Watford announce the controversial appointment of Rob Edwards as Head Coach

Watford have announced that Rob Edwards will take over as the Head Coach of the Hornets from the 2022-2023 season.

The Hornets’ relegation was confirmed following a 1-0 defeat at Crystal Palace on Saturday and the North London club are already laying the foundations for a push back to the Premier League, with Edwards to take over from Roy Hodgson at the end of the season.

Edwards will vacate his current role as the manager of Forest Green Rovers to embark on the latest chapter of his short managerial career, which recently reached a new peak after he guided the Rovers to the League Two title last week.

The 39-year-old beat the likes of former Watford captain John Eustace and Liam Manning to the job and will become the ninth permanent manager in five years at the Hornets as it is understood that Watford’s hierarchy were after a young and homegrown manager.

However, the appointment has drawn criticism from Forest Green Rovers’ chairman Dale Vince, after he felt the Hornets acted in an unsporting manner. Vince said:

“It’s the kind of thing that shouldn’t happen in football and gives football a bad name.

“Watford had not contacted us, which would have been the right way to go about it and secondly Rob hadn’t said anything.

“It’s the proper way to do things; for the club to approach us so that we’re in the picture and then they can have their negotiations but to do it in secret and to have a negotiation happen behind your back is not a nice thing.

“Not only that Watford also advised Rob not to tell us specifically so for me that doubles down on the deceit.

“I think it is poor from Watford who claim to be starting a new era, but we will move on.”

A New Era at Watford

Watford have earned a reputation for the sacking of managers and this season alone has seen the Hornets hire three different managers.

Xisco Munoz was at the helm for less than 10 months before being replaced by Claudio Ranieri in October.

However, it took just three months for the Italian to be shown the exit following a damaging 3-0 defeat at home to Norwich.

In January, Hodgson joined the Hornets on a short-term contract hoping to spark a revival in Watford’s season.

However the reality was far from the desired outcome, as since the 74-year-old took charge, Watford have only picked up eight points from a possible 45, winning just two matches in that time.

Never has the disconnect between the fans and their manager been more evident after Hodgson went to applaud the fans of his former club following the Hornets’ latest defeat.

The 74-year-old is set to retire at the end of the season and he failed to acknowledge the travelling fans after  the match which confirmed Watford’s relegation and claimed that the fans were “a bit too far away.”

Yet the appointment of Edward will bring some hope to the Watford fans as the Englishman described his new role as “a great opportunity” to showcase his managerial skills.

In just one year at Forest Green Rovers, the 39-year-old guided his side to League One for the first time in their history, winning the title on the final day by pipping Exeter City on goal difference.

Yet for the majority of the season, the Rovers were the standout team in the league, leading by 10 points in February.

However despite faltering late on, Edwards managed to just about steer his side to the new territory of League One along with silverware.

Risk for both parties?

The decision to appoint Edwards as the head coach of Watford could raise the eyebrows of onlookers as Edwards has only ever managed one match in the Championship and the jump in quality from League Two could potentially be a step too far for the young coach.

Watford will undoubtedly be hoping to bounce straight back to the Premier League in order to retain their most valuable assets and with the financial power over other clubs in the Championship, a more well-known figure may have been the safer option.

Edwards has had a relatively short career in management compared to his predecessor’s 46-year coaching career.

His only Championship match came in charge of Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2016, where he was given the role of caretaker manager.

Edwards took his first permanent head-coach role in men’s football at Telford United where he spent a year, before returning to manage the U23’s at Wolves.

The new Watford manager, then spent two years as the U16 manager for England, before eventually joining Forest Green Rovers in 2021.

The 39-year-old averaged 1.75 points per match in charge of the Rovers and his free-flowing and high-energy philosophy as a coach has attracted the services of his new employers.

Undoubtedly, Edwards was the pivotal factor in Forest Green Rovers’ promotion to League One and his presence at the club will be hugely missed as they embark on their new venture in the third-tier of English Football.

If Edwards can bring the same style of football to the Hornets then he will quickly earn the love and trust of the Hornets’ faithful as they bid to work their way back into the top-flight.

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