Former Wolves stars set to face off in Molineux dugouts

And, for the first time in a long time this weekend, two former Wolves players will do battle as head coaches at Molineux, as Rob Edwards welcomes former team-mate and Brentford boss Keith Andrews.

In another world, were Wolves’ current league position not looking so dire, that would be something to celebrate. A former academy graduate in Andrews, and Shropshire-born ex-defender Edwards, going head-to-head in one of the toughest leagues in world football.

As it is, the atmosphere will not start as one of celebration. Far from it. A positive result for Wolves is a much bigger priority.

But it remains one of the rare occasions that two former Molineux men have locked horns in opposition dugouts.

The first time in the Premier League, and first since Graham Hawkins and Bobby Gould were in charge of Wolves and Coventry in the 1983/84 season.

Hawkins also took on Emlyn Hughes and Rotherham the previous season, and then you can head back to the 1960s and two of Wolves’ biggest legends – Stan Cullis and Billy Wright – in opposition for fixtures against Arsenal.

It was during the 2004/05 campaign that Edwards and Andrews overlapped at Wolves. Lee Naylor played at left-back, on many occasions alongside Edwards in the defence and with Andrews in midfield during that year. He has remained close to both ever since.

“Two different personalities but with the same goals,” is the Naylor assessment of his former dressing room colleagues. “They are both great lads, who have time for everyone, and want to give their time to people, even though that is pretty much impossible as a modern day manager.

“They understand people and they understand players, and have got that humility about them as well.

“If I was a player, I would love to play for both of them – they would make you feel a million dollars and you’d want to run through a brick wall for them.

“And I think it’s a credit to Wolves for the part the club played in their development.

“There is a little piece in both of them that will have come from their time at Wolves, and in what they have produced over the years since.”

Edwards, now 42, spent four years at Molineux as a player after being signed in the summer of 2004, chalking up 111 appearances in both central defence and at full-back.

Andrews, three years Edwards’ senior at 45, arrived at Wolves from Dublin as a 15-year-old, then coming through the academy system to make 72 first-team appearances before departing in 2005 at the age of 24.

Wolves boasted an excellent youth team at the time. A fair few Irish talents had crossed the sea, with Robbie Keane in the year above, and then the likes of Naylor, Matt Murray, Joleon Lescott and Adam Proudlock also emerging through to senior level from far closer to home.

“It was a time in all our lives that we will never forget,” Naylor continues. “Wolves were renowned as having one of the best youth teams in the country back then.

“So many brilliant footballers and so much talent, and you can see from how many went on to have unbelievable careers with some going into management, just how good it was.

“Keith was very much a part of that.  A very good footballer, he loved getting on the ball and made a really positive impact.”

“He was very competitive and loved a tackle,” added former goalkeeper Murray. “He could also strike a really good ball.

“As well as the young lads in the Academy, Keith was close to Branchy (Michael Branch), and there are a lot of funny stories from them, but he’s a great lad.

“I was gutted for him that he got an injury towards the end of the season we got promoted, and it was probably later at MK Dons, under Incey (Paul Ince), which ‘made him’, when his career really took off.

“That was also funny as he and Incey used to clash at Wolves a little bit, because even though Keith was young he was very demanding, and didn’t mind falling out with his team-mates when he felt it was needed.”

Ince would also later play a key role in the career of Edwards, in a very different way. The two got on well at Molineux, and Ince was keen to utilise his former team-mate’s experience when he took the managerial role at Blackpool. But Edwards broke down during training, another in a long line of unfortunate injuries, and that was what finally prompted him to call it a day and move fully into coaching.

Dave Jones, a manager who also had to end his playing career early due to injury, was the boss who signed Edwards at Wolves, as well as playing Andrews in his team a couple of years earlier.

He has very positive memories of both.

“I remember signing Rob from Aston Villa as a player we had kept tabs on who had also been through a couple of loans,” Jones recalls. “We were looking for someone who could play at both full-back and centre-back, and he was a big lad and a strong boy who was a good acquisition.

“Unfortunately, I wasn’t there too long with him, and he also had some injury problems, but he still went on and played a fair few games for Wolves.

“With Keith, he was playing when I arrived, and I kept him in the team because he was one of a really good group of young players.

“Later on, it became more difficult when we had midfielders like Incey, Colin Cameron and Alex Rae, but Keith was always great cover, and he’d have learned an awful lot from players like that.”

Even with his tender years, Andrews always had a mature head on his young shoulders, even if, by his own admission, he didn’t completely live right off the pitch during his time at Wolves.

But there was a general and footballing intelligence that was clear to see – “you could tell he had his wits about him” said Naylor – and “educated” is a word used by Murray.

And Jones made Andrews, at the age of 20, the youngest Wolves captain in over a century by handing him the armband for the final game of the 2000/01 season against QPR.

“There was a reason I would have made Keith captain, but if you ask me whether I thought him and Rob would go on to become coaches and managers I would not have been able to say at that time,” says Jones.

“As a manager you don’t think about that, but what I do know is that both were good people and good players.

“From there, they have had to work the rest of it out themselves, and the work they have done has taken them all the way to the Premier League.

“Keith has gone into his first job with Brentford with people saying he wasn’t the right choice, and he has to live with that, but he is proving people wrong which is nice to see.

“He is also benefitting from being at a stable club with good support and good back-up and that will have helped the transition.

“On Rob’s side, people have gone after him because of making the decision to leave Middlesbrough.

“That’s part and parcel of being in the management game, and you can’t pick and choose when certain jobs come along.

“He sees Wolves as his club and while a lot of points are still there to be played for, he will make sure that the team keeps going.”

It has been two very different pathways to the Premier League for Edwards and Andrews, but both packed with learning, hard work and a desire to succeed.

Edwards spent a year working for nothing and gaining experience within Manchester City and Wolves academies before an extensive career which has now included several assignments at Molineux, working within the England youth set-up, and managerial roles which featured promotions with both Forest Green and Luton.

Andrews has enjoyed backroom roles with MK Dons and Sheffield United either side of an assistant role with the Republic of Ireland, prior to becoming set piece coach at Brentford and then taking the managerial reigns in the summer.

“They have both worked incredibly hard to get where they have got to and it’s no coincidence they have had success,” Naylor explains.

“It really doesn’t surprise me though, it’s Rob’s second taste of the Premier League and Keith always had it in his locker as well.

“It takes so much work to get where they are – so much dedication, sacrifice and patience from your family.

“You have to be fixated on football constantly, going to sleep dreaming about football and waking up with your first thought about football.

“It is so difficult to get where they have got to.”

Murray adds: “Both of them had good careers although both were affected by injury, and I think that gives them empathy when they are now managing players. They know the pressures as well.   

“Keith could have had a really cushty job on Sky Sports – he is so good at analysing football – but he went away, did all his coaching work, and has now got his opportunity.

“Everybody thought with Thomas Frank leaving and their two best players that Brentford would really struggle, but so far, he has done well.

“With Rob, it has been tough but he knew exactly what he was taking on, and he took it on because it is Wolves.

“It’s a job he has always wanted, and he doesn’t want any sympathy for the situation, he is just giving it everything he has got.

“He’s a nice guy, a top guy, but I always say, don’t ever take that for a weakness.

“He will take any big decisions that need to be taken, and will be thorough and put in all the hours that you need to do as a Premier League manager, and more besides.

“I think we have seen what he has been trying to do and plenty of positive signs, and they were so unlucky not to come away with a point from Arsenal at the weekend.

“I think we have seen what he has been trying to do and plenty of positive signs, and they were so unlucky not to come away with a point from Arsenal at the weekend.”

While Murray and Naylor are both still close and in regular contact with Andrews, the friendship with Edwards extends into having taken family holidays together down the years.

Murray admits to it being a surreal moment when visiting the Compton training ground for the first time since Edwards took over, and knocking on the door to be welcomed in by his pal!

Both Murray and Naylor, along with Lescott, were there when Edwards led Luton to play-off glory at Wembley two-and-a-half years ago, and there will certainly be a strong sense of pride to see both old boys doing battle at Molineux.

“I’m really proud of them and also pleased for them but make no mistake, they have earned these opportunities,” adds Murray.

“It’s great when you see Keith lead Brentford to wins against the likes of Manchester United, and I’m desperate for Rob to hopefully start getting some results and succeed at Wolves.”

“You always want to see your pals do well,” adds Naylor, who is among the matchday commentary team for Wolves TV.

“The Crystal Palace game which was Rob’s first in charge was the first one for a long time where I actually felt nervous!

“As to this one, well sorry Keith, but you’re doing well enough so far, I think you can lose this one!

“Rob can take the points for Wolves, and then we can have a laugh and a giggle with Keith afterwards!”

A laugh and a giggle afterwards maybe, but total focus and determination during.  Both Edwards and Andrews have been made by Wolves to a certain extent. And both will be desperate for the points.