Mueez Ajao
– Relegated Watford have appointed former Forest Green Rovers boss Rob Edwards as their new manager from the end of the current season.
– The confirmation follows Edwards’ departure from Rovers, the club he has just led to the League Two title.
– Forest Green had earlier said negotiations between Watford and Edwards took place “behind our backs”.
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– Current Watford boss Roy Hodgson is due to leave the Hornets at the end of the current campaign.
– Forest Green’s owner Dale Vince told BBC Sport: “It takes a bit of the shine off winning promotion. If there’s any karma in football they’ll languish in the Championship and we’ll meet them there in a few years’ time.”
– “[Edwards] said he’d been advised by Watford and his agent to keep it a secret from Forest Green which I think is pretty poor from them. It’s poor from Rob and he knows it.
– “I thought I knew him better as a person.”
– Watford were relegated from the Premier League after defeat by Hodgson’s former team Crystal Palace on Saturday.
– In a statement, Watford said: “Rob had a contractual provision allowing him to leave Forest Green Rovers at any time to discuss employment opportunities at other clubs and the Hornets are delighted to confirm our discussions concluded today.”
– Edwards, 39, will become Watford’s eighth permanent manager since the start of 2018.
– The former Wales international took over at Rovers last summer, having previously coached England’s youth teams, and led the Gloucestershire club, who entered the Football League in 2017, to a first promotion from League Two.
– Edwards has previously managed Wolves on an interim basis and Telford United full-time.
– He left Telford to work as a coach in the England Under-20s setup, eventually being named head coach of the country’s Under-16s side from 2020 before his move to Forest Green.
