The Verdict: Fraught present risks Rob Edwards' future at Wolves

Certainly not for Rob Edwards, who right now is leaking goodwill by the bucketload.

A head coach appointed with an eye fixed firmly on the long-term future is experiencing an increasingly fraught present.

Saturday’s 1-1 visit of Sunderland was another low point, a 1-1 draw which felt every bit a fourth straight defeat, as Wolves huffed and puffed and failed to claim just a fourth Premier League win of the campaign, despite playing for more than an hour with a man advantage.

Edwards saw substitutions booed and was perhaps grateful the actual attendance inside Molineux was several thousand below the official number.

Yet the apathy which surrounded the ground at kick-off eventually gave way to anger, with the most furious voices audible a few minutes after the final whistle, several hundred of them in the South Bank chanting about the head coach in derogatory terms.

That came after Edwards had opted to forego his usual post-match acknowledgement of fans and instead headed straight down the tunnel at full-time, after shaking the hand of opposite number Regis Le Bris.

Later, he explained his decision was based on not wanting to “incite” supporters any further, an entirely reasonable action.

The trouble is Edwards had previously promised to face supporters “win, lose or draw”.

“It’s a difficult moment for the club, so I don’t want us just walking straight down the tunnel,” he remarked, back in November.

Six months later, things are still difficult, only Edwards may have discovered there are limits to how much criticism one can take.

“I’ve got to wear it,” he remarked on Saturday. True enough, yet by changing his post-match routine, he risks being accused of dodging the punch entirely.

No moment better summed up how strained the relationship between head coach and fanbase currently stands.

Wolves and Edwards knew there was every chance of a period like this, a point at which the primary aim of Premier League survival was lost but before the real work of rebuilding could properly begin. It was one of the main arguments for Edwards remaining patient and waiting for a job which was always going to be available to him, no matter how the rest of this season panned out at Middlesbrough.

Instead, the growing question is just how stained by this season’s failure can the man supposed to be leading the renaissance become, before the hierarchy have a decision to make?

For the moment, all indications are Wolves will stand firm and stay the course, regardless of just how tricky the final three weeks of the campaign prove to be.

There is sound logic to that argument. The main benefit of being so bad this term is the club has been able to make a headstart on preparing for life in the Championship. Edwards had played a key role, revealing for the first time on Friday he is already clear in his mind on which players he wants to stay and which can go.

An underlying theme of recent press conferences - though never stated specifically - is the head coach simply does not have the tools at his disposal, right now, to do any better. Insiders at Compton Park talk of the drastically improved atmosphere since the arrival of Edwards and his coaching team. There is a confidence he has identified the problems and - given time - will be able to fix them.

The sticking point is those off-field improvements need to show themselves on the pitch. If Wolves want to take supporters with them as they attempt to re-set, they need to give them a reason to believe.

Instead, increasingly, the run through February and March which saw the comeback against Arsenal and wins over Villa and Liverpool is starting to feel like an aberration, a sudden moment of bliss in the middle of a nightmare.

Have Wolves got better since Edwards walked in when they had only two points from 11 matches?

The raw numbers suggest yes, though a record just 16 points claimed from 24 top flight matches is hardly something to shout about and if anything, performances over the past month have gotten worse.

Saturday became a golden opportunity to bring some cheer after Dan Ballard was the second opposing player this season to be sent-off for pulling Tolu Arokodare’s hair.

But though Santiago Bueno did cancel out Nordi Mukiele’s opener, you never truly believed Wolves were going to grasp it.

Perhaps a slump in levels was always going to happen, at the point when players - many of whom won’t or don’t want to be at Molineux next season - begin focusing more on their own futures.

Regardless, it does not mean much when it comes to assessing the mood. There is no point asking supporters who have seen their team lose 23 out of 35 league matches this season to consider the mitigation. They only feel the pain and for a growing number Edwards is the target of their release.

For the first time on Saturday, the head coach conceded he will require a strong start to next season to win round the doubters. The immediate challenge, however, is to prevent their number growing further over the three matches which remain of the current campaign.