Coventry City are in a pretty poor position at the moment and have been one of the underachievers of the 2023/24 campaign thus far.

The Sky Blues may have expected to endure a bit of a blip at the start of this term for three reasons.

Firstly, there would have been a psychological impact from the play-off final against Luton Town, with Fankaty Dabo’s missed penalty proving to be the difference between the two sides in the end.

To get so close to winning it but blowing it on penalties would have been a real blow for them – and a hangover from that would have been expected.

As well as this, they lost two players during the summer: Viktor Gyokeres and Gustavo Hamer.

Coventry’s goal in the play-off final reinforces how important they were for the club before their departures to Sporting Lisbon and Sheffield United.

The third and final reason why Mark Robins’ side may have been expected to endure a slow start to 2023/24 is because they brought in quite a few players during the summer – and those players will have needed the opportunity to settle in.

But the Sky Blues wouldn’t have expected to still be struggling at this point, sitting in 20th place and just five points above the drop zone after yesterday’s 3-2 defeat against Preston North End.

Should Mark Robins’ Coventry City future be in doubt?

Coventry have been on the rise for much of Robins’ time in charge, rising from League Two to the top end of the Championship under his stewardship.

Managing to do extremely well despite off-field problems under SISU, with the club even playing a chunk of their home games away from the Coventry Building Society Arena, Robins deserves a lot of time to turn things around in the Midlands.

If they get to January and they are in the relegation zone, then you could understand it if owner Doug King makes a managerial change.

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Sometimes, a change is needed to freshen things up and that’s exactly what Bristol City and Millwall have done recently.

However, because he has proved to be a success at the CBS Arena in the past, you would back Robins to turn things around.

Out of respect for Sky Blues’ current boss, the club shouldn’t be lining up candidates to replace him yet, but one man could end up being a good Robins successor if they need to make a change.

Could John Eustace be the ideal fit for Coventry City if they make a managerial change?

According to the South London Press, John Eustace is believed to be settled in the Midlands at this point and that isn’t a surprise.

Firstly, he doesn’t need to take a job now because he will be getting compensation after being dismissed by Birmingham City last month, so he won’t be itching to get away from his current location.

As well as this, he has spent a decent chunk of his life in the Midlands, being born in Solihull playing for Coventry for a part of his career and also going on to play for Stoke City and Derby County.

Eustace could potentially be tempted to take on the Coventry job if he’s settled in his current location – and the fact he’s close to home could allow him to thrive in this role at the CBS Arena.

Already doing a good job at another club at this level before, he would be a good candidate for the Coventry job, especially as a man who knows them well already.

As a local and a former player, he will have been keeping a close eye on the Sky Blues, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if he ends up there at some point.

The great thing about Eustace is the fact he’s comfortable going with a back three and a back four, with that ability to switch things up likely to pay dividends if he comes in and they are still struggling.

Other Midlands teams like Derby and Stoke could potentially swoop in for him, but Paul Warne could turn things around at Pride Park and Alex Neil is getting the Potters back on trac