Rob Edwards disclosed that he left Middlesbrough for Wolves last year for four reasons, one of which was the allure of the Premier League.

The 43-year-old had a great start to life on Teesside despite only being hired at Riverside Stadium in the summer before the 2025–2026 season.

With just one point separating them from the automatic promotion spots after 14 games, Boro’s return to the Premier League appeared plausible.

Rob Edwards reveals why he chose Wolves over Middlesbrough.

Nevertheless, Wolves’ interest caught Edwards’ attention, and following protracted talks, he went back to Molineux.

From a football standpoint, that was a risky decision because Wolves had two points from 11 games and were now eight points outside of safety, making relegation seem certain.

Edwards faced a lot of criticism as a result, and since he had only recently joined Middlesbrough, his allegiance and moral character were called into doubt.

Edwards recognised that it was a popular topic at the time in an interview with The Managers podcast, but he offered four reasons why he was eager to rejoin a team he had previously coached and played for.

“You know that it’s creating a bit of a commotion out there, but you clearly don’t look at anything, and people don’t know me or the motivations behind my actions.

It was a tough choice because, as we all know, Middlesbrough is a fantastic football team, Steve Gibson is an excellent owner, and we had gotten off to the best start in their history. Thus, everything was proceeding smoothly.

But I’ll explain why. It’s an opportunity to manage in the Premier League, which is quite challenging for a young British coach. Thus, there would be greater experience.

I’ve been a player and coach at this club for nine or ten years, so I know everyone there. It’s also very appealing to me.

“I can return home and resume living with my family.” Another significant benefit is that I can return home to them every night, even though I’ve been away for three hours.

There was that, and the last one was, “Yes, Wolves were in a terrible situation, which is why I got the opportunity, as everyone wanted to stay up, but okay, this is probably going to be a relegation, and then it’s about building to go back up.” In any case, it was the concept.

Rob Edwards might regret moving to Middlesbrough from Wolves.

Edwards will undoubtedly be second-guessing his decision to quit Middlesbrough at this point, even though he is unlikely to acknowledge it.

It should be noted, of course, that all of the explanations he provided were reasonable and made sense to him, particularly when considering his family.

He therefore behaved in his own best interests at the moment, and the truth is that the great majority of people in all spheres of life and occupations do the same.

Edwards may now rue the impact the decision had on his own career, though. He had a wonderful owner at Borough, and he would have had more time to make things right, but Wolves were always more chaotic.

Additionally, he was aware that he was entering a dire scenario at Molineux, where it would be nearly impossible to turn things around in the near future due to the squad’s lack of talent.

Following Rob Edwards’ departure, Middlesbrough is thriving.

Even if Borough was angry with Edwards at the time, it’s safe to argue that choosing Kim Hellberg to succeed him was a brilliant move.

Even if they didn’t get promoted the previous season, Hellberg’s football has been amazing to watch and is undoubtedly better than what they witnessed under Edwards.

They are currently the top club in the Championship after Borough backed the Swede once more following a thorough preseason and a summer transfer window.

Although it is still early, Hellberg appears to be the real deal, and Middlesbrough will believe they are in a far better position under him than they would have been under Edwards.