Rob Edwards blasted for 'load of PR' departing Middlesbrough message - 'it does nothing for me' | OneFootball

FLW's Boro fan pundit isn't buying the farewell message issued by Rob Edwards as he joins Wolves.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

After days of waiting, Rob Edwards is finally Wolves manager, leaving Middlesbrough now looking for their second head coach of the season.

The former Middlesbrough boss was stood down by the club ahead of last Saturday's 2-1 win over Birmingham City, as Boro reluctantly allowed him to talk to the Premier League's basement side.

The former Wolves defender was confirmed as the new man in the Molineux dugout earlier this week. This is Edwards' fourth spell back at the club, having made over 100 appearances there as a player, alongside a couple of stints as a coach once he'd retired.

Born in Telford, a mere half an hour away from Wolverhampton, Edwards clearly has strong ties with the club, and in a parting message on Instagram, he outlined how the Premier League side would be the only side he'd consider departing the Riverside for.

"This has been one of the toughest decisions of my career," Edwards writes. "In truth, I wouldn't have considered leaving Middlesbrough for any other club.

"Wolves is a special club for me. It's where I grew as both a player and a coach, it's still where my family calls home. It has always been my dream to come back and these opportunities do not come around too often.

"Middlesbrough is an incredible club, with a fantastic owner, staff and passionate supporters. I want to thank everyone at the club for the opportunity to lead this squad, it is a great group of players that I genuinely hope and believe will deliver success this season.

"I could not be prouder of the environment we built together and how it all gelled together so quickly - the players, the staff, and the fans, who drive it all.

"I sincerely wish everyone at Middlesbrough all the very best for the rest of the season and beyond. Rob."

Unfortunately, despite his sincere wishes for his former side to go from strength to strength following his departure, most of the Boro fanbase aren't buying what he's saying.

Liam Day, Football League World's Middlesbrough fan pundit, doesn't believe a word of Rob Edwards' statement following his switch to Wolves.

Ultimately, the reasoning behind the move, to be closer to his family, a chance to manage a club he has prior links with and an opportunity to return to the Premier League and make more money, are all understandable.

However, his words used during his brief stint as Middlesbrough boss about the club needing to be a family, particularly after Boro fans jeered the substitution of Morgan Whittaker less than two months ago, made the move a little bit harder to swallow.

"There's no sympathy, and there never will be sympathy," Liam said. "That statement is a load of PR, and it does nothing for me.

"I understood his reasoning from the start. It's a chance to go to the Premier League and make more money, but it's the message he was trying to get across here.

"'We need to be together, we need to be a family,' and then he jumps at the first opportunity.

"It's so fake to do that, and it just makes everything he says irrelevant. There's no coming back from it. No statement would have helped, and he didn't even apologise, really."

Liam believes that Edwards is taking a big risk in moving to a Wolves side that seems destined for relegation.

If he isn't able to make a good impact at Molineux, and he finds himself without a job in the summer, the fan pundit questions whether anyone else would take a punt on him, knowing how quickly he left the Riverside once a good offer came.

"It's not a good look, and it could really damage his reputation and future in management, especially now if he fails at Wolves," Liam continued.

"He's now known as someone who will jump at any given opportunity, and he has no loyalty."

Middlesbrough fans may never forgive Rob Edwards for Wolves move

Whilst it can be easy to attribute an emotional response by Middlesbrough fans to the news surrounding Edwards' departure, this feeling may never actually leave the Riverside.

After being the man largely responsible for Luton Town's relegation to League One last season, given the Hatters had the 16th-best record in the Championship under his successor Matt Bloomfield, stock in Edwards was low over the summer, and Boro had taken a risk in bringing him in.

Middlesbrough gave the former Forest Green Rovers and Watford manager the platform to build that reputation up once more, but once it did, Edwards moved on.

Fans at the Riverside are understandably miffed by this decision, but don't expect that reaction to cool any time soon.

The focus now is on ensuring that the positive start was due to those on the pitch, rather than the man in the dugout.