In Robins They Trust - Is Longevity The Key To Success?
By Luke Davis
On the 27th May 2023 Coventry City found themselves a penalty shoot out away from a return to the Premier League after 22 years. How did they get themselves back to where many believe they belong? Was it new millionaire Arab owners who had dragged them back up through the football leagues or was it the expert running and organisation of the club behind the scenes that put the wheels of success in motion?
No. Coventry had a minuscule budget with no investment from their owners and a chairman who had moved home games out of Coventry on 3 separate occasions over the past 10 years. Groundshares at Northampton in 2013, Birmingham in 2019 and Burton Albion for a cup game in 2022 along with multiple legal disputes with stadium landlords and the city council all equate to awful management and running of a football. Despite these issues in a and around Coventry City Football Club they managed to achieve two promotions from League Two to the Championship and now find themselves competing in the top end of the Championship with the Premier League comfortably on their radar. This success can be put down to the consistent management of one man. Mark Robins.
A club with no money and poor ownership has achieved a meteoric rise from the lowest level of the football league to the brink of the biggest football league in the world and because they have stuck with a consistent manager for nearly 7 years, Robins has introduced a exciting style of play and built a positive relationship between the club and fans that had been missing for years. Robins’ ability to recognise the importance of good football and good management has given Coventry fans a new lease of life.
Is manager longevity successful across the board or is Coventry an exception?
Mark Robins is the 5th longest serving manager across the Football League and Premier League, above him in 4th and 3rd are Pep Guardiola and Jürgen Klopp respectively. Both of these managers have had obvious successes in the lasting tenures including a combined total of 6 Premier League Titles and 2 Champions League wins. 2 nd on the list is John Coleman of Accrington Stanley who after 4 years of management won promotion to League One as Champions in 2018 where they stayed for 5 years in what is undoubtedly one of Stanley's more successful periods. Top of the list is Simon Weaver of Harrogate Town with nearly 15 years in charge of the Sulphurites. Weaver has taken them from bottom of the National League North to League Two where he continues to establish Harrogate as a Football League side. The top 5 longest serving managers in England have all achieved success on the pitch and currently find their clubs in better positions than when they took charge. In fact across the EFL all managers who’ve been in charge for over 3 years have seen relative success at their respected clubs.
So consistency and long serving management is proving to work in the present day but has this always been the case? 2 of the longest serving managers in recent history also happen to be 2 of the most successful, Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger.
Sir Alex was the longest serving manager in in post war English football and arguably the greatest. However there was a time where the Glaswegian’s position at Old Trafford looked precarious. Having finished 11th in 1989 and losing 5-1 at Maine Road to rivals Man City many considered Ferguson's time to be up. However in January 1990 United won 1-0 away to Brian Clough’s Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup 3rd Round, the winning goal scored by none other than Coventry City manager Mark Robins, a result that created the belief that they could succeed. They went on to win the FA Cup and qualify for the Cup Winners Cup which they went on to win the following season. These trophies were enough to distract fans from the poor league performances and keep Sir Alex in the job. Manchester United’s unprecedented success over the next 23 years might never have happened if Ferguson had been given the sack.
Arsene Wenger is the most successful Arsenal manager of all time. However, the early stages of his time in North London was confusing time Arsenal and football fans around the country. Arsene Who? Seemed to be the tag line to his initial appointment and first few months in charge. After seeing legends like Paul Merson leave the club and unknown foreign players coming in to replace them Arsenal fans were sceptical about this new approach. After a run of 4 defeats in 6 league games Arsenal found themselves 6th in the league with many calling for the Frenchman's head. However, Arsenal stuck by Wenger and he went on to turn fortunes around and see them climb the table in the new year, they were eventually crowned champions in May 1998 and Arsene Wenger established himself as an Arsenal legend. He would go on to win the Premier League another 2 times along with many cup competitions over a 22 year reign.
So longevity works in the modern game and has worked historically so why aren’t managers given more time to establish themselves and achieve success?
In short, managers aren’t given time to build to success because of money. Football in the 21st Century has morphed from a sport into a global business with billions of fans around the world. Running a football club to immediate financial success is now the priority to the majority of football club owners. In the Premier League the global reach is astronomical so whether it’s having big name signings to increase revenues or building modern ‘mega’ stadiums to fill with high paying foreign tourists there is a lot more at play then just winning titles and cup competitions. If millions can be made in 1 year through marketing and advertising but a manager to grow a team for success could be a 3 or 4 year project then owners will now focus on the initial money making methods and want instant results.
When Sir Alex Ferguson finished 11th and 13th in the league consecutively FA Cup success was enough to keep him in job and give him time to build a dominant team. However, today Manchester United as a brand and a business can’t afford to finish anywhere outside the top 4 regardless of cup success. The financial pressures of the modern game means that today managers are an expendable commodity so instant success is now the requirement.
Football fans who travel the country supporting their side through thick and thin deserve long serving managers to build successful teams and inspire generations to come. Mark Robins has been given time at Coventry as a result of the lack of investment and poor running of the club. There was no financial pressures to succeed and without this pressure Robins was able to implement his ideology and way of running things. Coventry have reaped the rewards because of it. Ironically, by removing the financial pressure of instant success Robins has guided The Sky Blues to their healthiest financial standing in over a decade.
Coventry’s recent success is a direct result of given one manager time to build a successful football club. Consistency when it comes to management is the key to success, if football clubs give managers more time they will be more likely to succeed on and off the pitch.