Exactly halfway into the Championship season, Middlesbrough are on course for a return to the Premier League.
It’s never over until it’s over in the unpredictable second tier, but currently Boro sit second. Although they are eight points behind leaders Coventry City, more crucially they are five points above Ipswich Town in third, bringing promise of a first Premier League campaign since 2016-17 ever closer.
All this is what Rob Edwards gave up, the 43-year-old admitting it was “one of the toughest decisions” when leaving for Wolverhampton Wanderers in mid-November. In the month and a half since, he is yet to register a point seven matches into his new role.
On the surface, his decision appears ridiculous and bordering idiotic. An act of self-sabotage of the like the Premier League has seldom, if ever, seen.
Wolves are in freefall (Photo: PA)There is no hope for Wolves. They are sinking without trace and breaking records along the way.
Even Derby County’s 2007-08 side had seven points at this stage, and with two points now from 18 after the defeat to Liverpool, Wolves have recorded the worst winless start of the Premier League era given Sheffield United won at the 18th time of asking in 2020-21.
Wolves are also on a collision course with the all-time record in English football’s top flight, when Bolton Wanderers failed to win any of their opening 22 games way back in 1902-03.
It isn’t about survival anymore, it’s about not finishing below Derby’s shambolic 11-point haul and ensuring Edwards has enough to cling onto going into the new season in the second tier.
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We can only assume he took on this role with the Championship firmly in mind – but before getting there, he must also somehow keep the dressing room on his side and ensure owners Fosun remain convinced he is the right man for the job.
Former chairman Jeff Shi had said this month that Edwards would “95 per cent” last “two or three years”, adding: “It’s a long-term project with Rob.”
Well, that’s a project Shi is no longer part of – with the unrelated Nathan Shi appointed interim executive chairman – and while two or three years seems a long way away, at this rate so does May. By which point, Wolves’ relegation could easily have been confirmed for months.
Only then we will know whether Edwards is up for the fight when they drop down a tier – if he is even there by then. But if there is one possible positive, he must view a season wading through mud as aiding his managerial skillset. Otherwise, why did he join?
He willingly walked into this binfire, so must surely have considered the damage another Premier League relegation after Luton Town would have on his CV. Perhaps he really is thinking about Wolves for the long-term and cares little for his reputation beyond the club.
He must also value the prospect of rebuilding Wolves from the Championship as far more rewarding than doing so with Boro, especially as another promotion would only have strengthened his credentials.
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It speaks of a love for Wolves, something that could carry this club through the storm. Edwards was, after all, a Wolves player. This was the club he made more appearances for than any other.
But to keep the keys for this restoration project he must withstand months more of pain, and somehow not simply endure the sense of doom among all those involved with Wolves but actually lift it.
That is one mighty task, but at least Wolves seem to have someone up for the fight. And should he still be there in two or three years, with the club a restored and renewed Premier League side, that could be something beautiful.
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