Rob Edwards was handed a harsh introduction to life back at Wolverhampton Wanderers as his tenure began with a dispiriting 2-0 home defeat to in-form Crystal Palace on Saturday.
For just over an hour, Wolves competed gamely, but strikes from Daniel Muñoz and Yeremy Pino sealed a deserved victory for Palace, who climbed into the top four.
Edwards, who walked away from Championship side Middlesbrough earlier this month to take on Wolves’ survival fight, now finds himself facing an even steeper challenge: his new team sit on just two points after 12 league games.
Not since the 1983-84 season have Wolves opened a campaign without a win in their first 12 fixtures, a campaign in which they finished bottom of the old First Division.
Yet before kickoff, optimism rippled around Molineux as fans welcomed home Edwards, a former player with over 100 appearances for the club. That hope evaporated by full-time, with Wolves now nine points from safety and the only club across England’s top seven divisions still searching for a first victory.
“Of course I’m disappointed,” Edwards said in an interview with the BBC, recalling his previous Premier League relegation battle with Luton Town. “It summed up our season. We needed that first goal. We showed more freedom after falling behind, but we needed that same belief at 0-0. There’s no quick solution.”
Palace, meanwhile, kept their composure and found their breakthrough when a deflected ball fell kindly for Muñoz to finish from close range. Pino then sealed the win in style, bending in a brilliant effort for his maiden league goal for the club.
