One thing might convince Mark Robins to leave Stoke City for Norwich City | OneFootball

The current Stoke City boss has playing ties with the Canaries

Stoke City manager Mark Robins is a coach in demand if Norwich City decide to part ways with Liam Manning soon.

The former Bristol City boss is still in the Carrow Road dugout, but time is seemingly running out for him at his hometown club after a start to the campaign which has seen Norwich pick up just two wins in 10 Championship games, sitting two points above the bottom three.

Norwich's midweek trip to Pride Park to take on fellow early-season strugglers Derby County may prove telling for Manning. If his side slumps to a fourth consecutive defeat, the writing may be on the wall, and according to Graeme Bailey, Mark Robins is the first-choice replacement.

The Potters have had a brilliant start to the new Championship season, exceeding all pre-season expectations of yet another middling campaign, instead sitting third after 10 games. With Norwich 17 places below Stoke in the table, it seems far-fetched to think that Robins would take the move.

However, the 55-year-old boss does have previous links with the Carrow Road outfit during his playing days, and that may persuade him to make the move to Norfolk.

Mark Robins enjoyed fond memories playing at Norwich City

It is arguable that, despite the current Stoke boss playing his best football and scoring plenty of goals at Rotherham United, it was at Norwich where he had his most enjoyable moments as a player.

The former striker was promising in his early 20s, coming through the Manchester United academy, making 68 first-team appearances before being sold to Norwich in 1992. There, he was involved in the most successful domestic league side in the club's history.

The Canaries finished third in the Premier League in Robins' first season at the club, and he was the talisman for Mike Walker's side, playing in all but one game and scoring 14 goals. The club qualified for the UEFA Cup off the back of it, and the 1993/94 campaign remains the only season to date in which Norwich has played in Europe.

Unfortunately, injuries and being unfavoured by other managers meant that Robins wasn't able to build on the performances he exhibited in his debut campaign, but that one year is still one that resonates with some of the older Norwich fans.

It has been over 30 years since the current Stoke boss departed Carrow Road, but he may be persuaded to return as the man to help guide the club back into the Premier League, putting them in position to perhaps return to the heights they showed when he was playing there.

It wouldn't be abnormal for Mark Robins to take the Norwich City job

Whilst it may seem nonsensical for a manager to leave a club he is flying high at to take over one which isn't performing as well, it isn't uncommon in the Championship, especially if the manager has ties with the pursuing club.

In the past year, the division has seen John Eustace depart from a Blackburn Rovers side battling in the top six to help steer Derby, with whom he spent the final years of his playing career, from relegation.

Even Norwich themselves know what it's like to poach a manager from a better-performing club recently, too, as Liam Manning himself was persuaded to leave Bristol City following a play-off finish to join his hometown club, who had finished the same campaign in 13th.

Robins has made a name for himself recently as a manager who likes to take on a project, after bringing Coventry City from League Two all the way to the Championship play-off final and an FA Cup semi-final in his seven years at the club.

He may see Stoke as a project, too, as he aims to bring Premier League football to The bet365 Stadium for the first time since 2018. However, he could also see a return to Carrow Road as a move too good to turn down.