Paul Ince hits out at Wolves ownership over "disgraceful" Rob Edwards sack decision | OneFootball

The former Wolves captain has had his say on the decision to sack Rob Edwards ahead of the 2026/27 campaign

Wolves' decision to sack Rob Edwards ahead of the 2026/27 Championship campaign, and the manner in which it occurred, is still a sore topic amongst the EFL.

The 43-year-old head coach was unceremoniously dumped by the Molineux-based club on June 11, with it being revealed that he initially found out from social media rumours.

Edwards was brought to Wolves back in November with the club in a perilous position at the foot of the Premier League, having won none of their opening 11 league games and sitting eight points adrift of safety.

In a way, given the head coach's success in the Championship with Luton Town and then with Middlesbrough at the start of last season, taking that Boro side, which many were expecting to be undergoing a rebuild and making them early promotion favourites, some saw Wolves hiring Edwards as the first step in the preparation for a second-tier campaign in 2026/27.

Edwards was instrumental in bringing Kieran Trippier to the club at the end of his Newcastle United contract, appeared in the video to announce the return of frontman Raul Jimenez, and was namedropped as one of the main reasons why Andre extended his contract this summer.

So, to be let go ahead of the new season is one thing, but to find out from social media and not from the club itself has rubbed some critics and pundits the wrong way.

Paul Ince labels Wolves' treatment of Rob Edwards "disgraceful"

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Former Manchester United midfielder Paul Ince captained Wolves during his four-year stint at Molineux towards the end of his career.

The 60-year-old also knows what a brutal business football management is, too, having taken charge of just under 300 senior games across seven different clubs. The latter of which, a year-long stint at Reading, came almost a decade after his last dugout role.

Per Birmingham World, Ince admitted that the feeling of managing doesn't go away once you start working in it, in both a positive and a negative sense. In some strange way, the bad often spurs you on to strive and be better, but he branded Wolves' treatment of Edwards as a "disgrace".

"The thing is, it's in your blood, and you love it. You kind of think, 'What else am I going to do?' If you retire early from the game, you still have 60 years of your life to live," Ince said, when asked about the perils of management.

"Look at people like Roy Hodgson, who has managed his whole life. You think it's time to sit back and relax, but he just loves it. Managers just wonder what else they would do with themselves.

"I do feel for Arne Slot [the former Liverpool manager]. I thought the way the board handled it was poor. It's the same as what they did at Wolves with Rob Edwards. Disgraceful. Both of those are my former clubs, and you should represent yourself with more class than that.

"Nowadays, people don't give a monkeys, do they? It's not a nice way to treat managers. But there has to be an element of basic respect. When you treat managers like the way Wolves treated Rob Edwards — finding out on social media or having his kids find out that he was sacked — it's not a nice feeling.

"I'm not sure who would want to be a manager at Wolves right now, that's for sure. But I'm sure that Edwards will get another job."

Evidently, Cesar Peixoto wants to be the Wolves manager, as he was hired in the wake of Edwards' sacking.

As for Edwards, he's already turned down the opportunity to manage Burnley, perhaps indicating that the way he was treated at Wolves has cooled his enthusiasm to get straight back into management this summer.

Cesar Peixoto has a lot of pressure to prove Wolves' decision was the right one

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Cesar Peixoto is a relative unknown in the EFL, with his entire seven-year managerial career seeing him take charge of Portuguese clubs. Intriguingly, the longest he's spent at one club is just 10 months.

To let Edwards go was always going to be a contentious decision, given his experience in the Championship, and especially towards the top end of the table too, but to replace him with someone who doesn't have the best winning record in Portugal has raised some eyebrows.

The pressure was always going to be on whoever succeeded the 43-year-old to confirm to the higher-ups at Molineux that, while a somewhat disrespectful decision, the move to sack the former manager was the right one.

Now, even more eyes will be on whether Peixoto can adapt to the Championship quickly, as there won't be much room for error in the dugout of what is expected to be a title-challenging side.

It was a risky move to sack Edwards, and only time will tell whether it pays off.