Rob Edwards has embraced the challenging mission of guiding Wolverhampton Wanderers to Premier League safety, having agreed to take over as manager from Vitor Pereira at Molineux.

Edwards made the decision to leave Middlesbrough after a brief tenure of fewer than five months to return to Wolves, a club where he previously spent four years playing and six years coaching.

The 42-year-old has committed to a three-and-a-half-year contract with the team.

Edwards steps into a tense environment at Wolves, where many fans have grown disillusioned with the club’s owners, Fosun, and executive chairman Jeff Shi, and are bracing themselves for the prospect of relegation.

Edwards’ career pinnacle came in 2023 when he led Luton Town to the Premier League. Despite their subsequent relegation, the team put up a valiant fight throughout much of the season. However, the following campaign turned difficult, leading to Edwards’ dismissal and the club’s second straight relegation after his departure.

Edwards is back in the Premier League after joining Wolves on a three-and-a-half-year deal

Edwards has left Middlesbrough after just 15 games in the job – to the ire of their supporters

Jeff Shi remarked, “I know Rob very well and have observed his development in various roles. He is a good person who understands the club, the city, and the fans, and he possesses considerable talent.”

‘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.’

He had made a strong start at Middlesbrough, who collected about £3m compensation when he left, but opted to return to the West Midlands, where he and his family have strong links. 

Edwards will be joined at Wolves by Harry Watling, who takes on the role of assistant head coach and also leaves Boro.

After the manager was stood down from the club’s game at Birmingham City last weekend, fans held banners in the away end reading ‘Rob Edwards you rat!’

He leaves the North Yorkshire club after taking charge of a mere 15 games. 

In a statement released on Wednesday afternoon, Boro made a thinly-veiled dig at their departing boss.  

Edwards made some 111 appearances for Wolves over a four-year period as a player

He replaces Vitor Pereira, who was sacked after a dismal start to the season

‘Rob had signed a three-year contract with ourselves during the summer,’ it read. ‘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. 

‘On Saturday the Riverside came together as one, players, staff and supporters, and you could the sense of unity which is at the core of the club. To everyone involved, we would like to say thank you.’ 

The Welshman returns to the club where he made 111 appearances across four seasons as a player between 2004 and 2008, most notably as a centre-back under Mick McCarthy.

But it was also in the Black Country where Edwards got his first taste of coaching, taking charge of the club on an interim basis in 2016 after the sacking of Walter Zenga.

He replaces Vitor Pereira, who was dismissed a couple of weeks ago after presiding over a dismal and winless start to the season. His final match in charge came at Fulham, one which Wolves lost 3-0 just a week after tensions boiled over in the west Midlands following a 3-2 home defeat by Burnley. 

Wolves sit winless and bottom of the Premier League table after their opening 11 games

Edwards’ first four fixtures at the helm will be against Palace, Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest and Man United – games which will be crucial in determining whether Wolves can climb out of the relegation zone. 

In the last 10 seasons, of the 37 managers who have parted ways with a club in the bottom three, just 13 have managed to stay in the league.

Upon Edwards’ appointment, Wolves’ director of player recruitment and development Matt Jackson 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.’