The five months between leaving Luton Town and moving to Middlesbrough constituted Rob Edwards’ longest break from football since joining Aston Villa as a child. It is an all-consuming sport that decides for you where your gaps come. You know you probably need a rest and yet it is the last thing you desire because it can only reflect perceived failure.
Edwards was certainly ready. When we spoke before the start of last season, I was struck at how emotional he was: about Luton’s relegation, about the deep desire to make amends, about his captain Tom Lockyer’s medical emergency and the response of the club.
Football management is astonishingly draining; Edwards had at least a double dose. Last season went terribly and he left Kenilworth Road. A rollercoaster always stops at the bottom.
It is tempting to paint Luton Town and Middlesbrough as polar opposites. One needs a new stadium; the other has one of the grandest homes produced during football’s great 1990s expansion. One flew up and sank down without a break; the other has spent 15 of its last 16 seasons in the Championship, desperately playing witness to other clubs’ dreams.
Perhaps that makes this the perfect fit. There is no fire to put out. Middlesbrough do not need to be built from the bottom up. Everyone knows what everyone else desires at the end of this contract and there isn’t a lot for any manager to want for.
Middlesbrough’s recent history is one of frustration, not quite stasis but close enough to raise grumbles locally. They became the fourth or fifth favourites for promotion who never went up, perennially left behind by those who had parachute payments or those who supercharged through League One and then the Championship.
They also made their own mistakes, appointing three managers who, a little unfairly, blurred into one: Tony Pulis, Neil Warnock, Chris Wilder. There were reasons to recruit each of them (or so it seemed at the time) and none were desperately poor. Also: none took Boro up.
To end that cycle, Michael Carrick was supposed to be the guy, the manager who brought a new era to Teesside but instead became caught in the same suspension. Steve Gibson, the benevolent, brilliant owner, is a patient man. But Carrick only won eight of his last 25 matches and won three away from home in 2025. Sacking him felt like a failure all of its own.
So if Middlesbrough looked like they needed a shot of emotion, an on-pitch identity that could transfer from the players to supporters and back, Edwards was their solution. He talks using the human qualities of players as fuel, not because it’s good PR – which it is – but because he believes in it.
Middlesbrough have been logical and functional over the first three months of the season. They have not been particularly exciting – 16 goals in 12 league games – and Edwards has spoken repeatedly about a desire to develop their attacking patterns that they will surely need to improve if they are to go up.
He has also created the best defensive platform in the EFL by every measure. Middlesbrough have conceded only eight goals, but more remarkable is the 25 shots on target faced in 12 matches (the next best in the Championship is 33). If that wasn’t enough, they face the lowest value shots too. I watch them win 1-0 against Sheffield Wednesday without creating much and allowing less. Play that on repeat.
“A big thing so far is that when something has been going wrong mid-game, it gets changed very quickly,” says Dex, a Middlesbrough supporter I chat to. “Of course, that won’t always work and may often come too early, but so far virtually every change Edwards has made within each match has been basically perfect.”
Middlesbrough’s promotion campaigns – without parachute payments – have been funded by them consistently being one of the best clubs in the division at identifying and developing players and then selling at profit. This summer was no different: Finn Azaz (Southampton), Rav van den Berg (Cologne) and Josh Coburn (Millwall) left for around £28m.
But there was also a change in tack; that may well prove instrumental. There were strong suggestions that Hayden Hackney might be sold for £20m, an enormous fee for any second-tier club to reject. Middlesbrough made the decision to keep Hackney in favour of giving Edwards a firm midfield base.
Incoming recruitment shifted too. Under Kieran Scott, Middlesbrough have chosen to focus their recruitment plans in places they can seek value – players arrived from Slovan Bratislava, NEC Nijmegen, Troyes, Lausanne and FC Charlotte in the summer.
But supporters were more enamoured by the domestic recruitment and the experience added as a result. Matt Targett, Alfie Jones, Callum Brittain and Allan Browne have started 34 league games so far; the recruits from Europe and beyond just 11. The point is obvious: Edwards gets to control the controllables as he bloods in those still acclimatising to the league.
“January 2025 was really poor – it was a total move away from what we’ve been good at since Scott came in as Head of Football in late 2021,” says Dex.
“We’re the best sellers in the division and very good buyers in terms of young, foreign talent.
“But what I like this summer was as well as holding onto the main key man in Hackney, and bringing in exciting foreign talent under 25, we’ve been sensible and added experience in Targett, Browne, as well as Brittain and Jones, those two in particular have been really key so far.”
The dynamics of this Championship season are fascinating and may well help Middlesbrough, among others. Leicester City face a potential points deduction, while Southampton and Ipswich Town have started slowly. Coventry City may be flying but positions in the top six have become unexpectedly available in the autumn. Keeping hold of them is the new task.
Fast starts to the season, particularly those ahead of most expectations, can become a little two-faced. It’s easy for supporters to normalise proficiency and begin to get tetchy at dropped points. In the aftermath of the Wrexham draw last weekend, there were some moans; deeply unfair given the improvements under Edwards.
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I wonder if there’s something serendipitous about this start to Middlesbrough’s season and Edwards finding his feet again after a difficult two years.
For too long, this club probably believed that it belonged in the Premier League and failed to match reasonable ambition – it became a millstone that hung heavy around the neck. Nowhere else in the country (Sunderland is the other example) have so many people come to watch second-tier games for so long.
Now, more than ever, a wait-and-see mentality has overtaken expectation. Don’t focus on what might have been over seasons past. Don’t get hung up on what other clubs are doing. Don’t become wedded to anything other than the process ruling over the potential destination.
Because Middlesbrough have everything they need. Gibson is a magnificent owner. The recruitment model makes sense and is back on track. The home attendances are their highest since relegation from the top flight. They have lost one league game. And they have a workaholic manager who is determined to experience the Premier League again on his terms.
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