After being unveiled as Wolves’ new head coach, Rob Edwards revealed taking over the Molineux hotseat was one he has always had his heart set on – despite the team’s current predicament.
The former Old Gold defender, coach and interim head coach signed a three-and-a-half-year deal this week as he returned to the club he first joined as a player 21 years ago.
But with the difficult task ahead of keeping the club currently sat bottom of the table with just two points from their opening 11 games in the Premier League, Edwards has issued a rallying cry to the Old Gold supporters and his players; calling for everyone to pull in the same direction ahead of his opening match in charge against Crystal Palace next weekend.
On returning to Wolves
“It means a lot. This club’s really special. It’s special anyway, but it’s special to me because it’s where I’ve spent most of my professional career and where I played most of my football.
“Then to have done a lot of the roles that I’ve done, I’ve got to be honest, this job was always my aim. This is the dream.
“I know the situation that we’re in right now, but this is just something that I’ve always wanted, and I’m ready for it. I’m ready for the challenge, I’m up for it, and it’s been great getting around everybody, seeing so many faces that I know, and new faces as well.
“The staff are all up for it and we’ll meet the players next week when everyone arrives back, and I know the lads will be as well.”
On the advantages of knowing the club
“It does help. I know my way around, and it almost feels like I’ve not been away. But there’s a new group of players to get to know, and they’re now the biggest focus and the most important thing, because they’re the ones that go over that white line and do it.
“That’ll be a real focus for us going forward over the coming weeks, because we’ve got to try and get up to speed really quickly, try and get our message across really quickly, and get the by-in straight away.
“The familiar surroundings and the familiar people help, but in the end, it’s about the work that we do going forward and going forward with the lads. That’s going to be really important.”
On confidence in turning the season around
“Jeff talked to me about a reset moment. It’s an opportunity for us now and I know we’re in a difficult spot, but there are still 27 games to go, so there’s an opportunity here for us to do something really special, and that appeals to me.
“I’ve always been a risk taker and I’ve always wanted this job, and you don’t know if it’s ever going to come along again, and the opportunity was there right now. It’s going to be difficult, but there’s an opportunity for us to maintain our Premier League status this year and then grow and continue to grow and build as well.
“It’s not quite gone our way so far this season, but that has got to be done. Now, it’s about moving forward and what we can do to affect it, and that’s working incredibly hard, leaving it all out there to try and drag our way out of it.
“Short-term, that’s got to be our aim; we’ve got to try and find results, and in the long-term, let’s look to try and build something again, build on our identity and a connection with everybody again. Those have been the conversations and I’m just relishing the opportunity.”
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On getting straight to work
“We’ll be in every day, and as the lads come back, we’ll be able to get working with them. This bit's good in a way because we can get our feet under the table, we can get planning, and we can get to see the staff, and get our way across to the staff, but we’re not going to see the players so much.
“We’re going to come up against a real well-oiled team [in Crystal Palace] who have been doing the same thing for a long time under the same manager. They’ve done great and we won’t have had that long to work together, but that’s no excuse. We’ve got to hit the ground running.
“We’ll get some clarity to the players, try and keep things as simple as possible, because we’re only going to have a day with some of them, and that’s going to be the most important thing coming up for this game.
“Then the week after, the build up to Villa, we have a full week and we can really get to know and to work with the whole group, and that will help, but we’ll get working with the group as quickly as possible.”
On bringing everyone together
“We’ve been close in games, there’s been nearly moments, but there’s been late goals conceded and that’s affected things and snowballed a little bit. We need to quite quickly get some belief and some confidence injected back into the group.
“What’s going to help us move forward now is everyone pulling in the same direction. If everyone can see total effort, us leaving it all out there, playing for the badge, playing for pride and showing commitment and effort and spirit, fight and determination; if we can do that, then I think everyone will be able to get on board.
“Unfortunately, we haven’t got a magic wand and we can’t guarantee results straight away, but a non-negotiable for me, and what every supporter wants to see, is effort and hard work and total commitment. We’ve got to leave it all out there. It’s got to look like it means more to us than the opposition and that’ll be our message to the players.
“When we’re out on the pitch, we need 11 leaders, and then whoever’s around it – in the squad, not even involved – we’re going to need everyone to back the group that are on the pitch at that moment. We’re going to need everyone to show leadership qualities, to show belief and character.
“I totally believe in what we can achieve, and we need to transmit that to the players as well because there’s enough quality here. Some things have gone against us, but we’ve got to draw a line under that, learn from some of it, but now we look at what’s ahead of us because I believe in the group.”
On the part supporters can play
“I get the frustrations because we’ve not won for a long time. Supporters will travel a long way, they spend a lot of money, and they want to support the team, they want to see the team win and be successful. They only want the team to be successful – that’s it.
“But if we’re going to move forward and we’re going to get ourselves out of this, the only way to do that is to try and back the players. It’s not going to be perfect because we’re human beings and we’ll make mistakes, but as long as they see the players reacting really well and in the right way, then at least we can get behind that.
“Let’s really get behind everyone, get behind the players, because they’re the ones that have got to go and do it in the end, and that will really help. Bring the noise, bring the support to the lads, then we’ve got our job to do because we need to see total commitment from the players and a real desire to try and get ourselves out of this situation.”
