Sitting down with Edwards at Wolves’ training ground is a reminder that the personal and professional cannot be viewed in isolation. He is looking forward to the family meal celebrating his daughter’s 18th birthday. Last night, there was homework with his son.
“Maths homework. I was struggling with it, to be honest,” he tells Sky Sports. “But these little things are really big and important to me. Being able to go home every night, I’ve not been able to do that for five years. So that is huge. I just need to find that win.”
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As his thoughts return to football, it brings home the reality that while this might be the perfect location for Edwards, 42, the circumstances of his return to the club where he had been a player and a coach is far from ideal. Wolves are in a desperate situation.
Without a Premier League win since April, they are already eight points off 19th-placed Burnley let alone safety. The predicament Edwards inherited was such that no team has ever stayed up after such a start – and he has lost a couple more since then.
But there has been a response. The 1-0 defeat to in-form Aston Villa was arguably Wolves’ best display of the season. “The lads showed they cared. They played with courage, with bravery. There was a fighting spirit there, but a lot of good quality as well.”
Edwards talks of there being “things to build on” but the difficulty is that this is December not August and Wolves need points not promising signs. His players have gone so long without victory, without reward, that lifting their spirits cannot be easy.
“That is the challenge. We knew that coming in. We need the lads to keep believing in it. Keep trying to do the right things out there, every day. If we do that, then points will come.” At least Edwards can say that he has seen a lot of the right things so far.
“Running, intensity, winning more duels, the basic things, there has been an improvement there in a couple of games.” Indeed, there has been an obvious upturn in intensity, reflected in the players being applauded off by the travelling support at Villa Park.
“I cannot imagine how hard it is for the supporters at the moment,” Edwards concedes. “But after the game, they were incredible. I think they were with us because they saw the commitment from the players and they saw the performance as well.”
The fans recognise that it is not a lack of effort that has left Wolves struggling but mistakes made by those above them. Talent has been sold and not adequately replaced, leaving a disparate squad that Edwards must now gel amid the adversity.
Even the Portuguese core that once bound the group is gone. In the summer, the six new signings were of six different nationalities, none of whom had Premier League experience. “It is new for me,” admits Edwards. Finding a shared purpose is the aim.
“The first meeting I had with the group, I was talking about how everyone’s journey has been different to get here. We’ve got to respect everyone’s journey. We are all individuals but what we’re trying to build is a culture where we’re all aiming for the same thing.”
Edwards, an engaging personality, believes he is connecting. “When I’m standing in front of them, I can see them nodding, I can see them with it, I can see them taking on the information. I think they’re agreeing with what we’re trying to do and what we want.”
He has quickly restored the midfield axis of Joao Gomes and Andre, the partnership inexplicably broken up by predecessor Vitor Pereira for his final three games in charge. Edwards agrees that the two Brazilians likely rank among the best he has worked with.
“They are really good players. They can take the ball in tight spaces. They can take the ball up against people. They enjoy doing that, that is their game, so we need to be able to use that. If we miss that too much, then we’re not going to play to our strength.”
They can give Wolves a platform – “team players, really good lads and they really care” – but the concerns come in front of them where Edwards does not appear to possess the quality in the squad that the club once boasted. There is no Matheus Cunha to call on.
“We have got the group that we are working with right now,” he replies matter-of-factly when this is put to him. He talks of “trying to find more connections” and working on “how to get behind teams” as well as “how to arrive with good numbers in the box”.
But the fact that Wolves turned to Tawanda Chirewa and Mateus Mane with the game still in the balance at Villa is perhaps a clue that Edwards is searching for something. “I want to be able to see who we can use and who we can trust. Can they handle it?”
Wolves once regularly ranked top for attempted dribbles. Now they are near the bottom, that sense of fun all but having disappeared from their game. In the absence of obvious creativity, perhaps set pieces can be a solution. Wolves need to improve there too.
“The game is always evolving and people are always trying to find an edge,” acknowledges Edwards. Toti Gomes is the team’s resident long-throw specialist but the big defender could do with adding some more distance. “I know. You’re not wrong.”
What is the Edwards idea then? “I want it to be an exciting game. I want it to be aggressive. I want to play quick, dynamic football. But also I want to suit the players that we have as well. Having some control in the game suits what we’ve got.”
He adds: “We want to create chances with a high press, a high regain, a counter-press, a good bit of football with a cross and finish. And maybe a bit of getting through the team as well, in all kinds of different ways. We will play to the players’ strengths.”
Two formations in two games suggests Edwards is still working that out and that he will be flexible in finding solutions. Against Crystal Palace, Wolves went with the two big strikers – Jorgen Strand Larsen and Tolu Arokodare – for the first time this season.
At Villa, the battering-ram approach was swapped for a more subtle style, Jean-Ricner Bellegarde and Jhon Arias brought in to play in the half spaces. “We felt that we needed a bit more of a connection, we wanted a bit more control, which we got,” he explains.
“We did say to the lads on day one as well that we maybe feel at the moment that five at the back probably suits what we have. What happens above that might tweak and change a little bit depending on our position, who is available and who is in good form.”
How much he can do in January to address the squad’s deficiencies remains to be seen. With Wolves’ situation dire already, all hope could be gone by then. “If we can pick up some points and shrink that gap a little bit then maybe we’ll be able to do a bit more.”
The focus is likely to be on adding home-grown qualified players, those with knowledge of the English game, something that has been sorely lacking. Of course, new acquisitions will need to be made with the possibility of a Championship season in mind.
He is realistic. “It is going to be tough.” So when the question of whether Wolves can stay up comes, he is ready. “No-one’s ever done it from this position so I’m not going to sit here and give you a massive headline straight away but I believe in the group.”
He adds: “We owe it to ourselves and everyone connected to this football club to give it our absolute best and leave it all out there.” There are signs already that the supporters who are frustrated by the decisions that have led to Wolves’ decline do appreciate that.
“The most important thing is that they see complete effort, players fighting for the club, for the badge. That is a minimum, I know. But if we can see a bit more quality with that fighting spirit then I think we will keep the fans on side. They’ve been amazing so far.
“I love them. It really means a lot. I’m desperate to give them something to shout about. We’re working as hard as we can to give them a team to be proud of.” Edwards is glad to be home. But Wolves is a puzzle even trickier than his son’s maths homework.
Wolves play live on Sky Sports F1 this Wednesday evening at home to Nottingham Forest before taking on Manchester United at Molineux on Monday Night Football
