The Coventry City dugout in 2016/17 chewed through three managers in a single season — Tony Mowbray sacked on 29 September, Russell Slade in and out by 5 March, and Mark Robins walking back in on 6 March, four years after he'd left for what looked like a better job. Three P45s and one relegation to League Two, delivered by committee. Compare that to 1986/87, where John Sillett sat in the same chair for the full season and walked out of Wembley with the FA Cup.

This week Danny and Sarah ask what changed between Sillett's chair and the cursed dugout of 2016/17 — and whether Mark Robins, the only manager in that cycle who'd actually been at the club before, was the first man to walk back in knowing exactly what he was walking into.

Plus: the "babies in a man's league" quote, the scarf photograph, Marcus Tudgay's quietly honest last season, Trevor Peake as the senior pro who didn't need managing, Bigirimana's 11th-minute opener and George Thomas's 55th against Oxford at Wembley on 2 April 2017, and a letter from T in Earlsdon on what managerial faith fatigue actually feels like. Stability at the top vs. churn at the top: Thatcher's third term in June 1987, and Theresa May triggering Article 50 four days before the EFL Trophy Final.

Next week: Coventry vs Leeds, FA Cup semi-final, Hillsborough, 12 April 1987. One-nil down after fourteen minutes. One of the great Coventry stories nobody outside Coventry knows.

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In this episode

Featuring:

Sources & credits Wikipedia (1986/87 and 2016/17 Coventry City season pages, manager pages, 2017 EFL Trophy Final), The Guardian archive, and Perplexity AI for narrative scaffolding. Hosted on Microsoft Azure; AI pipeline supported by the Google Founder Programme. Show notes, transcripts and the full archive: skybluetimemachine.com