Edwards hopes to have the stability he 'craves' at Luton after short stint with fierce rivals Watford

Town chief Rob Edwards admitted the stability offered when given the opportunity to manage the Hatters was something he ‘craved’ when looking to get back into football recently.

The 39-year-old was appointed to the hotseat at Kenilworth Road a week ago, signing a contract that is for a minimum period of three-and-a-half years.

Edwards’ last job, in charge of Town’s biggest rivals Watford, saw his tenure ended after just over four months and 10 league games, sacked by the Hornets following three wins in that time.

Luton are the complete opposite to their sworn enemy, known for backing their managers, with just five at the helm since 2016, as opposed to 12 coming and going at Vicarage Road.

That was something that definitely enticed Edwards, as he said: “Of course, anyone in this game knows that’s what we all crave, that’s what we want and that was the biggest thing that appealed to me in making this decision.

"I’m really thankful for the opportunity I’ve been given, but again, from my side, it was important for me that the next job gave me a chance and I really feel this one does.”

Having a manager who was looking to remain for the long term was someone that chief executive Gary Sweet was determined to employ, adding: “Yes, it had to be a commitment, had to be a right decision, hence the reason we’ve gone into a lot of details on that.

"A lot was packed into a few days, we back ourselves in that process, and when I say we, I’m talking more than a couple of people, it’s not just about me and Wilko (David Wilkinson), it’s the whole board involved at every stage.

"I spoke with the board effectively every day.

"There was a recruitment team of people, which is effectively the player recruitment team slightly extended and it was a process that was followed that enabled us to back the man for that period of time.

“That’s the minimum time too, so it would have extensions that could click on according to how well we do.

"We’re about stability and growth, so if that’s going to be the case then we are not going to be looking at making changes too rapidly.

"It has happened in the past, we do get things wrong, you always need a little bit of luck and things can go wrong, but we’re all absolutely convinced that this is our best chance of having that stability.”

For Edwards, whatever job he took next had be one where he felt he could really lay down some foundations and have time to put his own beliefs in place, as he feels the vacancy at Kenilworth Road was the perfect situation in which to do so.

The former Wolves and Blackpool defender added: “It’s amazing to get one again so quickly, that wasn’t my mindset coming out of it thinking, am I going to get a chance again in the Championship?

"I didn’t feel like that, I backed myself that I know we can work at this level.

"Players are people and I know we can deal with people.

"The majority of my playing career was at this level and I know it pretty well, but where you come back in you can never tell.

"Football is quite strange like that, a lot of other jobs you can plot your route a little bit more, but you can’t always do that in football.

"One thing that myself, my family and advisors always said to me, was we’ve got to be in a position where we pick the right thing as well, where we’re going to be able to build something and have a project if you like.

"I don’t really like that kind of word, but be able to get behind something and improve something and build on it, I don’t think there’s a better opportunity in this league than this football club.

"So for me to be sitting here now again is something that’s fallen into place really nicely for me.”