This post is part of Football League World’s ‘Terrace Talk’ series, which features personal comments from FLW Fan Pundits on breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings, and more.
Middlesbrough started the 2025/26 Championship season in spectacular fashion.
Teesside won all four of their first Championship games and would not be defeated until gameweek nine, when they lost 1-0 away to Portsmouth.
Middlesbrough, led by former Watford and Luton Town manager Rob Edwards, have defied early predictions to sit comfortably third after 14 games, trailing only Stoke City and Coventry City.
This form has not gone unnoticed, with Premier League strugglers Wolverhampton Wanderers eyeing the former Welsh international defender as a possible replacement for Vitor Pereira at Molineux, following the Portuguese manager’s dismissal earlier this week.
On Thursday, Wolves made an approach for Middlesbrough’s manager. However, Boro immediately rejected the approach, stating unequivocally that they do not want to lose their head coach.
With Edwards in great demand, Boro will need a replacement in case the Welshman leaves, and we asked our Middlesbrough fan commentator, Liam, who he thought would be a suitable fit at The Riverside.
Ralph Hasenhuttl’stands out’ for the Middlesbrough job.
Middlesbrough fan commentator Liam from Football League World has endorsed Hasenhuttl for the Boro job if Edwards leaves for Wolves soon.
Liam stated, “I mean, it’s not the best available managers without a job; I can’t see Steve Gibson going for someone who has a job.” He never wants to do it.
“For me, Ralph Hasenhuttl stands out. I believe he would be willing to take the position down to the Championship if it was a team striving for promotion.
“To be fair to Edwards, he’s put us in a situation where we’re probably quite an appealing job, and Steve Gibson would support whichever manager we hire in January, so I believe that’s a good one.
“He performed well at Southampton, and I believe he was wrongly dismissed, therefore he is someone I would like to see.
“I don’t know if he would be willing to take the job, but if we was, that’s definitely the one I would go for, just as long as we don’t get Russell Martin really.”
Ralph Hasenhuttl has not managed in England since his four-year stay at Southampton.
Austrian head coach Hasenhuttl, who was most recently at German Bundesliga team VFL Wolfsburg before being dismissed in May 2025, has been without a club since leaving Die Wölfe.
Middlesbrough would not be his first job in England; he previously led Southampton in the Premier League from December 2018 to November 2022, during a turbulent period.
Southampton lost 9-0 at home to Leicester City in October 2019, the joint-largest Premier League defeat of all time. He openly apologized after the terrible defeat, but the board still supported him.
In his second season, he ended 11th, and he began the next season brilliantly at St Mary’s, but another crushing 9-0 defeat, this time away to Manchester United, along with some poor form, meant the Saints finished 15th overall.
His dismissal in November 2022 marked the last time he was in a managerial post in England, but if Edwards departs for Wolves, his name may emerge as a potential option.
It is uncertain whether the Austrian, who has years of Premier League and Bundesliga experience, would be willing to drop to the Championship, but with Boro in a strong position both on and off the pitch, it cannot be ruled out just yet.
xz
