It’s business as usual for Hatters chief as he prepares to take on ‘special’ former side Wolves
On a personal level, Luton Town manager Rob Edwards stated that his team will face a’special club’ in Wolverhampton Wanderers this afternoon.
The Hatters manager came through the ranks at Aston Villa as a teenager in 1999, making nine professional games before signing for Wolves in 2004, for a fee of £150,000.
He went on to play 111 times during his four years, featuring under the likes of Glenn Hoddle and Mick McCarthy, as he then moved to Blackpool in August 2008.
Edwards returned to Molineux as U18s coach after retiring at the age of 30, was promoted to first team coach under Kenny Jackett, and served as interim head coach when Walter Zenga was sacked in October 2016.
After leaving to take over at AFC Telford, the former Wales international returned to the West Midlands as U23s head coach for just over a year before going on to the FA in October 2019.
Now in the dug-out for the Hatters, after spells at Forest Green and Watford, on going up against his former side, Edwards said: “It’s a special club for me personally.
“I spent four years as a player and a long time as a coach and in many different roles at the club, so it’s a club I’m familiar with.”
“I still know a lot of people there, and many of my best friends today are from my time there as well.”
“So it will be nice to see them, but it’s business, that’s what it is.”
Wolves were plunged into disarray before the season began when manager Julen Lopetegui resigned just days before the season began, with former Bournemouth manager Gary O’Neil quickly chosen as his replacement.
Although results haven’t been great so far, one win and four defeats, Edwards has been impressed with the manner in which the side are playing under the ex-Middlesbrough, West Ham and QPR midfielder, as he continued: “Gary was a better player than me so I didn’t come up against him very much.
“He’s made a good start there, I like the way they’re playing.
“It’s probably rightfully so, to be saying they’ve not got the points they deserve from their performances so far.
“He’s made a really positive start to life there and of course after the game I wish him well, I hope he does really, really well there.”
Not only did Wolves lose their manager ahead of the season, but they also lost a number of high-profile players in the summer, with Ruben Neves leading the way by joining Saudi Arabia club Al-Hilal for £47 million.
Connor Coady and Nathan Collins joined Leicester and Brentford for a combined £30 million, while Raul Jimenez moved to Fulham.
Despite their best efforts, Portugal international Matheus Nunes also left on transfer deadline day, joining Premier League champions Manchester City for £53 million, though Wolves have been able to strengthen, most notably by paying £44 million to convert Brazilian international Matheus Cunha’s loan into a permanent deal.
They also spent just under £30 million to sign Boubacar Traore, Enso Gonzalez, and Santiago Bueno, while still retaining another Portuguese star in Pedro Neto, as well as the dynamic duo of Hee-Chan Hwang and Fabio Silva, as well as Manchester City loanee Tommy Doyle.
“They’ve still got some Brazilian and Portuguese internationals, so yes, they did lose some players, some big players, some personalities, but they’ve got some talent,” Edwards added.
“We saw that in pre-season when we played them, and it was good to go up against them then because they’ve got some really good individuals, and Gary’s got them playing really well.”
“They have really good technique, but they need some speed and transition.”
“The goal they scored against Liverpool last week was incredible, so we are aware of their threats.”
“We know they’ll have the ball at times, and we have to be resilient and strong, but we believe if we do things right and do the basics correctly, we can hurt them and get at them.”
“I think it makes for a very, very good game.”
This afternoon’s game will be Luton’s second meeting with their opponents in the last two months, following a 0-0 pre-season friendly draw at Molineux in early August.
On whether Edwards gleaned anything from the contest, he added; “Not really, a different manager, we learnt a little bit about the individuals and the players, so we can take a little bit from that.
“But since Gary’s come in, he’s done really well to put his stamp on things.
“We can have a look back at that game, but we’d rather look at the games that Gary’s been in charge for.”
