Rob Edwards must prove he is a Michael Carrick upgrade after last trip to Middlesbrough with Luton Town

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Rob Edwards is set to be unveiled as the new Middlesbrough manager in the coming days, and he will want to forget his last trip to the Riverside Stadium with Luton Town.

In the wake of the 2024/25 season, Middlesbrough have agreed a deal to appoint Rob Edwards, who will lead the club’s top-six charge next term.

Bristol City’s search for a new manager saw Edwards and Gerhard Struber as the final two candidates, but after the former Barnsley boss’ appointment, this left the Teesside job open for Edwards.

Edwards will be officially unveiled as Boro manager on Thursday, and he will be hoping to utilise his promotion expertise from his time as Luton Town boss to send Boro back to the Premier League next season.

However, if Edwards is to do so and go one better than predecessor Michael Carrick, he must improve on his last visit to the Riverside Stadium as Hatters boss.

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Rob Edwards’ last trip to Middlesbrough saw Luton Town lose 5-1

Edwards will be heading to Teesside this week ahead of his unveiling, but the Welshman will want to forget his last visit to the Riverside which came during his final months as Luton boss.

In November, relegation-threatened Luton arrived at play-off chasing Boro, and were hammered 5-1 by Carrick’s side.

Braces from Delano Burgzorg and Finn Azaz, as well as a strike from Emmanuel Latte Lath led Edwards to apologise to the Luton supporters for a dire performance.

The heavy Boro defeat continued to mount pressure on Edwards at Luton, who arrived at Boro having won only four games and were sat one point above the relegation zone.

In the aftermath of the heavy loss, Edwards said via Teesside Live: “I feel quite numb. A horrible, horrible day for us, one of those days when you want the ground to swallow you up in the end the way it was going.

“A really difficult day and the supporters are the main concern and I just want to apologise to them.

“It’s not a good result and results haven’t been good enough. I’m realistic, whatever will be will be. I’ve loved the two years, it’s been one hell of a ride and we’ve achieved things that probably no-one thought was possible.

“So if that is it, then I and we can hold our heads high as we’ve given everything and if it’s not then we continue to fight.”

Edwards would keep his job following the Boro defeat, but parted company with the club he took to the Premier League two months later, by mutual agreement with the Hatters hierarchy, and was then replaced by Matt Bloomfield.

With his last trip to the Riverside in mind, Edwards now must prove to the Boro fans who bore witness to a substandard Luton display under his tutelage, that he will be an improvement on Carrick.

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Rob Edwards must prove to Boro fans he is a Michael Carrick upgrade

Sheffield Wednesday head coach Danny Rohl was the one Middlesbrough fans named the manager they wanted to replace Carrick, and the Boro faithful made clear that the German was much more of a preferred candidate than Edwards.

The stumbling block in hiring him was that Middlesbrough would need to pay nearly £5m for Rohl to prise him out from Sheffield Wednesday.

Despite some sections of the Boro faithful unhappy with Edwards’ appointment, his managerial record does contrast well against Carrick’s.

However, it is the footballing philosophy in which the two head coaches differ, as Edwards and Carrick are far distant in tactical terms.

Edwards prefers a more high-octane physical style that was so effective for Luton, whereas Carrick’s Boro were intent on being highly possession-orientated, averaging the fifth-highest possession (55.6%) in the second tier last season.

Not only will Edwards have to mould Boro into his team, which would begin by bringing his former Luton star Alfie Doughty with him, but he must prove to the Riverside faithful that he is an upgrade on Carrick and right the wrongs from his most recent trip to Teesside.