Nice guy Edwards out to prove he won't finish last with Wolves

Rob Edwards' name already adorns the wall at Compton.

It is on a list of Wolves players at the club's training ground showing those who have made at least 100 appearances, with the new manager having played 111 times.

Former defender Edwards, who takes charge for the first time against Crystal Palace on Saturday (15:00 GMT), is Wolves' 11th manager in 13 years - and their fifth since Nuno Espirito Santo left in 2021.

Nuno is just one of three to have managed more than 100 games for Wolves in the past 21 years - along with Mick McCarthy and Kenny Jackett.

Walter Zenga - owners Fosun's first appointment in 2016 - lasted just 17 games and the list since Nuno left hardly makes better reading.

Bruno Lage managed 51, Julen Lopetegui 27, Gary O'Neil 63 while Vitor Pereira lasted just 38 games before he was sacked this month.

Wolves have been looking for the right man to lead them since the departure of Nuno - who led them to the Europa League quarter-finals and two seventh-placed Premier League finishes.

As they sit bottom of the Premier League, winless and favourites for relegation, will Edwards finally be that man?

With just two points from 11 games, Edwards arrives at a stricken club with the team in desperate need of inspiration.

According to Opta, Wolves 'deserve' to be sitting on 11 points and Pereira felt conceding late goals against Tottenham, Brighton and Burnley - which cost Wolves five points - damaged the team's mindset beyond repair.

Edwards has been in a relegation battle before, after guiding Luton to a surprise Premier League promotion in 2023.

Two years ago the Hatters fought against the Premier League drop, which was made more emotional after captain Tom Lockyer's cardiac arrest on the pitch at Bournemouth in December 2023.

The defender had returned from heart surgery after previously collapsing in the play-off win over Coventry in the May.

Lockyer, now playing for Bristol Rovers, remains in touch with Edwards and believes he will be able to connect with the Wolves squad and restore their confidence.

"He really cares about his players," said the 30-year-old. "That was evident in the play-off final when I had to go off and he found out I was all right when he was doing an interview and burst into tears.

"When I saw he'd joined Wolves I didn't just want to send a text. I was going to give it a couple of weeks and give him a call because I knew his phone would be going mad.

"After we played Accrington last weekend he called me on Sunday. He was just ringing to see how I was getting on, how I was feeling in the games, how I was training, how the family were. There was no other agenda than he just wanted to check in on me.

"With everything he had going on, I didn't quite believe it but it just sums him up.

"But he's also a winner as well - he's not nice all the time. I have seen him flip his lid now and again, which when it does happen makes it have more of an impact."

Luton eventually went down - and Edwards left in January this year before the now League One Hatters suffered a second successive relegation - but Lockyer saw what the 42-year-old can bring to a survival fight.

"The work ethic was unwavering and there was this ultimate belief we were going to stay in the Premier League," Lockyer told BBC Sport.

"He didn't get any backing in the January [transfer window] and still ended up having a hell of a fight. I've always said if he'd had a bit of backing, we'd probably still be in the Premier League now.

"When you feel like you've got someone who genuinely cares about you, it's a lot easier to go to battle for them."

Wolves are battling for Premier League survival.

They have scored just four goals from open play, 10 fewer than at this stage last season.

Five consecutive defeats in all competitions and nine from 11 in the Premier League have left Wolves eight points from 17th-placed Burnley, who beat them 3-2 last month.

Edwards' new side have lost to all three of the promoted teams and gone more than six months without a top-flight win.

The average tenure for the current Premier League managers is just 312 days - down from last season's 439 - with Edwards putting his reputation on the line after swapping Middlesbrough's promotion hunt for a relegation battle.

He already has his century in Old Gold and the club need him to make another ton to ensure they can finally have the stability so desperately needed.

"When you're a football manager your whole life is a gamble. It's a big risk - I take risks," said Edwards.

"When we take these jobs we all back ourselves - there's a belief and ego we all have that 'I can be the one who can stick around for a while'.

"I haven't joined this club to be gone within a few months."