Pep Guardiola is one of the great minds in football, and Rob Edwards has links to the Man City boss from before his arrival at Wolves.
Wolves fans are sure to be excited by the connection between the two.
The decision to hire Edwards in place of Vitor Pereira will have been made with multiple factors in mind.
That Wolves is Edwards’ dream job is one, and his impressive track record at Middlesbrough is certainly another.
Wolves executives have hailed Edwards’ people skills as well.
But the 42-year-old has been in the coaching game for almost a decade, and has picked up some valuable experience that has made him an even more attractive candidate.
The most exciting example pertains to the man who has made the Premier League his playground in recent years.
Pep Guardiola celebrating the Premier League title
Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images
Rob Edwards spent time at Man City under Pep Guardiola
Since Edwards was last on the sideline at Molineux back in 2016, he has spent most of his time in one role or another up and down the English football pyramid.
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But during those rare periods when he hasn’t held a position, he has continued to better himself from a coaching perspective. That led him to the Etihad, as Wolves’ Director of High Performance, Phil Hayward, recently revealed.
As is reported on Wolves’ website, he says: “In addition to the roles that he’s had, he’s also spent a lot of time when he’s not been in work going around Europe and the Premier League, working with some top coaches to understand how they operate.
“I know he spent time at Man City with Pep [Guardiola]. He’s taken a lot from that experience and tried to take some aspects into how he set his teams up, and I know that he’s taken an awful lot from a variety of different jobs and tried to implement the best bits from all the different coaches that he’s worked with.”
Pep’s methods and tactics have changed the game, and those he has mentored have gone on to do great things. Hopefully, Edwards can follow suit.
Rob Edwards’ first interview as Wolves boss
Edwards and the school of Pep Guardiola
While Hayward doesn’t specify how long the new Wolves boss spent as a Guardiola understudy, any length of time will have had a positive effect.
You need only look around Europe right now to see the fruits that come from working with the Spaniard.
Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal are top of the Premier League. Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea are in third. In Germany, Vincent Kompany has Bayern Munich cruising to the title, while in Spain, Xabi Alonso has Real Madrid three points clear at the top.
If that’s not enough, Luis Enrique just won the Champions League with PSG. All those coaches have attended the school of Pep, so Edwards’ experience there surely bodes well for Wolves.
Let’s see how much his philosophy reflects that of the City manager.