'Heck of a ride' but ex-Hatters boss needed time off after 'draining' Luton spell

Former Luton boss Rob Edwards admitted he definitely needed some time away from football having been left mentally drained by what he described as a ‘heck of a ride’ at Kenilworth Road after being named the new head coach of Championship side Middlesbrough yesterday.

The 42-year-old had replaced Nathan Jones in the Kenilworth Road dug-out back in November 2022, after the briefest of stays as Watford manager, with his first game in charge being a 2-1 defeat at the Riverside Stadium, the visitors losing in stoppage time after Amari’i Bell had been sent off in the second half. He then picked up a late 2-1 win over Norwich City during his first home match, which started a chain of events that saw the Hatters reach the Premier League via a thrilling Championship play-off final victory over Coventry City on penalties at Wembley.

Having begun to acclimatise to life in the top flight, and with Ross Barkley pulling the strings in midfield, a 4-0 win over Brighton & Hove Albion, plus a 4-4 draw at Newcastle United gave Town real hope they could retain their place in the highest echelon of English football. However, a seemingly never-ending injury crisis, on the back of some desperately poor and almost non-existent recruitment in the January transfer window, saw Town lose 12 of their final 16 matches to drop back into the Championship once more.

With the aim of an instant return to the top flight spoken about publicly during pre-season, Luton just couldn’t get over the hangover of relegation, managing just seven victories in the opening six months of the campaign, as hovering above the drop zone, and on a run of four straight losses, Edwards lost his job in January. The former Wales international took the chance to recharge his batteries, which he felt was essential, before returning to work yesterday when taking over at Boro following Michael Carrick’s departure earlier this month.

Speaking to the club’s official website about his period of absence, he said: “Coming out of Luton I needed some time. I did need it (the break), it was quite draining towards the end and I needed that bit of time to re-energise, refocus, get some family time as they go through it as well and then really begin to reflect, speak to people, meet new people, get out there, watch some games, the usual things.

“You need the energy in this game to be effective and be at your best and I’ve topped it right back up again. What happened at Luton was incredible. To get promoted via the play-offs was amazing and something I will never forget and we created memories there for life. A really exciting year in the Premier League as well where we know how difficult it is as we’ve seen the last six teams who have come up have all gone down. We gave it a good go and with a fraction of the cost that other ones did so we're really proud of how we did things there and what we did and what we achieved.”

While all that was going on though, Edwards and the Hatters also had to deal with two on-field incidents with defender Tom Lockyer that nothing would have prepared them for. The first, at Wembley, saw the Luton skipper collapse on the field in the early stages of the match and have to go off with what was later diagnosed as an atrial fibrillation.

Having recovered from that, Lockyer was then back on the pitch once more in the top flight, before suffering a heart attack during the trip to AFC Bournemouth in December, his heart stopping for over two minutes, before being brought back to life by the medics and has now thankfully made a full recovery.

Asked just what it was like dealing with that, Edwards continued: “That was probably the most difficult period and it started off a 13 month period that was difficult. It was really, really challenging, but no coaching course or anything that can get you prepared for anything like that. Then you’re in the goldfish bowl of the Premier League, all eyes are on you as well, making sure you’re dealing with things in the right way, first of all supporting Tom and his family.

"The medical people and the experts there were amazing and that was the sole focus at the time. That was a really challenging period, as look, football’s important, I’m not shying away from that, it is important, it means a lot to a hell of a lot of people, I know that, but there’s some things that are even more important than football, and family and health are more important than that.

“The great thing now is he’s healthy and he's there, he’s got his family. It was a really tough time for everyone, nothing can prepare you for stuff like that. It’s been a rollercoaster, but the game throws things at you and that’s why you have good people around you to help, but it was a heck of a ride, a heck of a ride and I’m ready for another one now."

Despite Town’s poor form under Edwards last season, something they couldn’t turn around when Matt Bloomfield was appointed as his successor, eventually dropping into League One, the manager didn’t think he should be judged on that as he joins a club in Boro that are very much geared towards another play-off push this term, having finished 10th under former Manchester United and England midfielder Carrick.

After winning the League Two title with Forest Green Rovers back in 2022, plus spearheading Town’s promotion a year later, the ex-Wolverhampton Wanderers captain told the Northern Echo: “There were reasons for what happened at the end at Luton. It didn’t quite go our way in the last few months, but there aren’t many managers that haven’t had a few bad months or a difficult period. We had to go through that, but before that, we’d had three amazing years. It was three amazing years, then the last few months were quite tough.

"But in a weird way, I’m glad I got through that and had to handle that situation. It’s going to make me better and stronger going forward. Before that, it had been promotion, promotion and an exciting year in the Premier League, but it’s not always going to be plain sailing. I’m not saying it’s going to be here either, football can be a bit of a roller coaster and it certainly was for a couple of years there at Luton. But we know how to get promoted and we know how to get out of the division. We’ve signed a three-year contract, and long term, that’s got to be our aim.”