Manager/Coach Robbo to WBA

[Hackney Jack]

I will pay for his train fare for the interview. A single please ticket officer.

 

[Mad Dog]

That would be MApp

I would have Mapp back in a heartbeat, I think he’s that good.

But let’s be fair to Robbo, in the three full seasons he’s been here, he’s got us into the playoffs 2 seasons in a row, the final of one, and the quarterfinals of the League cup, thrashing a premiership club in the process.

He has done well. Very well in fact.

 

[Left Wing Cross]

‘Get the Oxford bloke, the one who did well’

*Denis Smith waits by phone*

 

[Wandering Yellow]

I'd be pretty delighted if Robbo left and we got paid a comp for him to be honest. I don't think he is the man to take us to the next level.

 

[Mad Dog]

I'd be pretty delighted if Robbo left and we got paid a comp for him to be honest. I don't think he is the man to take us to the next level.

I’m not sure I agree.

He’s got us to 2 consecutive playoffs, so he’s obviously capable of having success at this level.

It’s probably a similar scenario to Neil Warnock, who was very capable of getting teams promoted from the championship to the premiership, but could never keep them there, and take them any further.

I’m confident Robbo can get us up to the next level, but will he be able to keep us there, and take us even further?

Maybe not, time will tell...

 

[MJB]

*Denis Smith waits by phone*

He keeps that line free for the England job.

 

[Reynolds97]

The classic im not interested line when he knows its not on the cards. Same as the Birmingham rumour when he already knew his mate Bowyer had the job. I notice how he wasn't Oxford through and through when Blackpool were sniffing round for him.

 

[RyanioBirdio]

He’s got us to 2 consecutive playoffs, so he’s obviously capable of having success at this level.

Losing playoffs isn't success. He's lost four playoff campaigns as a manager now - he needs to learn to win them. He's had one promotion in 11 years and that ended with an immediate relegation. As it stands he's becoming a specialist in glorious defeat. Losing playoffs on repeat just means that you have a bit of extra excitement before you go back to the start of the ride. There is a huge difference between success and performing well. They are not the same thing.

This is probably why despite being such a well-known manager with a decent media profile, he's still managing in League One and has never been whisked away. The people whose money it is, or at least whose job it is to spend people's money, probably look at him and see someone who can get a bronze, MAYBE a silver at a push, but not a gold. Very stylishly won medals, granted, but the wrong colour. Clubs want gold medals - managers like Warnock get you those, even if you have to move him on afterwards. That's why he keeps getting jobs, because he's successful. He doesn't merely perform well: he wins.

Robinson needs to learn to win before he's a real contender for jobs above this level. If he gets us promoted in the next year or two then he would be best moving on while his stock is high on a selfish level. He didn't do that with MK and I think it was a mistake in terms of moving himself into the next bracket.

 

[DavidB]

Don’t think you can argue that he doesn’t care about the club. Think he works very hard and that seeing us through the pandemic has been excellent. Can’t be easy managing a club whose fans have expectations (some anyway) beyond the real world. Have a look at the Sunderland, Pompey, Ipswich, Charlton forums, much bigger clubs than us, that except Sunderland haven’t even made the playoffs .

 

[greatunclekip]

Brilliant post. Im not going to spend time analysing Robbo but the playoff balls up has once again identified him as an upper level league 1 manager. He doesnt have that extra bit to get us over the line.

Appy will manage in the Championship again. before Robbo. Wilder is in a different universe.

 

[werthersoriginal]

Brilliant post. Im not going to spend time analysing Robbo but the playoff balls up has once again identified him as an upper level league 1 manager. He doesnt have that extra bit to get us over the line.

Appy will manage in the Championship again. before Robbo. Wilder is in a different universe.

Yes you are probably right, though playoffs twice in a row plus players signed then sold for lots of profit and general profile raising of the club add up to a job pretty well done. I'm haunted by the spectacle of Bristol Rovers - about five managers in a year and now they're in Div 4 with Joey Barton in charge.

 

[Mad Dog]

Losing playoffs isn't success. He's lost four playoff campaigns as a manager now - he needs to learn to win them. He's had one promotion in 11 years and that ended with an immediate relegation. As it stands he's becoming a specialist in glorious defeat. Losing playoffs on repeat just means that you have a bit of extra excitement before you go back to the start of the ride. There is a huge difference between success and performing well. They are not the same thing.

This is probably why despite being such a well-known manager with a decent media profile, he's still managing in League One and has never been whisked away. The people whose money it is, or at least whose job it is to spend people's money, probably look at him and see someone who can get a bronze, MAYBE a silver at a push, but not a gold. Very stylishly won medals, granted, but the wrong colour. Clubs want gold medals - managers like Warnock get you those, even if you have to move him on afterwards. That's why he keeps getting jobs, because he's successful. He doesn't merely perform well: he wins.

Robinson needs to learn to win before he's a real contender for jobs above this level. If he gets us promoted in the next year or two then he would be best moving on while his stock is high on a selfish level. He didn't do that with MK and I think it was a mistake in terms of moving himself into the next bracket.

I was referring to Robbo being the league one equivalent of Neil Warnock!

He’s done well to get us to two playoffs, and yes, he needs to learn from his mistakes, in order to to go one better next season, but he has done well, and he has done it before.

While I agree he may not be the man to take us to the next level, or certainly not to keep us at the next level and beyond, he’s not a failure, and has been one of the best managers we’ve had in the last 30 odd years, and deserves a bit more credit than he gets.

 

[horseman]

it's very clear some don't like KR but i don't see a name put forward that could do the job and want to come here

Also all the fawning over Blackpool all last week you'd think they were going to win the prem and Champions League instead of beat a shite team full of bottlers with a shite manager.

 

[Junior_1]

Whatever Blackpool are - they beat us with ease.

Robinson is a middle of the road lower league manager.

Nothing more nothing less.

Credit for his doings away from the first team, he’s gone beyond his job title in that respect but that shouldn’t hold him ground on the main thing he’s employed for.

Also I don’t get why he’s invited to speak on the first fans council meeting this week.

Again, above his remit that is first team head coach - manager.

 

[werthersoriginal]

Whatever Blackpool are - they beat us with ease.

Robinson is a middle of the road lower league manager.

Nothing more nothing less.

Credit for his doings away from the first team, he’s gone beyond his job title in that respect but that shouldn’t hold him ground on the main thing he’s employed for.

Also I don’t get why he’s invited to speak on the first fans council meeting this week.

Again, above his remit that is first team head coach - manager.

A middle of the road lower league manager who got us into the playoffs twice in a row ahead of bigger teams like Charlton, Ipswich, and Sunderland last year? That's a bit churlish. Aren't you the one who doesn't like people from Liverpool, for some reason?

 

[Followtheox1]

Also I don’t get why he’s invited to speak on the first fans council meeting this week.

Again, above his remit that is first team head coach - manager.

Eh, because he is the manager of the first team for the club that council is representing. I'm sure board members will also come at some point too but seems entirely appropriate for the manager to speak. Who do you want to come and speak, the kit man?

 

[Brahma]

A middle of the road manager? What a load of old pony.

He's been more than a manager at this football club. He has been the only person to converse with the supporters when things were going financially pear shaped. He was the only person to converse with the fan base when we were having a fortnightly HMRC crisis. He has changed the ethos of the club and has a huge significant influence on mental health across all areas of the football club. He is genuinely interested and promotes youth, we have had a decent conveyor belt of youth coming through into this first team squad over a period of time. He has got this club into the play-offs, twice. He has nurtured players to turn healthy profits for a loss making football club.

He's a little more than a middle of the road lower league manager.

 

[Junior_1]

Again all is very well. However why’s he doing all that?

Is there a motive? Wouldn’t like to think so but others will say different.

Where’s the person at the club who’s solely employed to act in that role?

What’s McWilliams doing? What’s Chris Williams doing? What’s Andy Taylor doing? How about Rhodes Browne? Again, where does he fit?

On the field, two play offs defeats is admirable if you take it as just that.

As pointed out above, it’s the latest in a number of failures. When will it stop being down to the other teams are better and he/we were just unlucky.

We are a bit hitter in this league, our agent fees alone suggest this.

Of those who missed out on the playoffs - Ipswich are and still maybe a basket case. Charlton switched managers mid to late season.
Portsmouth if they didn’t bow to supporter pressure and thinking like Sunderland that they should be PL and stayed with Kenny Jackett would have made the playoffs. Their blow was unbelievable.

Like it or not. Robinson will be in charge next season. Let’s hope he’s learned on all fronts del. these last two campaigns and puts the changes in to place that he’s already speaking about and we can start like we finished (Blackpool aside)

Pre season on and off the pitch will be key.

Get the targets identified and in the building ASAP and also sort out the pre season in regards to matches and the programme the players have as clearly it’s not worked for two seasons now resulting in us playing catch up and also barely catching those who had a flyer, up.

 

[Junior_1]

A middle of the road manager? What a load of old pony.

He's been more than a manager at this football club. He has been the only person to converse with the supporters when things were going financially pear shaped. He was the only person to converse with the fan base when we were having a fortnightly HMRC crisis. He has changed the ethos of the club and has a huge significant influence on mental health across all areas of the football club. He is genuinely interested and promotes youth, we have had a decent conveyor belt of youth coming through into this first team squad over a period of time. He has got this club into the play-offs, twice. He has nurtured players to turn healthy profits for a loss making football club.

He's a little more than a middle of the road lower league manager.

And also, his record as Ryan pointed out, suggests otherwise.

 

[Paul Cannell]

He is genuinely interested and promotes youth, we have had a decent conveyor belt of youth coming through into this first team squad over a period of time.

Jack Stevens. Apart from Stevens are there any academy players who have become a fixture in the first team during Robinson's tenure? (Long and Ruffels debuted in or before 2015 and were both established players when he arrived)

I can think of several who make a debut, are the bigged up by Robbo and disappear shortly after (Lopez, Jones, L-CP...) Napa's the only one I can think of and he made 14 appearances.

If I'm not wrong the academy is either not performing or Robbo's not brought a single player through.