Rob Edwards was pleased to sign off at Molineux with a positive performance and result against Fulham and is determined to have the club in a better place come the first home game of next season.
Mateus Mane’s powerful strike rewarded a lively start from the Old Gold, and despite the Cottagers levelling things up from the spot, it was the hosts looking most likely to win the game, only for their finishing to let them down.
The head coach understands fan frustrations following a terrible campaign for the club, but believes many inside Molineux understand the situation, and he’s now focused on ensuring the rebuild ahead of the new season is a comprehensive one.
On an improved performance
“I think it was good response after last week, a better start to the game than last week. We had a foot in and it was nice to get the first goal. The last 10, 15 minutes of the first half we probably took a step back, maybe because we were winning the game, and perhaps we started to try and block it up a little bit, which we don't want to do.
“We invited maybe a little bit too much pressure, and that resulted in a penalty, but I thought we stepped forward really well again in the second half. We attacked the game well, we were aggressive, a lot of high regains, a lot of dangerous moments, and there were some big chances there that we weren't able to capitalise on.
“They’re really challenging circumstances now, because the writing's been on the wall for a long, long time, and we’re trying to eke out every bit of every one of them, and some can handle it better than others. We're trying to put the right team out there that can handle that pressure and are going to fight.”
On an understanding Molineux
“There's a lot of people who understand the situation, and today's a really good example of the situation we're in. There was a lot of good stuff in that final bit, and maybe there's an understanding that actually we're doing quite a lot of good work, but then you can't put the ball in the back of the net.
“We know what we need to adjust, we know what we need to achieve. I went round at the end, and there's a lot of people understanding of it, but I understand the frustration and the disappointment, the anger of a lot of supporters because they're seeing a football club, especially over the last couple of years, going the wrong way. So, I get their side as well. All we can do is work really hard, have a really good summer, and start well next season, and really hope that people will see what we're trying to do, and come with us.
“I'm realistic, I know at the moment it's inevitable that there’s going to be people unhappy, I'm not happy about it, I need to stress that as well, but we're really determined to make sure we make the improvements and turn this club around.”
On Mane making an impact
“Overall, his performance was really good. A lot of endeavour and a brilliant moment of quality. We played him in a couple of different positions because he’s intelligent, and he wants to improve. I think the exciting thing is there's a lot more to come from him as well, because he's such a young player. He's been a big plus for us this year, in a really challenging period.
“He's a really talented young player, and we love him, and it's great that he got his goal today in the final home game. The exciting thing for us is he's not the finished article, he’s still got a long way to go, and still has loads to improve, and he wants to improve, he’s got a great attitude.”
On looking to the summer
“We want to come back first time asking, that's the aim, that's the challenge, that's what we're going to task with doing, and I think we can see it. We're continuing to work really hard to try and stay competitive as we can, right here, right now. We've got one more game to go, so we've got to be firmly fixed on that, but there's a lot of work going on to make sure that we're able to change what we need to going into next season, because it's obvious, and we're looking forward to refreshing that.
“It's been challenging, of course it has, but that's exactly what I thought it was going to be. When we came in, we were in a really difficult spot, we hadn't won for ages, so we took it on knowing that this is going to be a big challenge for us. We want to make sure now that we're a part of turning it around as well. Here at home, the last 10 games, we've been okay. We want to keep showing some character now in the final game away from home, and then we've got to attack next season.”
