Rob Edwards appointed Wolves head coach on three-and-a-half-year deal after leaving Middlesbrough
Wolves have appointed Rob Edwards as their new head coach after he left Middlesbrough to join the Premier League’s bottom side.
Edwards has signed a three-and-a-half-year deal at Molineux.
The 42-year-old had been in talks with Wolves since Saturday after he was stood down from Boro’s Championship game against Birmingham and was given permission to speak to Wolves.
Middlesbrough stand to make somewhere in the region of £3m to £4m in compensation.
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Edwards takes over a side winless in the Premier League on just two points following Saturday’s 3-0 defeat at Chelsea, which has left them eight points from safety.
He will be joined by Harry Watling, who also moves from Middlesbrough, and takes on the role of assistant head coach with more backroom staff to be confirmed in the near future.
Boro had initially turned down an approach from Wolves for Edwards, having only hired him in June, but he missed Friday’s training session and pre-match press conference before the club agreed to let him speak with his former club.
Sky Sports News reported Edwards was a candidate for the Wolves role after Vitor Pereira was sacked on November 2 following a 10-game winless start to the Premier League season.
Edwards has a history with Wolves, having made over 100 appearances for them during his time there as a player from 2004 to 2008.
The ex-Luton Town boss was part of the club’s coaching staff, working with the U18s in 2014 before being promoted to a coaching role with the first team in 2015. He later became head coach of the U23s in 2019, a position he held before joining Forest Green Rovers in 2021.
Wolves chairman: ‘Entire club needs refresh under Edwards’
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Wolves executive chairman Jeff Shi says the entire club needs to be refreshed with the philosophy of Edwards.
Shi said: “I know Rob very well and I have seen his growth in different jobs. He’s a very good person, he knows the club very well, he knows the city, the fans and he is very talented. When he was a youth coach here, he showed his tactical awareness, but after he took first-team jobs he started to grow his own identity, character and leadership.
“We need to refresh the whole club with a new coach’s philosophy, bringing his own identity and ideas, and we can build on that. We are at a new chapter for the club and Rob will be a key piece of that.”
Matt Jackson, Wolves’ head of professional football development, said: “Rob and his staff have demonstrated previously that they can be really good in shifting the culture, getting confidence quickly into players and building foundations for a really positive future. He loves being on the grass and making a change to a team, embracing the tactics of different situations.
“The energy that he brings off the field, we have to get it on to the pitch. We have to be realistic about where we are, and we definitely need to be held accountable. We now need to get that belief into the players quickly and think Rob will be great culturally for the whole football club.”
Meanwhile, Boro revealed Edwards had “made it clear” he wanted to depart the club for Wolves.
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A statement read: “Middlesbrough FC can confirm that Rob Edwards has now officially resigned his post as head coach after agreeing a contract with Wolves.
“Rob had signed a three-year contract with ourselves during the summer, but after he made it clear he was keen to join Wolves, we reluctantly agreed a figure of compensation for both himself and one of his first team coaches, Harry Watling.”
O’Neil: Wolves need major reset
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Former Wolves manager Gary O’Neil explained to David Jones on Saturday Night Football why he decided against returning to Molineux to replace Vitor Pereira
Former Wolves manager Gary O’Neil believes that Edwards will have to oversee a major reset to get the club back on track.
O’Neil held talks about a return to Molineux but opted to withdraw from the running.
“I think it’s an interesting transition that they’ve gone through,” O’Neil told Sky Sports.
“Obviously, they’ve lost big players in the windows just gone. But they spent a lot in the last summer window. They backed Vitor [Pereira].
“So far, this team that they’ve put together has not been able to put results on the board. They’re in a transition period from the group that we had. A more physical group that maybe weren’t as technical. It’s going to need a big reset.
“Rob [Edwards] has already been in a great job at Middlesbrough so he must see something in this that gives him a good opportunity to work with this group and give them a chance to stay up in the second half of the season.”
Why Wolves for Edwards?
Rob Edwards is back in the Premier League with Wolves
Sky Sports’ Adam Bate:
Edwards leaving a Middlesbrough team in the Championship’s automatic promotion places for a Wolves side without a win in 11 Premier League games might seem difficult to explain. Boro are shorter odds to be in the top division next season.
Edwards garnered much admiration for his handling of some emotional challenges at Luton as they made an impressive fist of their season in the top flight. He had been rebuilding his reputation in the North East after being unable to arrest Luton’s slide.
That goodwill from the wider public may evaporate following this controversial move but his connections to Wolves are deep-rooted.
It is not just the century of appearances that he made for the club as a player after joining as a 21-year-old from Aston Villa. Edwards took his first coaching steps at Molineux, serving on the staff of Kenny Jackett, Walter Zenga and Paul Lambert – even taking charge of two games as interim manager in 2006. He has family in the area, having grown up in the Midlands. It is still home.
And managers do tend to back themselves.
Despite Wolves’ predicament, he will see a squad full of international players who just need some organisation and confidence. For now, it remains a Premier League opportunity. And those are very difficult to turn down.
Edwards leaves a sour taste for Boro fans
Sky Sports EFL Editor Simeon Gholam:
Even in the short time he spent at the club, it felt like Rob Edwards had done a lot to unite and win over the fan base. Good results and a brilliant start helped, naturally, but it was also his character and persona that won over the Middlesbrough support – meaning his departure has left an extra sour taste.
One moment in particular springs to mind. Back in September, after fans ironically cheered the substitution of Morgan Whittaker, Edwards was quick to clap back. “We’re a family”, he said. “If we’re going to progress and move forward, then us, the staff, the players and the fans, all of us, we’ve got to be together”.
If you are going to position yourself like that as a manager, you are inevitably going to open yourself to criticism when your actions don’t match your words. And it is words like those that can quickly come back to bite you in football.
Boro owner Steve Gibson may also feel aggrieved, having given Edwards the opportunity to rebuild his reputation after the disappointing end to his spell at Luton Town. The club are second in the Championship, rebuilding well, and there is a real opportunity there to push on and get promotion after eight years away from the Premier League.
This campaign feels like one of the most wide open in years. Of the current top six, the most recent club to have featured in the top flight are Stoke – who were relegated a year after Boro back in 2018.
Beating an in-form Birmingham last time out without Edwards showed the character, resolve and quality within the squad. And the opportunity remains for someone to come in and steer the club forward. It is an attractive proposition for anyone with them so well-placed. But the loss of their leader and the feel-good factor that was building is undoubtedly a massive blow.
Wolves’ upcoming fixtures…
- November 22: Crystal Palace (h) – Premier League, kick-off 3pm
- November 30: Aston Villa (a) – Premier League, kick-off 2.05pm, live on Sky Sports
- December 3: Nottingham Forest (h) – Premier League, kick-off 7.30pm, live on Sky Sports
- December 8: Man Utd (h) – Premier League, kick-off 8pm, live on Sky Sports
- December 13: Arsenal (a) – Premier League, kick-off 8pm
