Mark Robins’s two-word response to Stoke City being dubbed ‘an impossible job’.
Mark Robins talks about the challenge he has taken on at Stoke City and working in the club structure with Jon Walters and John Coates, coaches he has brought with him and staff he will work with for the first time.
Mark Robins interrupted a question about Stoke City being dubbed an impossible job to say: “We’ll see.”
The point was that the ‘impossible job’ Robins is walking into at Stoke might make him laugh compared to the situations he faced during nearly eight years at Coventry City, where the club had seasons booted out of their home ground and ownership dramas.
“And Rotherham,” said Robins. “And Barnsley. And Scunthorpe.”
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Stoke, for whatever reason, have not been able to finish even in the top half of the Championship since relegation from the Premier League in 2018 let alone sustain a fight for promotion back to the top flight.
But the new boss, who has been managing for the best part of 18 years in all and held his first press conference on Thursday afternoon, is ready for the challenge he is inheriting with the team and support network he has around him.
“I’ve had adversity,” he said. “I was called a firefighter at one point. People want to put labels on you – ‘He’s a firefighter so he can’t do that job.’ It’s utter rubbish.
“You’ve got a skillset and you’ve got understanding of the game. I do know what I’m good at and I do know what I need help with and I’ve brought people in to help with that, I’ve got people already here to help with other things. You can never do things on your own, never dream of it.
“It’s got to be collaborative and everybody has got to feel part of it. Supporters have got to feel part of it. Everybody has got to feel part of it, which is what part of the enjoyment is. You can’t just have one person and everyone else doing the leg work around it and not having anything to do with anything else, it just becomes monotonous.
“I want everybody part of it. We (Robins and sporting director Jon Walters) both want everybody to be part of it. John Coates wants everyone to be part of it. That’s what will happen.”
This will be Robins’s first time working closely with a sporting director but he scoffed at any suggestion it would be an alien scenario.
“No, you’re working with people so take the title out of it,” he said. “We’ve got our roles and responsibilities and what we want to do and if you’re aligned with that then you can do anything. If you’re working with good people and you’ve got the same interests and beliefs and a way of doing things then that’s something we already have in common. You can sense you’ve got a rapport with someone and that might be why I’ve ended up here sat in front of you.
“You have that, with the desire, with the intelligence, with the understanding,. Jon’s background and everything he’s done after his playing career with his education is really impressive. That stands you in good stead.
“There are some really good people around, brilliant people. I’ve not met anyone that I’ve had to take a step back… fantastic people. When you have that and you’re working to the same ends then there’s no reason why you can’t achieve it. People want to put labels on names as managers, coaches, sporting directors but you’re talking about people and people doing their jobs to try to make the best of circumstances they’re in.”
Corberan 2.0: West Brom could forget Robins by appointing “talented” coach.
Often, a shock managerial departure can derail your ongoing season. But, for West Bromwich Albion, it was business as usual on New Year’s Day.
The Baggies did lose away at Derby County right after Carlos Corberan’s swift exit to Valencia, but the promotion chasers – who now have ex-West Brom playing legend Chris Brunt at the helm on a temporary basis – convincingly beat Preston North End 3-1 back at the Hawthorns to start 2025 off on a dream footing.
It remains to be seen whether or not the beloved Northern Irishman is handed the reins permanently at the Championship outfit, with a number of names being linked to the Baggies vacancy since it became available on Christmas Eve.
Possible Corberan replacements
Of course, it isn’t out of the question that Brunt could chosen to be Corberan’s successor, especially if more victories come his way from the dug-out.
