What we learnt from Rob Edwards' first interview as Wolves head coach

The 42-year-old has also spoken publicly for the first time since controversially leaving Middlesbrough, as he gets his messages across to the Wolves fans.

Rallying cry

After initially labelling it his dream job and saying all the right things, it did not take long for Edwards to get stuck into his rallying cry.

Wolves are bottom of the Premier League with two points and no wins from 11 matches. They are seven points off 19th-placed Nottingham Forest and eight points from safety - it is fair to say they need some inspiration.

Vitor Pereira, for all of his qualities, could not get a tune out of the players by the end. He was chopping and changing his philosophy in a desperate attempt to get a result.

Edwards has a clean slate and it may be a simplistic view, but he has to get the squad raring to go again. The fatigue of a relegation battle, and the start Wolves have had, cannot be underestimated.

If he can rally them - mixed with a coherent plan - Wolves may have a chance.

Edwards said: “I know the situation that we’re in right now, but this is just something that I’ve always wanted, and I’m ready for it. 

"I’m ready for the challenge, I’m up for it, and it’s been great getting around everybody, seeing so many faces that I know, and new faces as well.

“The staff are all up for it and we’ll meet the players next week when everyone arrives back, and I know the lads will be as well.”

Togetherness

As you would expect, a big part of Edwards' messaging was around uniting the club in every way.

Behind the scenes the leadership structure is fractured, but in the short-term Edwards has more worries to consider.

He must unite the squad but, perhaps more importantly, connect them with the fans again.

The supporters will give Telford-born Edwards a chance because he is a new face, not bogged down with the baggage of this season and has an affinity with the club. Edwards must take advantage of that.

"We need to quite quickly get some belief and some confidence injected back into the group," he added.

“What’s going to help us move forward now is everyone pulling in the same direction. If everyone can see total effort, us leaving it all out there, playing for the badge, playing for pride and showing commitment and effort and spirit, fight and determination; if we can do that, then I think everyone will be able to get on board.

“Unfortunately, we haven’t got a magic wand and we can’t guarantee results straight away, but a non-negotiable for me, and what every supporter wants to see, is effort and hard work and total commitment. We’ve got to leave it all out there. It’s got to look like it means more to us than the opposition and that’ll be our message to the players.

“I get the frustrations because we’ve not won for a long time, but if we’re going to move forward and we’re going to get ourselves out of this, the only way to do that is to try and back the players. It’s not going to be perfect because we’re human beings and we’ll make mistakes, but as long as they see the players reacting really well and in the right way, then at least we can get behind that.

“Let’s really get behind everyone, get behind the players, because they’re the ones that have got to go and do it in the end, and that will really help. Bring the noise, bring the support to the lads, then we’ve got our job to do because we need to see total commitment from the players and a real desire to try and get ourselves out of this situation.”

Leaders

One of Wolves' problems this season has been the captaincy.

Pereira named a four-man leadership group at the start of the season, with Toti Gomes seen as the first choice captain, but in reality there was no obvious pick in the squad for that role.

The armband has changed hands on a few occasions as Pereira changed his starting XI and in the defeat to Burnley last month none of the leadership group were on the pitch at kick-off.

As a result, it is interesting to see Edwards specifically mention leadership and the need for the whole squad to pull together.

He said: “When we’re out on the pitch, we need 11 leaders, and then whoever’s around it – in the squad, not even involved – we’re going to need everyone to back the group that are on the pitch at that moment. We’re going to need everyone to show leadership qualities, to show belief and character.

“I totally believe in what we can achieve, and we need to transmit that to the players as well because there’s enough quality here. 

"Some things have gone against us, but we’ve got to draw a line under that, learn from some of it, but now we look at what’s ahead of us because I believe in the group.”

Fast start

Looking ahead is the logical next step and Edwards faces Crystal Palace at Molineux in his first match before a West Midlands derby at Villa.

No-one is expecting Edwards to win his next five games, but with 27 Premier League fixtures remaining, Wolves must return to winning ways sooner rather than later if they have any hope of staying up.

His task is to get the players performing quickly and a fast start would go a long way to pulling off a miracle.

"We’ve got to try and get up to speed really quickly, try and get our message across really quickly, and get the by-in straight away," Edwards said.

“We’re going to come up against a real well-oiled team (in Crystal Palace) who have been doing the same thing for a long time under the same manager. They’ve done great and we won’t have had that long to work together, but that’s no excuse. We’ve got to hit the ground running.

“We’ll get some clarity to the players, try and keep things as simple as possible, because we’re only going to have a day with some of them, and that’s going to be the most important thing coming up for this game.

“Then the week after, the build up to Villa, we have a full week and we can really get to know and to work with the whole group, and that will help, but we’ll get working with the group as quickly as possible.”