Exclusive: David Prutton drops Huddersfield Town claim involving Rob Edwards | OneFootball

David Prutton feels Huddersfield should target Rob Edwards as their next permanent boss.

With Huddersfield Town now mathematically unable to claim a play-off spot in League One, their attention can already be turned towards preparations for next season.

With seven senior players out of contract this summer, there looks set to be plenty of movement at the John Smith’s Stadium ahead of the next campaign.

However, the Terriers’ biggest addition of all will come in the dugout rather than on the pitch. The West Yorkshire outfit have faltered badly since they relieved Michael Duff of his duties back in early March, and have since delayed their decision regarding their next permanent boss until the summer.

Brian Barry-Murphy, Des Buckingham and former boss David Wagner have all been linked with the job, but with the end of the season quickly approaching, the Huddersfield hierarchy will surely want to have a new man in place within the early part of the summer.

David Prutton believes Rob Edwards should be on Huddersfield’s radar

In their last few appointments, Huddersfield have explored plenty of different styles of manager.

They have tried their hand with a foreign coach, in Andre Breitenreiter, a more pragmatic, traditional English manager in Neil Warnock, as well as more youthful candidates like Darren Moore and Michael Duff.

With the first three bosses having had a hand in the Terriers’ recent relegation, and Duff unable to achieve their promotion aim this season, it’s a fair suggestion to say that all four failed as appointments.

Having now finished outside the play-off positions in the third tier, it’s crucial that the club’s hierarchy get their next selection right in order to get the team back on track and progressing as they would like.

While Huddersfield have been linked with plenty of capable managers so far, EFL pundit David Prutton believes that former Luton Town and Watford boss Rob Edwards should be on their radar.

Speaking exclusively to Football League World, Prutton said: “Rob Edwards should absolutely be on Huddersfield Town’s radar.

“He would be a good fit for so many places, his stock is high even though he comes out of Luton off the back of a season to forget. But what he’d done with that football club was absolutely phenomenal.

“He ticks so many boxes in terms of how he leads people, his humility, his empathy, his tactical nouse and his ability to motivate. I think most clubs, and with the greatest of respect, anybody in League One, would be absolutely privileged to have him.

“However I would get the feeling, with respect to Huddersfield because they’re a big club in the wrong division, that maybe his sights are set slightly higher.”

Edwards did an exceptional job at Luton

While his time at Kenilworth Road ended in disappointing fashion in the early part of January, Edwards rightly receives plenty of plaudits for his work with the Hatters.

Having been cast adrift by their bitter rivals Watford after just five months in charge, Edwards was picked up by Luton in November 2022, and the job he did was nothing short of remarkable.

The unfancied Hatters were tenth in the Championship table when Edwards walked through the door and, against all the odds, he ended up steering them to promotion to the top flight for the first time since 1992, after a dramatic penalty-shootout victory over Coventry City at Wembley.

With the financial situation heavily stacked against them and everybody predicting Luton to go down with a whimper, Edwards took their survival fight right down to the final game of the season.

While both were incredible achievements in a footballing sense, Edwards also shone with his personal attributes. The 42-year-old handled the situation regarding club captain Tom Lockyer, who collapsed during their victorious play-off final and then again in a Premier League clash with Bournemouth, with impeccable grace and understanding.

He also built a connection with the fans that was so strong, it undoubtedly would have made it a difficult decision for the board to part company with him earlier this year.

As Prutton alluded to, Edwards’ stock rightly remains very high as a result of his work with the Bedfordshire outfit, and whichever club he ends up at next will have a very exciting young manager on their hands.