"Don't have a meltdown" - Doug King confirms timeline for Coventry City manager hunt | OneFootball

Doug King provided an update on Coventry City's managerial search after the dismissal of Mark Robins

Coventry City owner Doug King has urged supporters against having a "meltdown", should their current managerial search in a bid to replace Mark Robins exceed its expected timeline.

King, who assumed ownership of the Sky Blues in January 2023, made the biggest and most divisive call of his tenure to date less than a week ago by parting ways with Robins. The former Manchester United striker represented the EFL's longest-serving manager prior to his dismissal, having been in charge of Coventry for seven-and-a-half successful years.

After returning for his second spell in 2017, Robins guided Coventry from League Two all the way to a Championship play-off final and an FA Cup semi-final within twelve months of each other, with the Sky Blues ultimately undone on Wembley Way by virtue of penalty-kicks on both occasions.

Widely regarded as a modern-day legend at the CBS Arena, Robins failed to get Coventry off the ground in the 2024/25 Championship campaign despite ambitions of promotion and the requisite summer investment to support that objective, and they were left 17th in the division when he was relieved of his duties on Thursday morning following a 2-1 home defeat to Derby County.

Rhys Carr stepped in as caretaker for Coventry's final match before the international break, where they clawed back a two-goal defecit to claim an impressive 2-2 draw away to league leaders Sunderland on Saturday, but there's plenty of talk about who will take the job on a permanent basis and King has now provided a timeline of when that could happen.

Doug King provides potential timeline in Coventry City manager hunt

King faced supporters and the media for the first time since the sacking of Robins in Monday evening's fan forum, where he answered a range of questions regarding the decision to sack Robins and the protocol which will now be undertaken to appoint his successor at the club.

Amid myriad reports linking a wide range of names to the job, King was asked about how imminent a new appointment would be, and he's seemingly willing to play the waiting game in order to maximise their chances of hitting success with the next prospective manager.

When quizzed on the matter, King said: "I dont want to make a mistake. I have seen how well Rhys handled Saturday. We would hope to get somene in place within ten days but don't have a meltdown if not because we want to get it right."

Coventry City supporters will want a Mark Robins replacement ASAP

Although patience is often the best approach in regard to hiring managers, sacking Robins without a replacement readily available and waiting in the wings isn't exactly an ideal state of play for King, who needs to get the supporters back onside as soon as possible.

The international break, of course, is the perfect opportunity to bring in the new manager, and you can imagine there would be plenty of frustration if Coventry return to league action without a permanent boss in place.

The Sky Blues have received no shortage of interest in the vacancy, with reports revealing that they've already had between 60-80 applicants including Frank Lampard, who has been the bookmaker's favourite to take over, but seemingly doesn't fit the mold of the head coach in which King appears to be looking to appoint.

It'll be interesting to see which direction Coventry's managerial hunt takes in the immediate future, and supporters will be hoping it doesn't drag out for too long.