Norwich come up against a Coventry side this weekend, managed by someone I know very well – and have done for many years.

Mark Robins and I have a couple of things in common: first off, and let's get one thing right here - I'm Robbo number one and he’s Robbo number two!

I first got to know him when he signed for Leicester for Martin O'Neill - it was my final season there. We played up front together and we hit it off straight away, off the pitch as well as on it. He’s a great bloke.

In 1988, then Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson was close to getting the sack - and probably in today’s game he would have done. But it took a winning goal by Robbo in an FA Cup third round game at Nottingham Forest to keep him in his job… the rest is history.

Robbo was a finisher, he was a great finisher in training. He struggled in his first few months at Leicester, the crowd never quite took to him. He wasn't one of these players who would go chasing about, he wasn't physically the strongest, but he had a great first touch - you put the ball in the box and he’d get you goals.

Famously, of course, he scored two goals on his Norwich debut against Arsenal at Highbury – when City came from behind to win 4-2 on the opening day of the first ever Premier League season, in 1992.

He’s just a good lad - l did my A licence coaching badge with him in Aberystwyth. There were about 10 ex pros on there, including Paul Jewell, and maybe another 10 people who have paid to go on the course. For the last two days of the week you get a subject to coach for 20 minutes, so you take your team and coach for 20 minutes and then you get assessed. That's hard work.

By 3pm on the Friday we’re absolutely knackered and the last two people to put their sessions on was Robbo and then Paul Jewell, who put an unbelievable session on. It was the best session of all of of the two days – but Robbo’s wasn’t far off. He had no experience at the time but you could tell he had an aura about him.

It wasn't my cup of tea, I was never that passionate about it and I hated sitting in lectures for three hours problem solving. Robbo helped me through it, he sat down with me and helped me fill the coaching books that had to be filled before the end of the week. If it wasn't for him, there is no way on this planet I would have finished that first week.

It was way out of my comfort zone but Robbo was magnificent, so I'm not surprised he has gone on to do as well as he has done. I think he has had to scrap and fight for everything that he's achieved in his coaching career – every club he’s been at he been up against it. He's had to beg, he's had to borrow, it's not as if he's had a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. He's used his contacts well, and that's the thing about Robbo, he's a good lad and he will have a lot of mates in the game.

Honestly, the times over the last few years I've been going up to the Coventry stadium – the parking’s not brilliant there and I've sent him a little text – ‘hello, mate, is there any chance of a car parking spacer’ and straight away I get, ‘Robbo, go to this place and your name will be down on the list’.

I can't say enough good words about him.

Coventry have had some well-documented difficult times in recent years, playing at different grounds and then having pitch problems at their actual own ground  - and to think with all the problems that he's, he was within a penalty kick of getting the club promoted to the Premier League.

What he's achieved with them without spending is amazing. This season they started slowly, they only won one in eight, and that was against Middlesbrough, who had a shocking start, and that didn't surprise me because it was a little bit of hangover from what happened in May.

You lose your main scorer in Viktor Gyokeres, who went to Sporting Lisbon, and then on the eve of the season starting, Sheffield United signed Gustavo Hamer, for me one of the best midfielders I saw in the division last season. So he's always having to put out fires.

But that's what he's used to, that's what he's done throughout his coaching career and after having that poor start, they've now not lost in 10. Not many teams out-possess Leicester – they went to Coventry a couple of weeks ago and got turned over 3-1.

Coventry have got an energy about them. They work their absolute socks off. They close down, they hunt in packs, they're pacey, they're physically strong. I think they're a really good side.

I don’t think Robbo will prepare them to come to Norwich and do what eight out of 10 teams do – defend deep, get men behind the ball, camp in our own half and see if we can frustrate them. They will come and have a go - that's the way his teams play.

 

Gulf in class

I don’t think Norwich’s FA Cup defeat at Liverpool will have any effects on this weekend’s game.

I don't think there's too many Norwich supporters who expected the club to go up there and cause a massive upset. We saw one massive upset last weekend when Maidstone went to Portman Road  and won. But had Norwich gone to Anfield and won, that might have emulated what Maidstone did.

I think you had to enjoy the experience, enjoy the two goals they scored. I’m sure Ben Gibson will have enjoyed scoring at the Kop end.

What did strike me in the third round games was the gulf between the Premier League and the Championship teams. Everybody was looking forward to Tyne-Wea derby, but Newcastle never got out of second gear, and brushed Sunderland aside 3-0.

I was at Bournemouth v Swansea – Bournemouth were 3-0 up after 14 minutes, 5-0 up at half-time. It's lucky that Bournemouth went from seventh gear to reverse, otherwise it could honestly have been double figures.

Obviously there was Liverpool-Norwich, when Jurgen Klopp made a lot of changes and it was still comfortable. And the Black Country derby on Sunday – West Brom, a very good side at home, very hard to beat at home but Wolves never needed to get out of second gear and won easily.

Wide open

It’s wide open for the remaining places in the play-offs – the top four spots are gone to Leicester, Ipswich, Southampton and Leeds.

I think there are nine or 10 teams fighting for those remaining two places, and Coventry are absolutely in the mix. They’ve got as good as chances as anybody. They’ve got over that disappointing start, they've got loads of momentum and Tuesday night’s game at home to Bristol City is a case in point - they went 2-1 behind late on but managed to get an equaliser – they've got that belief that they can get something and who knows, that could be a massive point for them come the end of the season. They've got a togetherness about them, and a really good spirit.