

Are any other key figures within the club involved in the decison-making process, or is it all just down to Doug himself? And where do the club go from here?

Image source, Rex Features

"I feel like someone's ripped my heart out, to be honest."

BBC CWR listeners have been getting in touch with the station with their reactions to the sacking.

The panel will hear a sample of their messages this evening including one of support for Robins saying he had taken the club "from the brink of extinction".

"It's the first time Coventry City has made me cry that didn't involve a penalty in quite a long time," adds another fan.

"I'm really angry and pretty disgusted with our owner and the club, to be honest. I think it's a really, really sad day in the history of the club."