‘Record bids’ – why Mark Robins is ‘fed up’ and ready to get tough on Coventry City’s transfer position

Mark Robins has outlined Coventry City’s transfer position in what he hopes will be a busy and exciting summer of consolidation to take the club to the next level and be more competitive in terms of staying away next season.

The Sky Blues were shortchanged in the short term due to a lack of depth amid key injuries as the team tried to push for success on two fronts; going for a late charge for the play-offs and advancing to an FA Cup Final penalty shoot-out. And after the 2023/24 campaign ended disappointingly in a 2-1 CBS Arena defeat to QPR, the Robins began to look forward to continuing their building program in the next window.

Asked if he had an idea of ​​how many new players he would like to recruit, he simply said “yes” without offering anything. The club are set to lose at least three of their contract players in Liam Kelly, Callum O’Hare and Simon Moore, while season-long loan defender Luis Binks is set to return to his parent club Bologna.

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As for keeping hold of the club’s best-selling assets, the likes of Ben Sheaf and strikers Ellis Simms and Haji Wright – who both have 19 goals each – the manager insisted: “We’re in a strong position from that perspective, so if anyone. if it were to work, it would require record bids. We don’t want to sell anyone, that’s the position. We want to keep everyone together and build.”

Robins then revealed his intention to start getting tough in the transfer market, insisting he would not sign any players unless they were fully committed to the Sky Blues and prepared to go the distance and help the club achieve their promotion ambitions.

“I’m sick of people coming in and … If people want to come in and use us as a stepping stone, then no,” he warned. “I’m looking for people who, like Kels (Liam Kelly), and I said it in the dressing room, who have come in and said ‘this is my home, this is what I do and I’m going to help this club get there. where he wants to go.

“And though he never meant to stay for seven years, because I don’t think he ever thought of it in his wildest dreams, just like I never did. But at the end of the day, there’s a player who has bought into that, mind, body and soul, and that’s what I’m looking for, because that’s how you’re going to take it to the next level; not because people come and try to get everything they can and release at the first opportunity. It’s not ideal and you can’t build something like that.”

He added: “I think you have to look at it because if you’re a trading club, which every club has to be, then it has to be done methodically and in a way that’s sustainable and helps you become sustainable. And that’s the ultimate goal of any football club, I suppose. And while there are things that you want to have tight control over, there are human elements to consider, but ultimately we want to go for it, really go for it and build something that everyone is really into proud. And every transfer window gives you a chance. And I’m excited about it.”

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