One on One | Rob Edwards' honest assessment of life at the bottom of the Premier League with Wolves

0:02If we're going to lose, if we're going to die, how do we want to die? if we're going to lose how do we want to lose again I came here because I thought right I want to live my life I want to take risks I want to manage this football club but I knew it was going to be a challenge I knew it was going to be a ton and I want to enjoy it I want to try and enjoy it and I am and you also know at some stage and I know we're only a couple of weeks in but you know coming here it is going to end at some stage as well and these are all the things that go through your head and you think you never want it to end it I feel it and I don't like letting people down so I don't like letting the supporters down.

0:37That hurts. That's the bit that I carry. I'm desperate for the supporters to feel proud of the team. That's the bit that keeps me up at night. Welcome back to 101 from Sky Sports, the podcast that brings you conversations with managers and players from the Premier League. I'm Juliet Farrington. Joe's busy again this week. Baller League this time and it's a change to our usual release day as well. The pod usually drops on a Wednesday, as you know, but this Monday morning, I wanted to bring you this conversation. It's very raw and very honest because I've been to Wolves to see Rob Edwards. He grew up in a place just four miles from where I was brought up when he questioned his decision to leave Middlesbrough, flying high in the championship for the Premier League's bottom team, Wolves, around about a month ago now.

1:25It's not been very long, but it's his club and one he has a great affinity with. Now, as we know, Wolves are rock bottom without a win this season. If they lose to Manchester United on Monday night on Sky Sports, they're guaranteed to be bottom at Christmas. And Edwards is under no illusions about the task that lies ahead. But have a listen to how deeply he feels each defeat and the predicament that Wolves find themselves in. And there are moments that may make you stop in your tracks and give you a different take on how it can be. Welcome to One on One, the Wolves head coach Rob Edwards.

2:07OK, let's get to some big breaking news for you. We can head to Molyneux now and join Kirsty Edwards for it. What can you tell us? Yeah, the wait is over for Wolves fans. We have an announcement. It is official. Rob Edwards is the new head coach. A three and a half year deal has been signed and he brings with him as well. his assistant from Middlesbrough, Harry Watling. Rob, thanks for joining us. You've only been here a matter of weeks, but I imagine it's felt like a good few years already. If you can fast forward in that time. Yeah, look, it's been interesting. You know, football management, I think, it's a whirlwind.

2:47There's always a lot going on anyway. You know, quite often the staff are in me saying, wow, it's been a long week today. So, yeah, there's been a lot going on, a lot of challenges, but I knew that coming into it and there's not been too much that surprised me. When you say there hasn't been too much that has surprised you, has there been a small element though that is kind of, you've walked in and not really, you've expected it to be the way that it has been? No, I mean, I think the team, the club has been in a difficult spot for a while, not once since April. So that does affect the whole, it does, it affects the whole mood of everywhere.

3:24So we're able to come in and there's a new team that are with me as well. We'll try and bring some fresh ideas, a new energy. But there's also going to be a role on a carry-on of what's been happening. And no, there's not been loads that surprise me. I think there's been things that I've been actually pleasantly surprised by as well. or how much the players have really engaged and they understand that we need to try and fix some things. And there's been an honesty there, which has been pleasantly surprising. But the thing that will get us all going and will lift everybody's mood is obviously results and that's still the bit that we're searching for.

4:10One of the things you've said recently is that you've asked your players if they're scared. So is it very much a mindset thing as much as it is a physical? Yeah, I think football is hugely about this. It really is because there's, yeah, there's been change, there's been a turnover, you know, some players have left and some have arrived, but there's still quite a big bulk of the lads that are here that were playing when they won six in a row last year. So football is very much about the psychological side of it, the mindset and confidence is a thing we all know exists but it's really hard to put your finger on it and how to get it when you haven't got it and then how you lose it sometimes when you do have it as well.

4:53Momentum is the same sort of thing. So we've got momentum going the wrong way at the moment and then trying to shift that is a challenge. So how would you react if your players or maybe one or two of them turned around and said, yeah, I am scared? Well, it's understandable. It's human nature. You know, when you've got 30 ,000 and people there that want to be, they want to get behind a team, they want to be entertained, but they want to cheer a winning team. And when it's not going the way that they want it, there's going to be disappointment there. So that's understandable. And not everyone reacts in the same way.

5:24So some players, it will affect them more than others if they hear the groans, if they hear boos, or if they hear even an eerie sort of silence whilst the game's going on as well. It can affect players in different ways. The best players, the best players are obviously able to just shake everything off, stick the chest out and go, give me the ball. But it does affect people. So it's understandable. And then it's about how we deal with that as well. And then what's going to come off the back of it. But do you feel you're good enough as well? That probably plays in the mind too. All of that. Yeah, all of that.

5:54So what I'm trying to get across to the players is we are human beings. We will make mistakes. We will make errors. If you've got the other 10 players willing to graft really hard to get you out of it, if we do make a mistake, then you'll maybe feel a little bit more protected. And if we normalise those errors, my experience of it so far and the teams I've worked with before, then you make less. We've spoken to many coaches and many players in this podcast. And you saying that takes me back to a conversation I had with Scott Parker last season. And he said, you need to have a concrete head to make sure you're not impacted or affected by all the noise around you.

6:31Would that Yeah, I think so. And he's someone that's obviously experienced the top, top level of playing as well. So I'm sure he would have had that. And yeah, we've got to try and find a way to get that across as well. You've got to have a real thick skin and yeah, concrete there. I understand. I think that's a really good way of looking at it. And with you and the challenge, what do you sort of put yourself through then as well as the players? Because ultimately you're the one now, you've got to protect those players, but you've also got to get the best out of them too. Yeah, so consistency.

7:02I mean, we'll try and say and do the right things and things that we believe in. We've had a really good meeting in here today and I'm drawing on that TV and scribbling things down and writing stuff. And today was probably a bit of a different one that we've had so far since we've arrived. There was a lot of honesty there and things that we don't really want to see again. But also then we took something from it. How do we want to be? If we're going to lose, if we're going to die, how do we want to die? If we're going to lose, how do we want to lose a game? And try and get some feedback from them as well.

7:36Things that we can hold them accountable to. Things that we can use. And yeah, we can go forward. So every single day, training or in a match, there's accountability. And we can remind the players, this has come from you. This is what we've said. You've said. It's not a short-term fix though, this, is it? No, it's never going to be. That's what I mean. it's going to take such a long time to get that right. But how do you reconnect that then with the support and the fan base to align it all together? The fans want to cheer the team on. They want to get behind the team. They want to cheer goals.

8:10They want to cheer wins. They want to see the team being successful. We haven't been for eight months or whatever now. So there's going to be frustration. I get that. I'm completely fine with that. So it's got to come from us. We can't expect the fans just to get behind us and if we're playing rubbish and it looks like we're not being brave and not taking risks and we're playing backwards and sideways, we can't expect the crowd to be happy and loving life. So it's got to come from us. Because things look so difficult right now, I think all they want to see really, and this is like most supporters, they want to see effort, they want to see grit, determination, fight.

8:47If you're in that position, they want to see some form of reaction, don't they? Of course. But that's just whether we're at the top. You're not going to be at the top of the league if you don't have those things. We're at the bottom. We've got to show that. And this position at the bottom, would you say you'd need a miracle to get yourself out of it and the consequence of it? I'm not even thinking that far. I can't even think that far ahead now. We've got Manchester United on Monday. So I'm not going to think too far ahead. we are in a really, really difficult position where no one's ever survived from the position we're in right now.

9:24So I know how difficult a position we're in. That's what I mean. Do you look at it or do you not even think about it? I can be honest with the lads and talk about the response that we need. And if we're going to go down, how do we want to go down? And what it's going to take to produce some kind of, you know, some kind of miracle. but I can't look too far ahead because the job is the here and the now. Without fixing the things right here, right now and being consistent with the message and living it every day, we'll never get there. So it's about doing the right thing today. When we talk about mindset, or you talk about mindset, and you mentioned Manchester United, Ruben Amram has spoken about the situation he found himself at Manchester United in last season with his team and also some of the players as well, in that they went into games thinking they weren't going to win.

10:18Can you understand that as well? Yeah, I can. If he can say that, then it happens to everybody. I think it does. And every club at some stage will go through difficult periods of time. The champions have gone through a difficult period, going through a difficult period. It can happen to everybody. I don't really want to talk about other clubs because it's here and it's about us and this is about us now, but we're all human beings. You know, all the players are human beings, so they can all have difficult moments and it can affect everybody. And expectation and pressure can affect people and it can affect them negatively as well as in a good way as well.

10:55So they can all feel it. And I was just thinking about you and coming into this. You knew it was going to be a challenge. You knew it would be difficult. How do you keep yourself going, sort of coming into work every day, but knowing you've got to get the best, not out of just your players, but out of yourself? Yeah, if I'm not at my best, then I'm not going to be able to energise and get the best out of them. So I have to make sure I focus on that, try and look after myself when I can. Do you get time to look at you? Knowing that I'm not going to get much sleep and I'm not going to be able to exercise all the time and all of that sort of stuff.

11:31but it's my job and I've got to find a way to do that. I found a way today. I was in my normal time. What's normal time? I don't know, 6.30, 6.40, something like that. Well, it's still dark. Yeah, watch the game back and then get the right things in place for the meeting. That's what we do, though. I'd be no different to anyone else. Is that what you've always done in the jobs you've had with Luton, Middlesbrough, Telford, since you've been into this role. That's what you do. We all, whatever job we're in, you'll work hard, you'll put the time and the effort in, you'll do the research, you'll do, you know, we all do it in our own fields.

12:12So it's no different to anyone else. And I enjoy doing that. But then, yeah, I've got to be energised and motivated and up for it because if that goes for me, then, yeah, that's it then. But does it help as well when you're being right for yourself that you're in this environment that you're so used to? And I know you've talked about home and the fact you've been away for five years, that that helps you be the best version that you can be too. Maybe, yeah. It's certainly nice to have a bit of normality for me and sleeping in the same bed every night and things like that. That's good. But look, it's a demanding job.

12:47And if you go into it, and it doesn't matter, and I can talk about it whether you're in the National League or you're in the Premier League, there won't be many people that will be able to say that. You feel exactly the same. you feel exactly the same if you lose a game and it hurts and that's why I think with me I don't know I don't know even in this day and night I know Pep's just got his thousand games and I'm not sure how many in this sort of day and age now how many more will get that going forward I don't know because you know I spoke to a few people Neil Warnock said it as well he feels it's so much more difficult for us now because you know years ago you might have had it once a week in the paper after the game and then that's sort of it.

13:29Now you're getting it. For 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Online, everywhere. Yeah, and I have to remove myself from that. So I'm in my own bubble, so I won't be aware of anything. I see my name on anything. It's like, don't even look. And that's the way I sort of cope and deal with it. But I think the bit that sort of stresses me out most is I feel it and I don't like letting people down. So I don't like letting the supporters down. I don't like, that hurts. And that's the bit that I carry. You feel that already, even though you've been in this job a matter of weeks, that you're letting people down.

14:05Yeah, you see it. You see it. I go around to try and show my appreciation at the end. And you see people, you see the frustration. I feel it. You know, I feel it. It's hard. That bit's really difficult. It's your club. So do you feel it even more then? I think so. I think with this one, that was always going to be the case. You know, it was always going to be the case. And you also know at some stage, and I know we're only a couple of weeks in, but you know coming here, it is going to end at some stage as well. And these are all the things that go through your head and you think you never want it to end here.

14:34And all those sorts of things go through your head and you want to make people proud. You know, I'm desperate for the supporters to feel proud of their team. And that's the bit that keeps me up at night. That's the bit that's really, really difficult because I know it's a collective and I know it's not solely my responsibility, but in the end, that's who will be looked at, you know. It's the emotional. So you've got that because it's your club. You have that emotional feeling too. I've said that everywhere I've been as well. You feel that when you're the head coach or manager of a football club, that's how you feel, that responsibility.

15:12So that's the most difficult bit. You can't surely be thinking it's going to end already when you're in those moments. No, you just know, especially when I decided to come back here and I had the opportunity to decide to come back here, you know at some stage it's going to end. And that's the bit you think almost, you know, so many good things have happened here, then you don't want it to be a negative, you know. Most of the time things end on negative, don't they? But no, I want to be able to enjoy it. I want to be able to, I came here because I thought, right, I want to live my life. I want to take risks.

15:47I want to manage this football club. And I knew it was going to be a challenge. I knew it was going to be tough. And I want to enjoy it. I want to try and enjoy it. And I am, you know, it's a couple of weeks in. I know it's a real, I know it's really difficult. Risk and reward. Does that come into mind? When you talk about taking risks, but the reward could be so good. Life is just so short. And I just think I don't want to live with regrets. I don't want to. And how many British coaches, head coaches, managers now can say they worked in the Premier League? It's really difficult to do that. And I had the opportunity to do it again.

16:22And so, you know, I wanted to take that. But there's no reason why, I suppose what I'm saying, that can't continue if you were to be relegated to the Championship, that you can't have that opportunity to go back into the Premier League with this club. And that's obviously, this is why it was a long-term thing. And of course, all of the talk during the process was around this being a long-term thing. But I'm also aware that football is football and can be very, very brutal as well. So I'm aware of that. I've experienced all sides of that sort of thing, the game now. So that's okay. And I'm all right with that.

17:04But yeah, the sort of overriding thing and the hardest part of this job is letting people down. That's the most difficult part. That's the bit that gets me. I was going to end the interview because I think that's just a really emotive way of feeling about these jobs. Football is emotive. It's passion, isn't it? And fans care. We all care about our clubs. People who don't like football and don't support it, they don't really get it. Kicking a bag of air around. Wind, as my dad used to say. but it's not that is it so I can't sit here in front of you and say it's only football because it's not it matters so much to everybody it brings people together it does so much good can come from it and in difficult moments there's a lot of emotion as well so we feel it we feel it all the time it's the global game it's our national sport and everyone's really really passionate about it so it gets you it gets you and when you're in it and you're in the middle of it it gets you even more but you stay with it you stick with it maybe not a thousand games stick with it but yeah you stick with it ten might be nice but no but you stick with it people stick with it because they love it and they love their team yeah that's what it's all about that's what it's all about yeah so good times, bad times we get through it and then I suppose I suppose there's more bad than good for everybody and that's why we enjoy the good times even more but also you go through the bad to get the good times yeah and that's what you're having to do that's what we're having to go through now and again eyes wide open coming into it that's what I knew it was going to have to be Rob it's been brilliant thank you thanks Juliet see what I mean I didn't really know at times what to say to him he doesn't want to let anyone down and he knows that one day it's going to come to an end and as he said it would take a miracle for Wolves to get out of their current position in the Premier League.

19:08He absolutely knew it would be difficult, but he's there for the long term and it's certainly not a short-term fix. Whatever happens from now on in the Premier League. And if you want to watch the interview with Rob Edwards or any others from this season, including Aston Villa's Matty Cash, who scored another belter at the weekend just gone, then you know what to do by now. You just search one-on-one across Sky Sports YouTube channels and we'll be back next Wednesday when Joe will be back with another Premier League star joining him. So if you don't already, make sure you give us a follow one-on-one from Sky Sports on your podcast platform of choice so you don't miss us.

19:48Thanks for listening. Enjoy the Christmas shopping and we'll catch you soon.

19:59Hi there, Emma Payton here from the Love the Darts podcast on Sky Sports. We all know that Christmas means darts and the World Championship takes centre stage for the next few weeks. So who is going to stop Luke the New Kalitler from defending his title? It is the biggest tournament ever and we'll be there to round up the action for you with daily podcasts from Alexandra Palace. So as you're eating your turkey sandwiches or picking out your favourite chocolates from the tub, why not keep up to date with all the latest news from Ali Pali by making sure you give us a follow. Just search for Love the Dance wherever you get your podcasts.