Simon Jordan has told Rob Edwards in no uncertain terms that he must quash links to the vacant post at Wolves and get on with the job at Middlesbrough - telling the Boro boss that his current job is better anyway.
Edwards continues to be linked with the role at Molineux after Vitor Pereira was sacked on Sunday. Edwards is said to be one of the main candidates for the role after Gary O’Neil talks broke down earlier in the week. But Boro remain confident that they can keep Edwards at the club, with sources dismissing suggestions that there is a release clause in his contract.
Edwards, meanwhile, reiterated his focus was on nothing but Boro after the 1-1 draw at Leicester City. Ahead of the game, he expressed how much he was loving the job and wasn’t giving Wolves a second thought, but he didn’t go as far as completely ruling it out.
Unconvinced by the response of the Boro boss, Jordan told talkSport: “He has no business doing anything other than the job he has got at Middlesbrough. He has been given an opportunity by Steve Gibson who is a good football club owner. He was brought in after the end of his time at Luton where his reputation was damaged a little bit, because their decline was, to some extent, under his watch.
“The successes were there, and he was part of the success, but he has been given a good job. Remind yourself Rob, that Steve Gibson has given you an opportunity and don’t even be considering moving to Wolves just because you played there. I took you on loan to Palace so you weren’t that indexed at Wolves!”
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Suggested that he knew how football works, Jordan continued: “It’s not how it should work! It won’t serve him well if he jumps out of the Boro job after five minutes. We’ve seen this before, where people think the grass is greener somewhere else and the opportunity that exists for them, but it isn’t.
“He’s at a good football club, Middlesbrough are in good nick, Gibson will be thinking they can get promoted this season, so he will probably get backed in January. So, pack it in, distance yourself from the Wolves job and get on with the opportunity you’ve been given.
“I really do think there’s a duty of care, an obligation. You’ve been given an opportunity. I don’t suppose in the summer he said to Steve Gibson, ‘I’ll only stay if you don’t sell any players’. I suspect he bit his arm off at the shoulders to get the bloody job in the first place.
“Wolves is not a better job than Middlesbrough. Wolves is a club that’s in managed decline. It’s not a great job. I’m not disputing that Wolves is a great football club. So what? You’re getting relegated from the Premier League, you’re a club in decline because your ownership model has changed its thought processes. As a manager, think bigger and bolder than the end of your nose.”
As of Wednesday lunchtime, there still isn’t understood to have been any contact between the two clubs, as Wolves’ manager search continues. Edwards hasn’t given any indication either way what he’d do if an official approach was made and he was given permission to speak to Wolves, describing such talk as speculation and hypothetical, and instead focusing completely on Boro. His passion and delight when Luke Ayling scored a 96th minute equaliser against Leicester City was clear to see.
That said, while his name remains linked to the post, he hasn’t, on two occasions now, completely ruled it out. Wolves is a club he played for and also started his coaching career with, while his family home is still in the Midlands too. As things stand, he'll next speak to the media on Friday afternoon to preview Birmingham City's visit to the Riverside.