Doug King has cited Birmingham City’s plight as another warning sign that led to the sacking of Coventry City manager Mark Robins.
The Sky Blues owner revealed this week that the main reason he took the hugely unpopular decision was because the former team boss “dismantled” the club’s successful coaching structure following a fall out with assistant manager and influential first team coach Adi Viveash in the summer.
And after a poor start to the season – with the club having failed to find a suitable replacement for the senior coaching role – King feared more poor results and inconsistent form, albeit there had been clear signs of recovery under Robins in recent weeks with impressive wins against Luton and away to Middlebrough before a flat performance at home to Derby – a result that proved to be the last nail in the coffin, with Robins sacked the following morning.
“I think the biggest thing that could have got us out of control, and we’ll see how it all turns out, was if we just continued as we were and didn’t change anything and by Christmas got into a real pickle and out of control of the situation,” King told fans at this week’s forum, hosted by BBC CWR at the CBS Arena.
“Honestly, I don’t want to be in that situation where control is taken away from the football club and from me and what we have invested in it. And it can happen quickly.
“We saw that with Birmingham last year and that was a lesson in my eyes, with big owners with big plans. They make a few mistakes which they probably wish they hadn’t and they are now down in League One. They have deep pockets and they are doing what they’re doing. But the issue is, our footballers will not play in League One.”
Birmingham City’s owners sacked John Eustace as manager with the club in the Championship play-off places and replaced him with Wayne Rooney, who was also dismissed as the club’s form and league position plummeted. The Blues were eventually relegated after a third manager in Tony Mowbray was suddenly taken seriously ill and interim boss Gary Rowett failed to steer the club clear of the bottom three.
Discussion about this post