Wolverhampton Wanderers

Geoff Doyle
BBC Three Counties Radio sports editors editor

Image source, Getty Images

The first thing to say about Rob Edwards is that the players will get on with him. He is a very good man-manager and players enjoy playing for him. He fosters good relationships and builds a rapport with his team.

When Edwards took over at Luton Town, the team were just outside the Championship play-offs and going along quite nicely. Edwards was shrewd enough not to change too much with "tweaks", as he called them, here and there. He gave Luton fans their best experience for decades in the play-off final win and took them into the Premier League for the first time.

In the top flight, Edwards very quickly worked out that playing defensively and passively was not going to work. He switched tactics after a couple of months and went bold, aggressive and attacking. It is why Luton won so many plaudits despite their relegation.

They gave it a real go and gave a fright to Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City along the way.

Their spirit and belief was strong, but Edwards also got Luton playing. You don't score four against Newcastle and Brighton, and three against Arsenal, Bournemouth and Sheffield United, without stepping up.

Under Edwards, Luton played a 3-4-2-1. His wing-backs were super important. Alfie Doughty was on the left, whipping excellent balls into the penalty area. On the right, he had the pace of Chiedozie Ogbene or Issa Kabore.

Balls in the box were very important. Edwards played two big strikers in Carlton Morris and Elijah Adebayo. They were a real handful and gave world-class defenders major problems. Both hit double-figure goals across the season.

He was bold with man-for-man defending, which did leave them open at the back. But Hatters fans didn't mind that, preferring to see the team on the front foot rather than sitting back. The side revolved around Ross Barkley and Edwards just let him dictate.

If he goes attacking with Wolves, the fans will not be bored.

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Dazzling Dave
Fan writer

Image source, PA Media

Crikey, where do we start? It is a mammoth task.

Rob Edwards must set clear requirements with owners Fosun: be firm, direct and specific about club structure and the transfer window. The priority is a solid spine that can rescue poor performances.

Next, restore confidence and belief. The team look at rock bottom, but there is still faith they can turn it around.

The errors are not about talent, they stem from a lack of confidence, direction and belief. That must change.

Don't concede and you won't lose. It sounds basic, but it has been forgotten. Pick a backline and live with it through the bumps.

Stop shunting Ladislav Krejci into midfield, then dragging him back. He needs a settled role. He is a £30m central defender; when you are leaking goals, use that ability. Or play him in a Conor Coady-style sweeper role to distribute and get the team moving upfield.

Up front, it is about belief and habits. There is little creativity, it is all too static.

Use Jackson Tchatchoua's pace. Release some players from heavy defensive duties and provide cover so they can attack and create.

Goals do not come from sideways and backward passing, they come from chaos in the box. Get crosses in and look like you are not afraid to score.

Stability is essential. Edwards must find his best XI quickly and keep it. There has been too much chopping and changing.

The team needs consistency to gel. Play footballers in their preferred roles where they are most comfortable if results are to come in the short term. Stop forcing square pegs into round holes.

Leadership is non-negotiable. Great teams have great leaders and Wolves are short. Five captains already this season tells its own story. Choose a captain, stick with them and demand standards on and off the pitch.

Make Molineux a fortress. Getting a despondent fanbase on side is key. If the faithful turn, Wolves are doomed.

Above all, the ownership question looms. Fosun talks prudence, supporters want ambition.

Wolves need a clear plan and a manager empowered to execute it. Without that, they are not flirting with the drop - they are packing their bags for it.

Find more from Dazzling Dave at Always Wolves, external

A version of this post first ran on 5 November.

Image source, Getty Images

Wolves chairman Jeff Shi says he needs "to refresh the whole club" after the club confirmed the appointment of their former defender Rob Edwards as manager.

Edwards has signed a three and a half year deal at Molineux just five months after starting work as Middlesbrough manager.

"I know Rob very well and I have seen his growth in different jobs," said Shi. "He's a very good person, knows the club very well, 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."

With Wolves currently bottom of the Premier League table after picking up just two points from their opening 11 games, Shi said: "We need to refresh the whole club with a new coach's philosophy, bringing his own identity and ideas.

"We are at a new chapter for the club and Rob will be a key piece of that."

Director of player recruitment and development Matt Jackson added: "The energy that [Edwards] brings off the field, we have to get 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 we think Rob will be great culturally for the whole football club."

Image source, Getty Images

So it's official. Rob Edwards is Wolves' new head coach, signing a three-and-a-half-year contract at Molineux to succeed Vitor Pereira - and we want your reaction.

The 42-year-old has joined from Middlesbrough, who he was with for just over five months and leaves second in the Championship.

Edwards arrives at Wolves - a club he played 111 times for - with the side bottom of the Premier League, eight points from safety and still awaiting their first league win of the season.

He has also coached Wanderers at under-18 and under-23 level, as well as taking interim charge of the first team twice in the wake of Walter Zenga's departure in 2016.

Edwards' assistant head coach will be Harry Watling, who was also at Boro. Wolves says more backroom staff will be confirmed soon.

Edwards has previous experience managing in the top flight, having been in charge of Luton Town during the 2023-24 campaign, but he was unable to keep them up.

His first match in charge will be against Crystal Palace at Molineux on Saturday, 22 November, following the international break.

How do you feel about the appointment? Is Edwards the right man and can he turn Wolves' fortunes around? What are his priorities?

Get in touch with your views here

Mike Taylor
BBC Radio WM reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Who would take a job like this? Outside Wolves and their supporters, at least, it seems most people have written the Molineux side's chances of survival off already.

A few of the Wolves fans calling BBC Radio WM over the past couple of weeks have railed against this sense of defeatism, and that is the spirit Rob Edwards will need to have with him to ensure that, within the club at least, heads stay up.

There will be some goodwill towards him from supporters as he is a former Wolves player, and more positive energy from within the club from his early coaching career there, even if only Matt Doherty among the players will remember him.

Those good vibes will help.

Elsewhere, much of the discussion around Edwards this week has mused on why he would have left a good job at a club that might go up to take this one. Family and personal connections may well explain that.

The idea is also in circulation that Edwards has been recruited as a good candidate to lead Wolves to a rebound promotion next season if they do drop, therefore making the next few months a kind of 'free hit' for him.

That does sound logical.

You can imagine the club thinking this way and meaning it, even though it would not be reasonable to expect them to say so, for fear of sounding like they had given up on this season.

But not all relegations are the same.

If Edwards makes Wolves competitive, addresses some of the clear problems, and they still go down with, say, 33 points, that plan sounds fine.

And if not? No doubt, Wolves will have appointed Edwards with the intention of him being their coach for the long term - just as they envisaged for both Gary O'Neil and Vitor Pereira.

Sacking and replacing a manager is a traumatic process for a club, and often an expensive one, best avoided unless absolutely necessary.

Still, with so much of the season left, it should not be taken for granted that any new coach would be judged to have clean hands if Wolves are relegated in a heap, even if many of the causes of failure predate his arrival.

It might not be fair or sensible if it comes to it, but when emotions are high and a scapegoat is deemed necessary, as we have seen, it is invariably the same one.

Being a Premier League head coach is never a free hit.

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It's international break so let's have a bit of fun to pass the time.

Now we know football existed before 1992 but for the purposes of this little exercise, keep it Premier League please.

So tell us, who would be in your dream Wolves Premier League XI?

The debate starts here.

Send your suggestions

Image source, Getty Images

On Tuersday, Wolves Under-21s were eliminated from the EFL Trophy after a 4-2 defeat at League Two side Salford City.

Fletcher Holman had given James Collins' side the advantage, but the Ammies comeback included three second-half goals, two of which were scored by Ruben Butt, the son of the former England midfielder and Salford chief executive, Nicky.

The defeat ensured Wolves finished third in the EFL group stage behind Salford and Stockport County.

Sin bins? Bonus points? Two goals if you score from distance?

Imagine a world in which you could reinvent football.

It's a dream, of course. Just a bit of fun. But stick with us.

What if you had the power to change any of the game's laws and potentially bring to an end countless hours of discussion about handball, offside, video assistant referees, or anything else you want to?

Some of BBC Sport's familiar football faces have offered their own potential rule changes.

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Dazzling Dave
Fan writer

Image source, Getty Images

History is brutal here. It has been about 75 years since a team survived in the top flight with just two points after 11 games. That said, there are still 27 games and 81 points to play for. Survival is not gone, many are already writing Wolves off but miracles can happen.

The truth is the owners and club leadership put us in this mess. Year after year, we sold our best players and failed to replace them properly. The club is in managed decline and Jeff Shi has spun the roulette wheel too many times.

There has been no honest acknowledgement from the top that a series of catastrophic decisions has left us staring at the Championship after only 11 games. Fans deserve better.

Rob Edwards should not shoulder that blame if he eventually falls short. He is one of our own, a Shropshire lad who played 111 times for Wolves and coached in our academy. He wants this job more than anyone who has come and gone in recent years.

The squad is depleted, the fans feel alienated, and managers have not been properly backed. He will inherit chaos.

If we limp on like this, we could threaten Derby's lowest points record and even the fewest goals scored in a Premier League season, which stands at 20. That is how stark it is.

But there is still a path: restore belief and intensity, pick a settled core, get Joao Gomes central to everything, give Matheus Mane and Tolu Arokodare real minutes, and add two or three quality starters in January. The owners must prove they still care and that they have real ambition.

Edwards deserves and will get our full backing to the end. He did not create the crisis, but he will face it head on.

If belief returns in the stands and identity returns on the pitch, there is still time to make this fight real.

If not, the failure will belong to the boardroom, not the dugout.

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Former Wolves midfielder Dave Edwards says the club's Premier League survival is "of course unlikely", after only taking two points from their opening 11 games, but he believes Rob Edwards would be a "really good" appointment moving forward.

"If they can win two games on the bounce then all of a sudden their season might look very different," Edwards told BBC Radio 5 Live's Monday Night Club. "But it is going to be a long shot because pretty much everyone has written Wolves off.

"Getting Rob Edwards is the best-case scenario for them. He is somebody who really cares about this football club, who works really hard and who is absolutely obsessed with football."

Former Liverpool, Stoke City and Scotland midfielder Charlie Adam also gave his thoughts on Wolves trying to tempt Edwards away from high-flying Championship side Middlesbrough: "Ultimately, both parties have agreed this clause within his contract.

"There was a figure and while a figure is in a contract, there is always the opportunity for another club to take your manager.

"If it wasn't for Wolves, I don't think he would be leaving Middlesbrough. It doesn't look great but, for Rob Edwards, this is his dream job."

Watch the full episode on BBC iPlayer and listen on BBC Sounds

We asked for your thoughts after Saturday's Premier League game between Chelsea and Wolves.

Here are some of your comments:

Chelsea fans

Mark: Still not good enough with teams which lie deep. Estevao Willian is consistently dangerous so he needs to start. Enzo Maresca needs to decide his strongest team and rotate just a few players every game, not half the team.

Tristan: In the first half, I was bemused as to how we didn't score and that concerned me. But luckily for the Blues, we got the win.

Lee: Typical game from this Chelsea team. Played for 45 minutes against a definite relegation side and eventually broke them down. Good three points, but it plasters over cracks.

James: Bit on the slow side first half but second 45 much better. Will do Joao Pedro the world of good to get a goal and the international break arrives at a good time for anyone injured to hopefully recover. Clean sheet was a nice bonus too.

Wolves fans

Simon: Really hard to watch. There seems to be a disconnect between the team and this is showing with the amount of goals we are letting in and the attempted shots on goal. It is going to be a tough number for the next manager, but we still have a tiny bit of time to turn it around.

Rick: They were just going through the motions. No threat. Mistakes. Sloppy. Once again, it was like watching two teams from different leagues. Particularly frustrated to see Hwang Hee-chan and Jorgen Strand Larsen given yet more chances. Tolu Arokodare is quicker, more skilful and can score. Staggering.

Steve: In the first half we dug in and showed some fight, but created nothing. Once the first goal went in, you knew that was it. Even Pep Guardiola or Arne Slot wouldn't keep this lot up. Good luck to the next coach, be it Rob Edwards or whoever. Let's get behind him and the team and at least go down fighting.

Kieron: The players cannot hide behind Vitor Pereira with that performance. They showed little fight and even less attacking threat! Too many players strolling around, jogging instead of sprinting. I can accept losing but performances like that boil my blood! Embarrassing and shameful.

Jason: Lack of quality and lack of strategy. They would struggle in the Championship. Dismal.

Match of the Day pundits Wayne Rooney and Danny Murphy believe Rob Edwards faces a big struggle to keep Wolves in the Premier League, with the Middlesbrough manager set to take over at the club he spent four years at as a player.

Speaking on the show, Rooney said: "I wouldn't say it's impossible [they avoid relegation], but it's unlikely.

"Their form this season has been horrendous really.

"That's why they've changed manager, and it's a tough job for Edwards."

Wolves will back prospective new manager Rob Edwards in the transfer market in January, with an ambition to sign young, domestic-based players. (NBC), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Monday's full gossip column

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Nizaar Kinsella
Football reporter

Image source, Getty Images

The Wolves job is seen as a dream role for incoming manager Rob Edwards as he arranges his departure from Middlesbrough.

The 42-year-old made more than 100 appearances for Wolves between 2004 and 2008, and his family still live in the Midlands.

But this is a tough time to join a bottom-of-the-table club who have not won since April.

They lack quality in the squad and only stayed competitive at Stamford Bridge until Chelsea scored.

Wolves took 61 minutes to register a shot on goal. They managed just three shots in the match - none on target - and had only 35.5% possession.

However, they showed resilience until conceding in the 51st minute.

That could give Edwards a foundation to build on, but the challenge is huge. No club has survived with as few as two points after 11 games in Premier League history.

Their spirit could help, but Wolves face major problems and potentially lack that underlying quality from their players to survive.

Wolves interim boss James Collins speaking to BBC Sport after the 3-0 defeat to Chelsea: "I felt we showed real spirit in the first half. We did a lot of work on being tight, connected and hard to beat. The boys really focused on that and maybe didn't do as well in possession as we planned.

"The early goal rocked us a bit because then you're chasing the game. We chased the game - we were doing better on the ball - but then we were too much out of structure and open at back and they took advantage.

"The boys have got a real togetherness and spirit. They are willing to work from a gameplan. That's a good basis to work on. There's a real base of players willing to have a right go, work on the game and get better.

"The spirit in the dressing room, I've seen this week. There's 27 games left, plenty of football. Our season won't be decided on Chelsea away. The players have shown drive and determination. If we can add a bit of quality who knows?"

Listen to more from Collins on BBC Sounds

Pundits Alan Shearer and Theo Walcott join host Kelly Cates to bring you the action and talking points from Saturday's Premier League fixtures.

Watch on BBC iPlayer here

And listen back to full match commentaries on BBC Sounds:

• Everton 2-0 Fulham

• West Ham 3-2 Burnley

• Sunderland 2-2 Arsenal

Whether you were at the game or following from elsewhere, we want to know what you learned.

Have your say on Chelsea's performance

What did you make of Wolves' display?

Come back on Monday for a selection of your replies

Chelsea XI: Sanchez, Gusto, Fofana, Chalobah, Cucurella, Caicedo, Fernandez, Pedro Neto, Joao Pedro, Garnacho, Delap.

Subs: Jorgensen, Tosin, Hato, Acheampong, James, Andrey Santos, Gittens, Estevao, Guiu.

Wolves XI: Johnstone, Tchatchoua, Bueno, Krejci, Toti, Bueno, Andre, Gomes, Bellegarde, Hwang, Strand Larsen

Subs: Sa, Munetsi, Arias, Wolfe, Arokodare, Mosquera, Chirewa, However, Mane.

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca said after Wednesday's draw with Qarabag that he is rotating his team so much because the Club World Cup is taking its toll on his squad.

That must be a factor in their inconsistency, but I don't think it will matter here because Wolves have been such a rabble recently.

He has gone now but after last weekend's 3-0 defeat by Fulham, their former boss Vitor Pereira said that technically, tactically and physically they were not at the required level, and I don't expect anything to change at Stamford Bridge.

Sutton's prediction: 2-0

Read the full predictions and have your say here

There are five games in the Premier League on Saturday and BBC Sport will bring you every moment.

• Tottenham v Manchester United (12:30)

• Everton v Fulham - listen on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra

• West Ham v Burnley - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

• Sunderland v Arsenal (17:30) - listen on BBC Radio 5 Live

• Chelsea v Wolves (20:00)

Kick-off times 15:00 GMT unless stated

Follow all of the action and reaction here

You can also listen to today's 5 Live Premier League commentaries on most smart speakers. Just say "ask BBC Sounds to play Everton v Fulham" or "ask BBC Sounds to play Sunderland v Arsenal", for instance.

Find out more about how to listen to Premier League football on BBC Sounds

Noel Sliney
Senior journalist

Chelsea seek a return to the top four when they host winless and managerless Wolves on Saturday night (20:00 GMT). BBC Sport explores some key themes surrounding the fixture.

Chelsea always under scrutiny

Six wins in eight games across all competitions should be cause for optimism, yet Chelsea seem to be always one misstep from negative scrutiny.

Questions about defensive lapses and team selection have been heightened by Wednesday's failure to beat Qarabag, an Azerbaijani side who have spent less than £7m on transfers since 2020 – in stark contrast to Chelsea's £1.8bn outlay over the same period.

Chelsea were vulnerable once more at the back throughout that 2-2 draw, with summer signing Jorrel Hato culpable for both Qarabag goals but not helped by his team-mates. Head coach Enzo Maresca described them as "silly goals". A week earlier, defensive errors meant they nearly blew a three-goal lead away to Wolves in the Carabao Cup.

It's a trend that has afflicted them all season. The Blues have lost possession in their defensive third on 47 occasions in the Premier League, one short of Aston Villa's league-high tally. In all competitions, Chelsea have made the most errors leading to goals among English top-flight sides, ahead of Wolves, while only Spurs have faced more shots as a result of their own mistakes.

By way of mitigation, Maresca said in midweek that playing in the summer Club World Cup has affected his team selections as he seeks to manage the players' workloads. Chelsea's 3-0 win over PSG in the final of that tournament came just five weeks before the start of the 2025-26 season; the 85 changes subsequently made to their starting XI in all competitions is by far the most of any Premier League side.

Expect plenty more on Saturday, with the squad only arriving back in London at 06:00 on Thursday after a 5,000-mile round trip.

Wolves seeking great escape

This will be Wolves' first match since Vitor Pereira was sacked as head coach in the wake of a 3-0 defeat by Fulham which left them eight points adrift of safety.

They are the first English side in history to start consecutive seasons without a victory in their opening 10 top-flight matches. Wolves achieved a near-miraculous escape from relegation last season after having only three points at the same stage. They're a point worse off this time – only two sides have ever preserved their top-flight status after making such a poor start: Stoke City in 1951-52 and Leicester City in 1983-84.

Wolves don't appear close to naming a replacement for Pereira, whose departure was swiftly followed by that of director of football Domenico Teti after just four-and-a-half months at the club. Gary O'Neil, who was sacked last December, has opted against a potential return after initial talks, while Middlesbrough have turned down an approach for their manager Rob Edwards.

Whoever they appoint, Wolves can twice point to recent successful managerial changes made while they were in the relegation zone. Pereira comfortably kept them up last season, as Julen Lopetegui had done after arriving midway through 2022-23.

Nonetheless, recent Premier League history does not reflect kindly in general on a club's decision to change the manager while stuck in the relegation zone. Across the previous 10 seasons, 37 managers have parted ways with a club in the bottom three – only 13 of those sides stayed up.