The FA Cup sees Wolves travelling to Blackburn this weekend for the first time since a couple of days before Halloween in 2016. The club, and expectations, were very different back then. Paul Berry catches up with Rob Edwards, for whom it was his first experience as a manager at senior level, and namesake Dave, who grabbed Wolves’ goal and the man of the match award in a 1-1 draw.
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The last time Wolves travelled to Blackburn, Pep Guardiola was only three months into his reign at Manchester City, the current World Darts champion was a mere nine years-old and Theresa May was the Prime Minister. Matheus Cunha hadn’t even launched his professional career. And the later England defender Conor Coady was playing in midfield.
And Wolves? Occupying 18th place in the Championship, having spent just four of the previous 32 seasons in the top-flight of English football.
What a difference eight years can make!
Wolves are now into their seventh successive season in the Premier League, have previously posted two seventh placed finishes, and enjoyed runs to the FA Cup semi-finals and Europa League quarter finals.
“You could never have imagined that on that cold night at Ewood Park,” former Wolves midfielder Dave Edwards recalled this week.
Whilst Wolves are clearly facing a challenge to preserve that Premier League status, and fans understandably want continued success and growth in the present rather than the recollection of past glories, those Ewood Park memories do offer a brief glimpse into the momentous ups and downs of the last decade.
Fosun were a few short months into their ownership of Wolves, and having initially dispensed with the services of Head Coach Kenny Jackett, had just done the same with Walter Zenga, whose brief but sometimes spectacular Molineux tenure – including major wins away at Birmingham and Newcastle – featured just 17 games and lasted 87 days.
In search of a new boss, the reins were temporarily handed to ‘one of their own’, Rob Edwards, who had already served many years as a Wolves player, Under-18 coach and first team coach under Jackett.
At just 33, Edwards had only retired from playing three years earlier, but his exceptional work ethic and ambition meant that he had already worked without pay within both Manchester City and Wolves academies, to gain much-needed experience, prior to landing the more permanent role within the youth set-up at Molineux.
He had already spent 18 months as part of the first team set-up alongside Joe Gallen under Jackett, and then Zenga, and that prompted Wolves Sporting Director Kevin Thelwell to entrust him with the big responsibility whilst leading the recruitment for a more established successor.
“Yes, I was only 33 at the time, but we are all experts, aren’t we?” says Edwards with a smile. “We all think we can do the job given the opportunity.
“I was not long retired from playing and had done that work for nothing with Manchester City and Wolves before getting the Under-18s job, which I really enjoyed, working with so many good players.
“From there Kenny asked me to step up to the first team alongside some great staff including Joe, Dales (Tony Daley) Pat (Mountain), Phil (Hayward) and Phil (Boardman), which was a brilliant opportunity.
“It was the same situation with Walter, which I enjoyed, but when things changed and he was gone, being asked to be interim, even just for a couple of weeks, was, at that moment, easily the proudest moment of my career.
“At that time, 33 was considered young, but in this day and age it probably isn’t – younger people than that are being handed chances now.
“I was really appreciative to Kevin for giving me the opportunity, and trusting me with it, which was very humbling at the time.
“I knew the staff were excellent, and more experienced than me, and to take the team during that period was something I will always be very proud of.”
And just look at him now!
Currently taking a bit of time out following his departure from Luton last month, Edwards will hopefully return to a managerial hotseat at some point soon with an impressive CV, which was effectively launched on that night in East Lancashire.
Retained as a coach by Paul Lambert – who includes Blackburn on his own managerial back story – Edwards landed his first senior post in non-league with Telford United, returned to lead Wolves Under-23s to promotion, moved on to coach with England Under-20s and Under-16s and then, in his first season in the Football League, masterminded a League Two title success with Forest Green Rovers.
A short spell with Watford was ended way too prematurely, but would ultimately prove a blessing in disguise, as Edwards took the helm at their closest rivals Luton, leading them to play-off glory and a season in the Premier League which earned him many more admirers.
“From those first few days when he took over at Wolves, I knew he would make an excellent manager,” says namesake Dave.
“I remember when it didn’t really work out at Telford and I put something on social media wishing him good luck and saying I knew he was going to be successful, I got a bit of stick.
“But as players, you can just tell.
“I liked Walter Zenga, but it was a chaotic time back then and there was a lot to deal with in terms of new owners and so many new faces coming in, a lot from abroad and very different types of players.
“It also followed a period of real stability under Kenny, although I think we’d lost our way a bit with the club being up for sale and losing players of the quality of Kevin McDonald and Benik Afobe.
“Rob was really focused on putting his own stamp on it, whether it was going to be for one game, two games or five games, and the amount of work he got into us in just a few days before Blackburn was miraculous really.
“The style and philosophy of what he wanted to implement was really exciting, and he set up patterns of play which put us in a really good place.”
On then to the game itself. And whilst Wolves had been undergoing something of an upheaval, that was nothing compared to the acrimony amongst the Rovers fanbase.
Their complete discontent and disengagement with club owners Venky’s at the time promoted a pre-match protest and then, in deference to the year of 1875 when they were founded, many fans arrived at the stadium in the 18th minute and walked out on 75.
By the time many found their seats, Blackburn were a goal to the good thanks to a superb volley from Sam Gallagher, but Wolves stayed firm, created plenty of chances, and, with many of the home fans having exited the stadium, equalised thanks to midfielder Edwards, 12 minutes from time.
“I wanted us to try and suffocate Blackburn, to run all over them, and picked a team with real energy,” recalls Edwards the interim manager, who was assisted by Rovers hero and then Wolves Under-23s head coach Scott Sellars.
“Conor was still playing in midfield and I played him and Eddo higher up with Romain Saiss holding.
“We had Jed (Wallace) as well, and I just wanted that sort of running and energy all over the pitch.
“I think for the fans, the bare minimum they expect is for a team to work hard, to fight and show desire and passion, and that was what we wanted to do, along with changes in organisation from a shape point of view.
“I was really well supported by the staff, and feel we got a great reaction from the boys, with committed performances both at Blackburn and in the Derby game which followed.”
“We should have won that game,” Edwards the midfielder adds.
“I scored one, but I could, maybe should, have had three.
“A lot of people will look at the result and yes, it was only a 1-1 draw, but from a tactical standpoint and in terms of the gameplan and how we wanted to play, we did very well.
“Rob was really big on Pep Guardiola at the time, and while clearly we weren’t anything like Manchester City, we were trying to play in a similar way.
“It really suited me, playing as a number eight in a three-man midfield, encouraging me to push on and stay the opposite side of the Blackburn midfield.
“I could make diagonal runs into the box, which was like a dream, and helped me get on the end of so many chances.
“I was able to get into so many good positions, and to get the goal, a header in front of the away fans, was brilliant, especially because of Rob – we definitely didn’t want to lose that game for him more than anything.”
After taking a point on their travels, Wolves welcomed Derby to Molineux for another fixture – like Blackburn – screened live on Sky Sports.
By this time Edwards knew Lambert was incoming, and this would be his last outing at the helm, but that certainly didn’t change his attacking focus, or prompt any hesitation if there was a big decision to be made.
And so, just after the half hour mark, he realised, with Helder Costa and Ivan Cavaleiro both starting the game to bring the forward momentum, Wolves needed more protection in midfield, and brought Joao Teixeira off to be replaced by George Saville.
Wolves eventually lost the match 3-2, Costa and Edwards (Dave!) on target, and could feel slightly unfortunate with a penalty decision which didn’t go their way.
“By that time, I knew I wasn’t going to get the job, but we had a game of football to try and win, and things just weren’t working in the early stages of the game,” Edwards the boss recalls.
“We had gone behind and were conceding a lot of set pieces and I felt I needed to make the change before half time.
“Sometimes you have to make those calls, and just hope it has an impact on the game.
“Even though it was live on Sky, at the start of my managerial career, I just thought it had to be done, and we did do better from there although unfortunately just missed out on getting the result.”
“Being quite close to Rob I felt a huge responsibility for all of us to try and do him justice in those two games because we knew how much he was putting into it and that it was such an opportunity for him,” adds Edwards the midfielder.
“With the work he did in training, all the analysis and detail he went into, he definitely deserved more than just a point.
“I really think we should have beaten Blackburn and could have got something against Derby and that would have made things look very different.”
Onto now, as Wolves head back to Ewood Park, for the first time in almost eight-and-a-half years, bidding to avoid being on the end of a giantkilling in the fourth round of the FA Cup.
And there are a few potential tales to be told within the ranks of the opposition.
One of Blackburn’s most impressive performers this season in laying the foundations for their Championship play-off push is former double promotion-winning Wolves captain Danny Batth, one of two survivors – along with Matt Doherty – from the travelling Wanderers of 2016 – in the frame this weekend.
Also within the ranks is striker Andi Weimann, who wrote himself into Wolves FA Cup folklore with what ultimately proved the decisive goal, also in the fourth round, in the memorable win at Liverpool just three months after that last visit to Blackburn, and former young professional Dion Sanderson, who is cup-tied.
And then, among John Eustace’s backroom staff, a proper Wolves hero in Keith Downing – aka ‘Psycho’ – who helped marshal the Molineux midfield through a dramatic late Eighties revival, and later returned as an Academy coach, similar to Edwards, at the start of his coaching and managerial career.
So, plenty of links between the two founder members of the Football League ahead of Sunday’s high noon showdown.
But what then became of the two Edwards’s who played such significant roles in the most recent Ewood Park meeting?
For Dave, it would prove the last full season of his excellent Wolves career, spanning 307 appearances and featuring 44 goals.
Now combining his business interests with work as a co-commentator including for Sky and the BBC, he has remained in regular touch with his namesake, particularly when covering Luton games in recent years.
“We still pick up the phone to each other and I think we are quite similar in being like sponges, always wanting to soak up information,” he says.
“When I moved on from Wolves to Reading, he would ask me what it was like working for Jaap Stam as manager, how he operated, and he has asked about other managers as well.
“I think the biggest thing about being a football manager is that you have to be obsessed with football, constantly in tune with what is happening in the game, and the changes in tactics and so on.
“Rob has certainly got that trait, as well as showing that he is able to handle a senior group of players, and that is why he has been so successful.”
And for Edwards, now the established manager, even with all the successes since – and hopefully the more that will follow – that couple of weeks will always remain a very special memory.
“I’d been a player at Wolves, and then a coach, and so to get the opportunity to be the manager, even for a couple of weeks, was incredible,” he recalls.
“It was easily the proudest moment of my career to that point, and at the time I was determined to have a right go at it.
“Did I want the job? Well yes, I’d have loved it. I couldn’t say that in the media, I just said I was doing my best for the club, and I knew I probably wasn’t going to get it, but I was always going to give it everything for the time that I had.
“As it was, Paul came in and kept me on which was great, again I learned so much from working with him and Stu (assistant Stuart Taylor), and enjoyed many more experiences which I have carried forward.
“So, taking that match at Blackburn, walking out of the tunnel, I was excited and not really nervous, because I thought I could do it.
“It was very special, being a manager of Wolves at the age of 33, that’s not a bad one to have on the CV, is it?!
“I remember my wife and kids came to the home game and my parents – my Dad still goes everywhere to watch! – and that was really nice because football can often take over and I’m very lucky to have such a supportive family.
“There have been so many parts of my coaching and managerial journey which have been great, but that was so important in giving me the belief and confidence that I could work with a senior group of players and motivate them and build a rapport with them.
“In football you can rarely plan anything too far ahead, all you can do is to work hard, get your head down and be a good person, and keep learning and see where it takes you.”
