“Must Consider…”: Coventry City’s Mark Robins Confronts Possible Burnley Choice

That’s along with Birmingham City coach Ashley Cole. That’s due to the fact Kompany is reportedly on the radar of Brighton & Hove Albion and Brentford, who could both lose their respective managers this summer.

Despite the big expectations that were placed on Kompany’s Burnley team, who had absolutely smashed the second tier last season, they fell massively short, but his style of play upon promotion earnt plenty of plaudits.

Burnley were by far the dominant side in the second tier in 2022/23 and looked the likeliest of the promoted sides to maintain their status at English football’s top table for many.

The Clarets achieved promotion from the Championship at a canter, after finishing as top on 101 points, meaning Kompany’s stock remains high. Burnley now face a busy transfer window ahead this summer, with plenty of comings and goings to be expected at Turf Moor.

However, it was much harder to imagine a scenario where the Belgian wasn’t at Turf Moor past the end of the current campaign, given what he’d done in his first season with the club Now, that scenario may become reality, and the Clarets are looking to the second tier for potential replacements for the 38-year-old.

The latest reports from Graeme Bailey of TBR Football claim that the Belgian’s job is not secure and that the Lancashire side are looking at who could replace him should the two part ways either by mutual consent or if another Premier League side comes calling.

Mark Robins’ links to Burnley

Robins has been a fantastic servant to Coventry as the longest-serving manager in the Championship but the links to Burnley are sure to be tempting for a manager who has taken the Sky Blues incredibly far.

Here, we ask our FLW writers their verdict on whether Robins would be a good appointment for Burnley and if it is likely that he departs Coventry this summer for a new opportunity.

Adam Elliott

In some ways, it is about time Robins moved upwards in the footballing ladder, having earnt a shot at the Premier League, which makes the Burnley link a strange one at this stage. Many managers in the second tier deserve the opportunity to take charge of a top-flight club, but Burnley are no longer in the Premier League, and there are no guarantees that they will be again in 2024/25, even with Robins at the helm.

Of course, Robins has done an outstanding job since returning for a second spell at the CBS Arena in March 2017, leading the Sky Blues from League Two to the brink of the Premier League, and while his side missed out on the play-offs this season, they did reach the FA Cup semi-final this season as well.

He helped them win promotion from League Two, via the play-offs, during the 2017/18 campaign – just months after getting the job – which was swiftly followed up by promotion to the Championship two seasons later, and with an EFL trophy within all of that as well.

Robins led his team to the play-offs in the 2022/23 campaign, where they agonisingly lost on penalties to Luton Town, and City were back at Wembley with Robins at the helm this season for an FA Cup semi-final against Man United, which they were a matter of inches away from winning.

In terms of credentials, it makes enormous sense from Burnley’s point of view; but holding out for a guaranteed Premier League offer, or indeed getting Coventry there himself with the project he has going there makes abundantly more sense than jumping ship at this stage.

The job he and his team have done has been incredible, and worthy of interest from the likes of Burnley but also beyond as one of the most adaptable and tactically flexible managers in the league, as well as a fantastic man-manager to boot, too.

He may have to ask himself if he has taken his current side as far as he can, but it seems likely that they could well be embroiled in another race for promotion in 2024/25 given their current trajectory.

Ned Holmes

The job Mark Robins has done at Coventry City has been one of the best in the EFL over the last decade.

He’s taken the Sky Blues from League Two to pushing for promotion to the Premier League and done it without a huge amount to spend and with their key players often leaving once they’d established themselves.

You can completely understand why Burnley would be interested in Robins and if given time, the former Manchester United player could certainly be a success given the quality of the Clarets squad.

But it’s hard to see him leaving Coventry right now. He’s put so much into the project and there have been some rough times, with ownership issues making things difficult for him to have on-pitch success, and you feel we could see the fruits of those labours at some point soon.

Robins will not want to jump ship before he has the opportunity to see things through. He is settled at Coventry and has become a bonafide club legend, it would be a shock to see him head to Turf Moor.

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