Robins is still in the early stages of his Stoke journey

IF you're looking for a point of reference, Mark Robins has been in charge of Stoke City for as long as Nathan Jones managed in 2019.

- Peter Smith

ON THE UP: Mark robins has got Stoke on an upward curve since taking on the job at the bet365 Stadium.

Jones is just one name on what felt like a conveyor belt back on New Year's Day when Robins was confirmed as the latest new man - and was told that it had been dubbed an impossible job. “We'll see,” he said.

Since Mark Hughes had been sacked after losing to Robins’ then-League Two Coventry in the FA Cup in early 2018, Paul Lambert, Gary Rowett, Jones, Michael O'Neill, Alex Neil, Steven Schumacher and Narcis Pelach had come and gone and only O'Neill was in charge for more than 67 games.

Some hit the end of the road quicker than others and Robins has already overseen more games than Lambert, Rowett, Schumacher and Pelach as Stoke have been unable to break a cycle of doom and escape the clutches of the Championship’s bottom half.

Sometimes it has looked like they might even exit the division the wrong way, as it did when Robins picked up the reins.

Stoke were 19th after a sombre Boxing Day defeat to Leeds United that proved the final straw for Pelach.

They picked up in two spirited games under caretaker Ryan Shawcross but it was extremely tight, the injury list was long and top scorer Tom Cannon would soon be recalled.