Rob Edwards is poised to take charge at Middlesbrough after impressing the owner, Steve Gibson, in interviews.
Only an unforeseen 11th-hour hitch will prevent the 42-year-old former Luton manager being at the Riverside helm when Boro’s players start pre-season training at the end of June.
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Edwards is due to replace Michael Carrick, who was sacked after the team finished a disappointing 10th in the Championship, after seeing off strong competition from the former Nottingham Forest and Leicester manager Steve Cooper and the Sheffield Wednesday head coach Danny Röhl. It is understood Edwards also ranked high on Gibson’s shortlist in 2022 when Carrick took over.
Bristol City had given serious consideration to recruiting Edwards as Liam Manning’s replacement this month but he was attracted by Boro’s infrastructure and the chance to reunite with the club’s head of football, Kieran Scott, a former colleague at Wolves. Apart from the 35,000-capacity Riverside Stadium, Boro possess Rockliffe Park, an impressive training facility attached to a luxury hotel in a village south of Darlington.
Gibson will challenge Edwards to repeat the feat he achieved with Luton in 2023 and lead the club into the Premier League. Luton then finished 18th in the top flight and were arguably a little unlucky to go down after accruing more points than any of the other five teams relegated in the past two seasons.
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Luton are freshly installed in League One after a disastrous campaign that included Edwards being sacked in January.
The former Wales, Aston Villa and Wolves defender coached England’s Under-16s before leading Forest Green Rovers to promotion from League Two in 2022. A brief spell at Watford preceded Edwards’s installation at Luton and he swiftly choreographed promotion via the playoffs.
Gibson is believed to have been impressed by Edwards’s extensive knowledge of Boro’s squad, broad tactical blueprint, commitment to youth development and candour regarding his final few months at Luton.
The hope on Teesside is that next spring Carrick’s successor will guide Boro back into the Premier League for the first time in almost a decade.
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