Former Blackpool defender named new boss of Luton Town after brief stint with rivals Watford

The 39-year-old was sacked by Luton’s rivals Watford earlier this season after just 11 games in charge.

Edwards, who played for Blackpool between 2008 and 2011, replaces Nathan Jones who recently left Kenilworth Road to take the vacancy at Southampton.

Former Pool boss Neil Critchley was also in the running according to the bookies, while he’s still thought to be in the frame for the job at Wigan Athletic.

But it was Edwards who got the nod at Luton, who sit 10th in the table, only one point off the play-off spots.

“It’s a really exciting opportunity to manage this great football club and I can’t wait to get started,” Edwards said.

“Looking from the outside, you see such a well-run football club, a club that’s growing, moving forward and competing at the right end of the Championship.

“It’s a club that did fantastically well last season and is doing so well now. When the opportunity opened up, straight away, you see there is a terrific group of players there and a club that’s only looking in one direction.

“Then, I come in and start meeting everyone, and you get such a warm feeling.”

Luton’s CEO Gary Sweet added: “We warmly welcome Rob to Kenilworth Road and while as a band of fans ourselves, we fully understand the concerns some supporters may have with his previous club, but the one action Watford did that impressed us in recent times was their appointment of Rob.

“From our lengthy conversations with him, he immediately bought into our values as a club, we had deep discussions about our culture, our opportunities and our threats, and he fully understands where we have come from to get to this point now.

“Let’s be honest, jokingly, if we avoided everyone with a connection to our adversaries our choice would be somewhat more limited and we can’t ignore the joint movement of some players over the years, and indeed this season.

“We’re confident that with such a limited association with them, Rob will very quickly feel much more a member of our tight club here at Kenilworth Road.”