"Took us by surprise" - Coventry City: Ben Sheaf breaks silence on Mark Robins sacking | OneFootball

The Coventry City captain has spoken about Mark Robins' recent dismissal

Coventry City captain Ben Sheaf has broken his silence on the controversial dismissal of long-serving manager Mark Robins, who saw his seven-year association with the club brought to an abrupt end on Thursday morning.

The Sky Blues took the decision to part ways with Robins in the aftermath of an abject 2-1 home defeat to Derby County the previous evening, which continued an underwhelming opening to the 2024/25 Championship campaign.

Before the loss to Derby, Robins had won his previous two matches on the spin but was ultimately unable to lead the Sky Blues back up the table, with expectation and demand increasing following Doug King's purchase of the club in January 2023.

Coventry, of course, made it all the way to the Championship play-off final just months later, and fell just one penalty-kick short of a shock return to the Premier League as they were denied of promotion by Luton Town.

While they failed to stake quite the claim for promotion last season, they did embark upon a stunning run in the FA Cup which saw them push Manchester United right to the very end and overturn a three-goal deficit in a thriller of a semi-final on Wembley Way.

Reaching Wembley twice in as many years through the second-tier play-offs and then an FA Cup semi-final were undoubtedly the chief milestones of Robins' reign, made all the more remarkable by the fact he guided them up from League Two in the first place after joining for a second spell in 2017.

With an abundance of unprecedented success to accompany the mantle he had held of being the EFL's longest-serving manager prior to his sacking, Coventry's decision left supporters up and down the country in a state of shock, with King being lamented for dismissing the hugely-popular boss.

Ben Sheaf breaks silence on Coventry City's Mark Robins sacking

Sky Blues skipper Ben Sheaf, who was brought to the club from Arsenal and later made captain by Robins, broke his silence on the 54-year-old's sacking.

A virtual ever-present in the West Midlands for the last five seasons, Sheaf was absent through a foot injury on Saturday afternoon as Coventry mounted a late comeback from two goals down to claim a 2-2 draw at league leaders Sunderland under caretaker boss Rhys Carr, a result which has kept them in 17th place.

Nonetheless, he detailed his thoughts following the draw on Wearside and explained that the squad feel "responsible" for the decision which left them all shocked.

"It took us all by surprise, the gaffer has done an amazing job here,” Sheaf told BBC CWR.

"When things like that happen, you all feel responsible for it. The lads were fully backing the manager.

"It was a difficult week, but I’m glad we managed to get a result,” he said. "Things like this happen in football, we have just got to learn from it I guess and just try [to] kick on.

"It’s quite clear that I’ve grown a lot under him. I owe him a lot. I’m super grateful for what he has done for me. He [gave] me the armband. I’ve got nothing but good things to say. I wish him all the best.

"There is a lot of uncertainty about. You’ve just got to control what you can control until something happens or whoever is appointed is appointed. For the time being we are going to stay together, look after each other, that is all we can do."

The potential candidates to replace Mark Robins at Coventry City

As ever following a managerial dismissal, a host of names have reportedly emerged in contention to take the vacant hot-seat.

According to a recent report from Football Insider, Coventry are set to undertake discussions with ex-Chelsea, Everton and Derby County boss Frank Lampard, who is believed to have held unsuccessful talks with a number of Championship clubs in recent months.

Lampard, of course, possesses prior experience in the Championship promotion race after taking Derby County to the play-off final in 2019, although Sky Blues supporters generally do not seriously regard him as an upgrade on Robins.

Meanwhile, Football Insider's report also added that two current coaches currently plying their trade in the second-tier are under consideration, with Blackburn Rovers' John Eustace and Swansea City assistant manager Alan Sheehan both said to be on Coventry's radar, too.

Naturally, you would expect Coventry to source a permanent successor to the helm during the two-week international break which now awaits following this weekend's round of fixtures, and there will be extreme pressure on King to recruit the best replacement possible.