Inside Rob Edwards' plan to save Wolves: The special quality he'll use to unite the club, why staff are rejoicing at his appointment and the stars he'll look to recruit in crucial January transfer window

As Wolves prepared for a European tie in Istanbul in autumn 2019, they learned they would be a losing a highly-rated young coach.

The man in question was in his third spell at Molineux but decided the chance to work with England Under 20s was too good to turn down. His departure, which was exclusively revealed by Daily Mail Sport, was on good terms, with both club and coach hoping he would return one day as manager.

A little more than six years later, Rob Edwards fulfils that destiny - though he would have imagined doing so under happier circumstances. The week Edwards left, Wolves won 1-0 at Besiktas in the Europa League, eventually reaching the quarter-finals under Nuno Espirito Santo.

With players like Raul Jimenez, Joao Moutinho, Diogo Jota and Ruben Neves to inspire them, Wolves also finished seventh in the Premier League for the second year in a row. They felt like an emerging force.

Edwards left a club on the rise and returns with one of English football grandest old names in the middle of an alarming slump. Bottom of the table with only two points from their opening 11 games, it will be a historic achievement if Edwards can keep Wolves out of the Championship.

Before that, he has an even more difficult task on his hands: to give hope to a fanbase who have long since turned against owners Fosun and executive chairman Jeff Shi.

For some time, Molineux has had a venomous atmosphere. Brief periods of encouraging form under Gary O’Neil and Vitor Pereira acted as a sticking plaster but could not heal the deeper wound.

Many supporters feel Fosun have given up on Wolves and are deliberately managing their decline. While one can sympathise with this point of view, it feels misplaced: if Fosun are guilty of anything, it is ineptitude. C***-up, rather than conspiracy, feels like the main crime here.

So here we are. Yet another reset, the fifth in four-and-a-half years. When Nuno left in summer 2021, Wolves hoped Bruno Lage - another Jorge Mendes client - would be similarly successful but be more collegiate and encourage more exciting football.

When Lage failed, they handed the reins to a big-name international manager - Julen Lopetegui – who was on about £10million a year. Lopetegui kept Wolves up and then suddenly walked, muttering about broken promises. So in summer 2023, Wolves decided on a British model: O’Neil as head coach, working with existing Wolves staff and under a powerful sporting director in Matt Hobbs.

Fast forward to December 2024 and out went O’Neil, in came Pereira and numerous staff, with Mendes again holding considerable influence. Pereira was shown the door after less than a year and now it is Edwards’ turn.

Edwards nearly returned to the club on a short-term basis in 2022, after he had been dismissed by Watford, but decided against it. He is an engaging character and was liked and respected at Wolves, both as a player from 2004-08, and during his two stints as a coach.

Wolves are confident the 42-year-old will be able to quickly bring players and staff together, many of whom he knows already. Edwards has shown that when he gets hold of a club, the results can be spectacular.

He won promotion to League One with Forest Green, took Luton into the Premier League and, in his short time at Middlesbrough, brought purpose to a drifting club and made them early contenders for automatic promotion.

The record is not perfect: Edwards lasted only 11 games at Watford and when he left Luton in January, they were hurtling towards a second straight relegation. But in Wolves’ situation, beggars cannot be choosers and Edwards feels a sensible appointment for the present and future.

Edwards is also represented by Unique Sports Group, one of the world’s most significant agencies. When Lopetegui and O’Neil were at Wolves, USG were involved in several deals. Some of the key signings were British - defender Craig Dawson and midfielder Tommy Doyle in 2023, and goalkeeper Sam Johnstone in 2024.

There is absolutely no suggestion of preferential treatment for the agency, but the signing of British players, and others with Premier League experience like Mario Lemina, may be revived.

Under Pereira, Mendes’ Gestifute group had become more prominent again as Wolves made nine signings and turned the loan agreement for Jorgen Strand Larsen into a permanent move. Of those 10 players, not one was British and none had played previously in the Premier League.

Wolves’ recruitment team have long been frustrated that their research is ignored by a succession of managers with their own ideas and the plan now is to give them more responsibility. Transfer chief Matt Jackson is likely to have a stronger voice.

As Daily Mail Sport revealed last month, Wolves opted not to pursue deals for David Brooks, Harry Wilson or Kyle Walker-Peters last summer – all players who would have improved this squad. Should similar deals be available in January, expect Wolves to be more decisive.

Depending on Brooks’ involvement at Bournemouth, he may become a target again. There could be other handy short-term options, possibly on loan. Think Dwight McNeil, currently out of favour at Everton, or Harrison Reed, a steady Premier League performer who has struggled for playing time at Fulham since returning from injury.

Wolves need to have one eye on a possible Championship campaign and it is likely young British players will also be targeted with that in mind.

The key factor here is Shi. The 48-year-old has been at Wolves for nearly a decade, during which the club won promotion in 2018 and have not been relegated since. But Shi must now show he still has a clear, practical vision.

Do he and Fosun have a strong idea that can be sustained in the event of relegation? Or – as often feels the case – is Shi influenced too much by whoever happens to have his ear at a given moment? 

For the sake of Edwards’ career and Wolves’ medium-term future, the chairman needs to show he has the mettle for the fight.