Pundit sends "knee-jerk" Mark Robins warning over "strange" Coventry City | OneFootball

George Elek of the Not the Top 20 podcast believes Mark Robins deserves time at Coventry City.

Leeds United totally outclassed Mark Robins and Coventry City at Elland Road, but EFL pundit George Elek hopes that the Sky Blues keep the faith with the long-serving manager.

Leeds dominated early on and had a Willy Gnonto strike to show for their first half showing. He slotted Firpo's pass high into the net with an excellent first-time finish and Leeds continued to pile the pressure on Coventry.

The away side failed to register a single attempt on Illan Meslier's goal during the first half and it was only a matter of time before Leeds grabbed the second they needed to ensure the points remained in West Yorkshire.

Jayden Bogle’s finish from Largie Ramazani's slipped ball through made it 2-0 soon after the interval.

Coventry never looked capable of staging a comeback, with Leeds adding an extra gloss to the scoreline with just over 10 minutes remaining when substitute Joel Piroe fired the ball home to make it three.

George Elek's Mark Robins verdict

Defeat leaves Coventry with just one win and two draws from their opening seven league games of the campaign. They are 21st in the league standings and have won just once in the last 13 Championship fixtures since defeating Leeds 2-1 back in April.

However, George Elek of the Not the Top 20 podcast believes that Robins is still the right man for the job, and has urged for Coventry fans to show some patience, he said: "Realistically, this was a complete mismatch, between two sides who probably shouldn't be miles apart.

"Coventry are confusing, at the moment.

"Where, of course, Callum O'Hare has moved on, which is a blow. But he was injured for a long time and they were pretty good without him and that didn't seem to matter too much.

"They've still got a lot of quality within their side. But, for Coventry to go to Leeds, and basically fail to register as an attacking threat for 75 minutes and be 3-0 down, is a big concern.

"With Robins, I don't see how someone can be the architect for over half a decade of consistent progress out of League Two and a penalty kick away from the Premier League, and then suddenly be the problem.

"I don't think that is how football works. That's not to say that if Coventry did part company with him that they wouldn't maybe bring in another manager that would kick them on.

"It seems like a very simple, quite basic way of looking at a football club and their lack of results and pointing the finger squarely at the manager.

"He's proven over time that he has a pretty good grip of this squad and is able to improve them.

"I personally wouldn't worry too much about him. If they're staring down the barrel of a relegation at the turn of the year, then that is probably when you think that we need to change something here.

"And I do think football is pretty cyclical, and sometimes managers come to a point of their career at a club where it gets stale and that can be when it's time to pull the plug.

"It feels strange that that would happen now with Robins and Coventry, especially with the quality of the players at his disposal.

"Away at Leeds, I would say, is the worst possible time to analyse or to have a knee-jerk moment to look at what is going wrong with the team, because Leeds at home will dominate most sides.

"I think Coventry fans have to retain the faith in Robins that he will be able to elevate their performance level to a level which will have them back winning games of football.

"Quite clearly right now, they are a long way off it."

Going winless in their final six matches of the 2023/24 campaign, and missing out on a play-off place by a considerable margin because of that, was an obvious blow. Their form is extremely poor spanning two seasons now, and that is a worrying record where many managers have been fired in the past for less.

However, under Robins, Coventry have proven to be a difficult outfit to face and often start slowly. The 54-year-old has also enjoyed a remarkable journey with the Sky Blues in recent years, guiding them from a League Two team to Championship promotion competitors.

Considering the off-field issues they suffered under their previous owners, even having to play their home games at other teams' stadiums, it would have been easy for Robins to have walked away. But he has consistently shown his loyalty to the cause, and although Coventry aren't in the best situation at this stage, the board should be fully behind him as he looks to turn things around in the Midlands.