Mark Robins praised by fans for what he said in his first interview as new Stoke City head coach

Mark Robins has been praised by fans for what he said in his first interview as the new head coach of Stoke City this week.

Robins joins the Potters on a three-and-a-half-year contract, coming months after his controversial exit from Coventry where he had managed for eight years, leading them from League Two to challenging for Premier League promotion.

The appointment of Robins is seen as an effort by Stoke to stabilise their managerial position after a series of short-lived tenures since their relegation from the Premier League in 2018.

Robins is known for his man-management skills and ability to build team unity, which could be beneficial for Stoke’s current situation, with the club currently sitting 19th in the Championship table with 26 points from 25 games played, also 4 points above the drop zone.

The announcement of Robins as manager comes shortly after Stoke parted ways with Narcis Pelach, with Ryan Shawcross serving as caretaker manager for the interim period.

Robins’ first match in charge will be against Plymouth Argyle, marking a new chapter for the club under his leadership, and his first interview has gone down a hit with supporters…

TRANSCRIPT IN FULL:

Interviewer: Mark first of all welcome to the club what is it that excites you about the opportunity to manage Stoke City?

Mark: Right, so I needed a break for a few weeks after after the eight years I spent at Coventry City and I’ve had that and I found over a few weeks I started to get itchy feet but I have in my mind some owners and some clubs that I had been interested in and Stoke was one of those and then after having conversations with the owner John Coates and with John Walters as well their passion and determination to drive the club forward became really apparent really quickly this is a really good club and one that’s always been in the back of my mind if I were to be looking for another job this would be one and you know the fact that it’s got good players it’s got great history and tradition really attracted me to it and and clearly it’s a really big club it is a project there’s no doubt about it and you know watching they’ve got some really really good players we’ve got some really good players and the supporters are absolutely outstanding the passionate they demand a certain type of football certain type of player and that’ll obviously be something that we strive to implement when we’re recruiting but also on the pitch I watch the game against Sunderland the other day and you know that epitomised what I think Stoke City supporters want and the players delivered it brilliantly and led really really well by Ryan Shawcross the other day and his staff and I’m really excited by the challenge it’s it’s a big challenge there’s no doubt but I’m looking forward to working for the supporters and for the club and helping the players sort of achieve their capabilities, so for me it’s a brilliant opportunity there’s no doubt about it and what I’m really looking for getting my teeth into

Interviewer: You mentioned John Walters and John coats there what did the discussion center on when you spoke to them?

Mark: The club football um you know around what’s happened what’s happening what their plans are moving forward the infrastructure work that’s going on obviously we’ve got a situation where the the the team just maybe lacked a little bit of belief or confidence for for whatever reason which happens from time to time in the Championship it’s relentless and you know we spoke around that we spoke about what my vision is how my team set up and and play football and and obviously how we wanted to move things forward it moved forward really quickly to be fair and over a busy Christmas period for everybody I was really impressed with everything that they had to say they didn’t really need to sell me too much on it but you know to know and understand their passion and determination to move it forward is always key and I think when you go into a football club I think ownership is one of those things certainly that I look for and I’m delighted to be here there’s no doubt

Interviewer: What do you make of the squad that you’ve inherited and how are you look to get the best out of them?

Mark: I think they’ve got we’ve got some really talented players there’s no doubt about that I think that for whatever reason you know teams go through ups and downs during a Championship season it’s always difficult it’s always relentless but you got to find a way you’ve always got to strive to find a way of getting results um I want players to be themselves I want them to be in positions where they can maximise their potential on the pitch to do that, the culture around the place has got to be has got to be really really good and that’s something as well that John Walters and and myself and the staff and the players will put into place. This is a really different situation from other because I’m coming in mid-way through a season in a really busy busy period of game so you’ve got to bear that in mind as well, players are at a different stages in either rehabilitation or coming back from injury or some have played a lot of games and you got to manage that load really intelligently I think, but really to get to know the players first is important, but I won’t be doing anything and asking them to do things that they can’t do, I’m looking forward to it I think it’s a really really good club really good challenge and and one I’m really excited to take on

Interviewer: You mentioned earlier about the infrastructure and the facilities how will they help you in terms of hitting the ground running?

Mark: Well the infrastructure and the facilities are outstanding the second and on there’s a lot of work going on obviously there’s some building work going on as well, the stadium’s outstanding, I think really I look at the the whole city and I think that we need everybody together, there’s no doubt about that, and I think the the city’s motto is united strength is stronger and that’s something that I’ll be sort of drawing on throughout my tenure and I think if everybody can be together it makes for a really strong mix and helps everybody get behind the players because of the human beings at the end of the day if they feel that support from the supporters from us inside the the the club you can take the club any way that you want to so so you know I’m asking for that right from day one and and that will be really important

Interviewer: What are your kind of core principles as a manager?

Mark: I think you got to win there’s no doubt about that you’ve got to win you’ve got to you’ve got to make sure that those building blocks are in place to achieve that um but also it’s a really competitive league where it’s very very tight certainly this season it’s tight, anybody can beat anybody else on the day and we’ve got to have more days and and the performance against Sunderland for me epitomised what you know what the players have got the strengths that they’ve got um and we’ve got to build on that I think there’ll be certainly be things that we’ll do slightly differently maybe the working week will look slightly different but you know certainly from from my perspective intensity and you know the intensive sessions, the work that we do on the grass will stand us in good stead for playing the games and also the academy is really important any football club it’s the lifeblood of the of the football club and the community really you know players are coming in from either locally or from a little bit further a field but it’s really important because that sort of it makes a head mix because you’ve got players coming through local boys playing so I’ll be looking for that and there has to be a pathway for those players and they’ve got to feel that So eventually that’s where we’ll get to initially we’ve got to make sure that to hit the ground running we got to make sure that we get everybody ready to go clear instruction and a clear way of playing and training

Interviewer: Talking of playing what sort of style do you like to deploy?

Mark: Again my ideal football is quick, quick attacks quick fast playing into play you know players linking together having a real understanding of what’s being asked of them both in and out of possession and I think with the rest of the coaches I think it’s going to be a really good time, but there’s a plenty of work to be done, so again that’s another thing I’m looking forward to that and looking forward to getting my teeth into that and making sure that we can hit the ground running because as I’ve said before the teams above us, we’ve got to try and catch you know and that’s where our our focus will be on ourselves but also trying to catch them

Interviewer: You bring in a couple of coaches with you as assistant managers James Rowberry and Paul Nevin what can you tell us about the qualities they possess?

Mark: Well Paul’s been working at top level worked for the England under 20s for a period, worked with David Moyes for a prolonged spell was at Brighton as well really well respected coach somebody who I have looked at previously and and delighted that he’s here, he will offer a lot of experience for a lot of quality, he an elite coach as is James you know he’s been head of the club at Newport County was manager there and he’s been working with Craig Bellamy with a Welsh team and um and also he’s a coach educator as well so that that bodes well but also he’s a really good guy both really good guys um I know we’ve got good coaches in the building as well and I’m looking forward to meeting them later and we’ll set our stall out to give the players everything that they need

Interviewer: You managed almost 800 games as a manager what have you learned about yourself over the last 17 years

Mark: Good question I know that I love the job, I know that I love football, I love seeing players develop, I love maximising the potential on the pitch, I love getting results that’s the best part of the game but I think results are you know results are different you know players that I’ve had before have gone on to do on to bigger and better things to be fair and done really really well I think that clubs have to they have to develop they have to develop their own players and hopefully you move along with them and they take you where you want to get to but sometimes they outgrow you quicker and clubs take them that’s part and parcel of life and certainly of football but you know I want them to be I want them to really enjoy it I want them to be ready for this challenge without a doubt but as far as I’m concerned I just love the job, I just want to take it as far as I possibly can do and this is my first few minutes in inside the training ground, it’s a fantastic training ground, everything’s here and I’m sure that the previous managers have said the same thing I need to get to the bottom of where we need what we need to do to try and tie things all together to move it forward and that’s that’s one of my skill sets working with John working with the owner John Coates and John Walters, I’m really looking forward to it I think everything’s there everything’s set up it’s just now again I think really the the the key point is to tie everything together and make sure it works and functions together everybody’s aligned and same messages for everybody throughout the club um and that’s something I’ll be working on but again the important part is out on the grass and and working with the players to get the uh to get the results that

Interviewer: You need you spent several years at Coventry where you experienced considerable success what will you take from that experience into this role

Mark: Well it was different so each club’s different you got to go in and assess what the club is and and where it is and and this club’s different than than Coventry and each club is unique so at Coventry there’s a lot of instability you know it certainly wasn’t stable there was the ground move went to Birmingham City we got relegated to League Two and things had to be built from from the ground up really, here is totally different there’s stability here, but you still during that period you have to you have to build and you have to make sure that you’ve got the right ingredients there to get the results that you need to to stay in the role um the first job that I had at Rotherham United we we lost a stadium we lost the training ground we got a 10-point deduction going into Administration we came out of administration got 17 point deduction, we finished 10th in that season which was incredible really, we would have finished fifth in the playoff places, but we were always playing in a virtual league so we knew where we would where we were and we knew where we would be had the points deduction hadn’t been imposed um but that was a real you know lesson in in management really I remember doing a podcast and Graham Taylor was on the on the podcast at the time and he said to me you won’t appreciate it now but it’ll stand you in good stead for the rest of your managerial career and and at that point I sort of thought about it but you know it has there’s no doubt about it it has and any of the adversity that you suffer goes a long with it but also so does a success so I can draw on a lot of experiences that I’ve had the playoff final with Luton a couple of years ago, last year we were in the semifinal of the FA Cup there were four Wembley trips, there was a lot of uh a lot of success there, and that’s down to everybody and that’s the collective you know and I think that’s certainly something that I will I will be drawing on for the the rest of a managerial career and I want us to you know this is a starting point and again we need everybody together so I will be saying that quite a lot because it’s really really important it’s really key, everybody’s aligned in the football club from the supporters all the way all the way through

Interviewer: You mentioned the supporters there how important will they be to you in terms of helping to take us forward well

Mark: I hope I’ve sort of articulated that that they are they key to any football club they the life blood of any football club without a doubt they’re passionate they know what they want to watch you know we’ll endeavour to put that on the pitch for them I’m excited because the the players that we have in the building are really good players they’ve got some real talent talent amongst them and the supporters will help again human beings and and they need to feel that support life is different now you know I think with social media and all the you may get I don’t know you may get 100 positive comments and one negative and human nature is you’ll focus on the negative one or you can focus on the negative one, I think with everybody pulling in the same direction you can achieve anything so that’s what I’ll be looking for and that’s what I’ll be hoping for and we’ll work really really hard to uh to be engaging and to work with them and certainly work for the supporters I’m really looking forward to that

Interviewer: And finally what did you consider the short and longterm targets

Mark: Short term is to change results you know by putting in place all of the things we I’ve sort of briefly spoken about but um you know I think you’ve got to start there not look too far in the future to make sure that the the groundworks put in now to start the building process to start that process if you get carried away and start focusing too far in the future I think it’ll contribute up um but again there’s enough here to be able to to be able to do that and the staff of the staff will play a really really key part in that to uh to ensure that everybody’s got what they need and and getting the information that they need and the training that they need and make sure everybody’s in the right place to play

As mentioned, Mark Robins has been praised by fans for what he said in his first interview as the new Stoke City head coach…

@UtchStokie: How nice it is to hear clear, concise answers from a manager again (although, I’ve already noticed he has a go to phrase – “There’s no doubt about that”). Will be nice to be able to listen to manager interviews again now the windbag has gone

@PottersSCFC01: Great interview and very well articulated. I think we may have come across a really good manager here but only time will tell. Full backing from me and he hits the nail on the head we are where we are and will only move forward as one!! C’mon you Might Potters!

@StokieTC:
What are your key principles as a manager?
“To win”
I fucking love him already

@banhambtfc: What a guy! Good luck stoke all the best for rest of season…

@SwifNick37: Welcome to the club Mark – We are Stoke ! 🔴⚪️

@WillM_94: Nice to have a bit of common sense in the club isn’t it? 👌🏻

@ollie_long93: A very good interview.. speaks really well

@CharliePUSB: One of the best speakers and well articulated person I’ve seen in football. Good luck Mark (for 44/46 games anyway!)

@oftenpartizan: I think you’ve found gold in him, I’m a huge fan of his. Think you’ll be cooking before long. 👏

@Dunny1914: That’s it.. I’m in love @stokecity. Finally a manager talking sense!!.. Short/Long term goals didn’t involve the words surviving or promotion.. Finally a manager who has done his research about the club.. knowing the city’s moto.. knowing what the fans want! #SCFC #StokeCity

@Aj18631: After listening to the full interview I’m genuinely excited about this

@tdog1410: Seems a very calming influence. Not getting ahead of himself.