Sean Dyche has given his thoughts on Rob Edwards' controversial decision to leave Middlesbrough for Wolves earlier this season.

Sean Dyche has defended Rob Edwards’ decision to leave Middlesbrough for Wolves.

Edwards departed the Riverside Stadium in November after just 15 games to replace Vitor Pereira, returning to the club where he’d made over 100 appearances as a player between 2004 and 2008, and served as interim manager in 2016.

The 43-year-old’s decision irked Boro fans given the short amount of time he spent at the club. What’s more, he also drew widespread criticism for leaving a side flying high in the Championship in favour of one rooted to the bottom of the Premier League table with just two points from 11 games at the time.

Dyche defends Rob Edwards in fierce debate

Edwards has undoubtedly improved Wolves, and they’re currently enjoying a run of just four defeats in their last 13 games, during which they’ve picked up their only three wins of the season so far.

However, the Midlands side are still 13 points off safety with just seven games to go, and it’s now an inevitability that they’ll be relegated. Meanwhile, Boro are still very much in the thick of the Championship promotion race, sitting third on 72 points, level with Ipswich Town and Millwall, even after a five-game winless run.

With all that in mind, his decision shocked many around the footballing world and left him under fire from numerous pundits.

At the time, Edwards said that Wolves were a ‘special club’ and the only one he’d have considered leaving Boro for at that point. And now, former Burnley and Everton manager Dyche - who is out of work himself after being sacked by Wolves’ relegation rivals Nottingham Forest - has defended Edwards’ divisive decision.

“It’s very difficult that. I know Rob a little bit and I spoke to him when he played. It’s very difficult that situation. There’s no guarantee in the Championship,” Dyche said on talkSPORT during a fierce debate with Simon Jordan.

“He’s at Boro and they’re going well. But now look, they’re having a wobble all of a sudden from being right up there. If that doesn’t work, you might never get another crack at the Premier League.

“He went in there [Wolves], eyes open because he knows it’s a tough one. Tough start and then they’ve just turned it around, funny enough when we [Nottingham Forest] drew with them, and they’ve gone on a good run.

“I think it’s a really tough one, but the Premier League is the place to be. It’s as simple as that. He’s got family [there] and all that sort of stuff. I’m not going into that world, that's a different opinion. I’m talking as a manager. I don’t think he’s taken that decision lightly by the way. Not remotely.”

Jordan hit back by arguing that Boro chairman Steve Gibson had given Edwards a massive opportunity after his stock had fallen, having suffered relegation to League One with a side he’d not long since guided to the Premier League.

Dyche then hit back: “Hang on a minute. So if he loses five then you can sack him. That’s all right, is it? Yeah [he gets a pay-out if sacked] but you’re paying with good faith. I’m not having that at all.

“You give someone a contract with good faith. Everyone signs that contract, everyone’s happy with it, everyone. There’s no bending of arms, that’s it. You know the rules when you get into the contract. You know the pay-off and what’s going to happen. So I disagree.”

Your next Boro read: Kim Hellberg 'cannot understand' one Boro star's recent exploits