Sacked Coventry City manager Mark Robins called it “a humbling experience” as he returned to the city to pick up an honorary degree just two weeks after being let go by the Championship club.
After almost eight years as Sky Blues boss, at a time of great stress and great change for the former Premier League club, Robins inspired four trips to Wembley and two promotions.
And yet the reward of a degree to honour all that hard work and success, handed out by Coventry University, came just a fortnight to the day since he was handed his P45 by Coventry City owner Doug King.
“This honour came out of left field a few weeks ago,” Robins told BBC CWR. “And to be back in Coventry such a short time time after losing my job was something I hadn’t contemplated.
“But it has been a humbling experience. There are hundreds of people here who have just picked up their degrees and worked really hard for them. And that is why it feels so very, very humbling.
“It’s been an emotional day but then it’s been an emotional few weeks.”
In his first interview since leaving the Sky Blues, the 54-year-old former Rotherham United, Barnsley, Huddersfield Town and Scunthorpe United manager preferred not to speculate at where and when he might pop up next, but he did admit that his recent experience “had lit a fire in him”.
‘Fans the lifeblood of any club’
Robins admits that, proud as he was to receive the award, it was a shared honour with all who have supported the former Manchester United striker in his most successful time as a football manager.
“I’m delighted to get this in recognition of all the hard work that has gone in over the last nearly eight years,” he said.
“Everybody has played their part. The players, the staff, the supporters. In fact, mostly the supporters. The lifeblood of any football club.
“The journey that everybody has been on has been an immense one.
“I’ve loved every minute of it and, if I could do it all over again, I would.
“The fact is we’ve had some brilliant moments. The supporters have played a special part in that and I can’t thank them enough. Without the fans behind you, you can’t achieve anything – and they’ve been magnificent.”
Robins also paid homage to the man he had at his back for five years at Coventry, ex-chief executive Dave Boddy, who left the club in January, by inviting him as his guest at the degree ceremony.
“We’ve kept in touch and will continue to do that,” added Robins. “Dave Boddy was brilliant for the football club, brilliant for me and he’s a brilliant human being. It was good to spend time with him and have a catch-up.”
Although the Coventry players are understood to have been asked not to go on social media over the past fortnight, Robins has been grateful for their private sentiments.
“The players have contacted me independently,” he said. “They just need a bit of time to settle down. Things have changed and everybody moves on.
“It’s something that, over time, you come to terms with. Whenever you lose your job it’s tough. The fact that I’ve been here so long makes it even tougher but, in football management, you know sooner or later it’s going to end.
“Whilst it was sooner than I wanted, at the end of the day, it is what it is.
“I left school at 16. I’m not an academic. So, to get this bestowed on me is really special. I’m not sure about the hat though.”
Mark Robins was talking to BBC CWR’s Clive Eakin