Following Rob Edwards' return to Wolverhampton Wanderers, succeeding Vitor Pereira as head coach, football writer Alex Keble discusses what the club's former defender could bring to his new role and the tactical tweaks he could make.
"This club is special. This was always the aim. This was the dream."
Wolves find themselves in the unenviable position of requiring historic success from their new head coach, Rob Edwards, to avoid relegation, but at least supporters can celebrate the arrival of a manager whose love for the club matches their own.
Edwards takes charge of his first match, at home to Crystal Palace on Saturday, with Wolves having collected only two points from their first 11 Premier League games. Nobody has ever avoided relegation from this position.
Does Edwards’ success outside the Premier League prepare him for the top flight?
Edwards made 100 league appearances for Wolves, the most significant spell of a career as a Premier League and Championship right-back, although it was while playing at Blackpool under Ian Holloway – whose entertaining football secured an unlikely promotion to the Premier League – that Edwards learnt his trade as a coach.
After coaching Wolves' Under-23s, Edwards' first role in management was at Forest Green Rovers, where he secured promotion to League One for the first time in the club’s history.
After a short unsuccessful spell at Watford, Edwards continued Nathan Jones' good work at Luton Town by securing their promotion to the Premier League, although he could not keep them in the top flight at the end of 2023/24.
Edwards departed Luton in January 2025, after a run of four straight defeats left them in 20th place in the Championship. Six months later, he was appointed by Middlesbrough and he began the 2025/26 campaign by taking them towards the summit of the Championship. However, the pull of his favoured Wolves proved irresistible.
Hard-pressing, a back three, and quick counter-attacks will be key
Edwards tends to play with a back three, alternating between using a 3-4-2-1 and a 3-4-1-2 (between one striker and two) as he pursues assertive high-pressing football.
"I want my teams to be aggressive and on the front foot," Edwards said back in June. "I want us to play with bravery. I want control; I want complete control ideally, but as far away from our goal as possible. Action - that’s what I want."
The attacking wing-backs are crucial to providing the width, while the central midfielders drift high to create overloads in central areas.
However, this expansive approach inevitably shrinks when his teams are forced onto the back foot. In the Premier League, Luton often sat deep in a 5-4-1 or 5-3-2 and waited for chances to hit opponents on the counter-attack.
Do Wolves have the right squad for Edwards’ football?
The departures of Rayan Ait-Nouri, Matheus Cunha and Nelson Semedo in the summer means Wolves lack speed and dribbling ability, which could limit the effectiveness of any attempts to play on the counter-attack.
But they do have the right kind of combative central midfielders in Brazilian pair Andre and Joao Gomes, while Edwards’ back three seamlessly continues the preferences of recent Wolves managers.
How Wolves could line up as 3-4-2-1 under Edwards
If Edwards decides to switch to a 3-4-1-2 and utilise two strikers, it might mean Wolves fans see more of new signing Tolu Arokodare alongside Jorgen Strand Larsen.
Arokodare netted 17 goals in the Belgian league for Gent last season but is yet to score in the Premier League, having made only two starts and five substitute appearances.
Three players who will be key to Wolves’ safety
Gomes is an excellent tackler and all-action central midfielder who should be the de facto leader of a more urgent and hard-pressing team under Edwards. He averages more tackles and interceptions (3.5 per 90), and his 58 progressive passes played ranks highest among Wolves players this season.
Strand Larsen has struggled for form in 2025/26, but if Edwards can rejuvenate the player who scored 14 Premier League goals last season then Wolves will suddenly have a fighting chance. Getting the best out of their star man should be the new manager’s top priority.
Finally, Jean-Ricner Bellegarde showed flashes of brilliance last season as a weaving, elastic No 8, assisting seven times in the Premier League.
If moved into a No 10 role, Bellegarde could become the creative leader of a counter-attacking Wolves, his neat interchanges in tight spaces complimenting the more direct Hwang Hee-chan.
Bellegarde was in action for Haiti during this month's international break, helping his country qualify for their first World Cup in 50 years.