3 Mark Robins moments that Coventry City supporters will never ever forget | OneFootball

FLW looks back at some of Robins' best moments in charge of the Sky Blues

Mark Robins has been sacked as Coventry City manager, with a 2-1 home defeat to Derby County proving to be the final straw for the Sky Blues hierarchy.

The expectation levels at the CBS Arena have reached levels not seen in these parts for many years, as Robins guided and galvanised the club, his players and the supporters through a well-documented dark period in the club's history to within touching distance of a first Premier League stint since 2001 just two seasons ago.

Longevity has been a dying art in the modern game, but having been appointed initially for a second spell at the club back in March 2017 - a month before their first stint in League Two since 1959 was confirmed - City's transformation under the 54-year-old has been nothing short of remarkable.

With that being said, Football League World looks back at three particular moments in Robins' seven-and-a-half year tenure - spanning 386 games - that Coventry supporters will never forget following his departure.

3 Coventry City's rise back to the Championship

As referenced above, the landscape of the club in comparison to where it now finds itself is chalk and cheese, with the Sky Blues at one of their lowest ever points when Robins was reappointed on March 6th, 2017.

Despite suffering relegation into the fourth tier, some pride was restored as City defeated Oxford United 2-1 in the EFL Trophy final just weeks before, which saw them backed by an extraordinary 42,000 fans for the occasion.

The following season saw them eventually secure a play-off spot on the final day of the season, before dismantling Notts County 4-1 in the second-leg of the play-off semi-finals (5-2 on aggregate), and subsequently returning to League One after a 3-1 success over Exeter City in the final, courtesy of goals from Jordan Willis, Jordan Shipley and Jack Grimmer.

And, despite being plagued by further off-field issues, which saw the club once again moved out of CV6, this time to Birmingham City's St Andrew's, Robins would return the Sky Blues to the Championship for the first time since 2012 as League One champions in 2019/20, with the likes of Marko Marosi, Michael Rose, Liam Kelly and Matty Godden among others forming the strong spine of the side.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, City were crowned Champions on June 9th, 2020 with 67 points and an average of 86.71 points per game as the campaign was formally curtailed.

2 Coventry City's run to the Championship play-off final

After two seasons of consolidating in the Championship, which included a return to the CBS, Coventry would embark on a remarkable run to the play-off final, despite eventually falling short to fellow perennial 'underdogs', Luton Town.

Robins' side were plagued by inconsistency and the postponement of home outings against Rotherham United, Wigan Athletic, Huddersfield Town and West Bromwich Albion due to unplayable pitch conditions, leaving them firmly inside the relegation zone until a 1-0 home victory over Blackburn on November 1st, 2022.

Despite another inconsistent patch after the mid-season World Cup break, City would only lose two games from January 28th until the end of the season, rising from 13th place to an eventual fifth-place finish, which saw them take on Middlesbrough in the play-off semi-finals.

Gustavo Hamer and Viktor Gyokeres were the standout performers of the campaign - with the duo directly involved in 54 of City's 58 regular season goals - and the former of those sent City on their way to Wembley once again with a sublime finish from a tight angle at the Riverside Stadium.

Unfortunately for those of a Sky Blue persuasion, the Dutch-Brazilian's goal under the arch against Luton came to no avail, as Fankaty Dabo sent the deciding penalty in the shootout over the bar, consigning the club to another season of second tier football, as well as losing their key double act for a combined fee of approximately £35m upfront.

The West Midlands side's FA Cup pedigree has been well-documented, having won the competition back in 1987, but Robins and his partly new-look squad, following re-investment of the Gyokeres and Hamer fees, would embark on yet another memorable FA Cup run in 2024.

City saw off Oxford United in spectacular fashion in the Third Round, emerging 6-2 victors before eventually seeing off fellow Championship opposition in the form of Sheffield Wednesday via a replay, once again winning in some style with a 4-1 scoreline.

An Ellis Simms-inspired performance then saw City succeed where Ipswich Town previously failed, by defeating National League South outfit Maidstone United 5-0 on home turf, with the former Everton man netting a hat-trick in the process.

That set up a quarter-final with Premier League outfit Wolves at Molineux, which provided one of the games of the season.

Simms, who would go on to be the competition's joint-top scorer with six goals, bundled home from close range, before the hosts looked to have completely turned the game on it's head after 83rd and 88th-minute strikes from Rayan Ait-Nouri and Hugo Bueno.

However, Simms was once again on hand to head home from close range after Bobby Thomas' flick on after 97 minutes, just three minutes before Haji Wright's dramatic 100th-minute winner, with the American the calmest man inside Molineux to slot past Jose Sa and send the club into just it's second semi-final.

That, of course, saw the Championship side face off against Erik ten Hag's Manchester United, and it seemed as if dreams of emulating the class of 1987 were all-but dashed as the Red Devils found themselves comfortably 3-0 up on 58 minutes, before one of the most incredible storylines in the competitions' history unfolded.

Simms looked to have restored some form of pride with a well-taken 71st-minute strike. However, hope was well and truly restored when Callum O'Hare's deflected effort looped over Andre Onana just eight minutes later.

And, with just seconds to go, City were eventually awarded a spot-kick through Aaron Wan-Bissaka's handball, which Wright coolly slotted home.

It looked as if the most fairytale of scripts had been written when Victor Torp netted in the final minute of extra-time too, but the midfielder saw his finish ruled out controversially by VAR, before the eventual FA Cup winners scraped through 4-2 on penalties, with Rasmus Hojlund converting the decisive kick.