Liverpool and Manchester United join Watford and Southampton in being shown up by Rob Edwards

Rob Edwards and Luton scoffed at Roberto De Zerbi’s elite managerial credentials in a thorough dismantling of the Premier League’s most volatile side.

With the Liverpool and Barcelona posts soon to be vacated and potentially Manchester United, England, Bayern Munich and Germany all scouring the same managerial market in the summer, time is of the essence for one of the leading contenders for any of those positions to augment their candidacy and add to the echoing chorus singing their praises.

What a day it was for Handsome Rob Edwards: the return of his club captain to Kenilworth Road for the first time since his cardiac arrest; the signing of Japan international Daiki Hashioka; the dismantling of both Roberto De Zerbi’s Brighton and Roberto De Zerbi’s coaching credentials; and the fact he looks like Handsome Rob Edwards.

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Luton’s most emphatic top-flight league win since Mick Harford and Roy Wegerle both scored twice in a January 1989 thrashing of Southampton was revenge kept on ice for six months, a repayment with interest for Brighton’s Premier League welcome party back in August.

“I know we’re going to get better,” Edwards said then, following a 4-1 defeat. “But we’ve got to get better quickly,” he added. And that they most certainly have.

The Luton manager stressed the point that “teams at this lethal will be ruthless” and his players sought to prove it within seconds. Reece Burke nipped in to interrupt one passing move from kick off, leading to Carlton Morris heading Chiedozie Ogbene’s delivery back across goal for Elijah Adebayo to nod past Jason Steele.

Ogbene turned scorer moments later from Albert Sambi Lokonga’s sublime pass, rounding Steele to hand Luton a third-minute 2-0 lead the hosts never looked like relinquishing; indeed, they have now been ahead for longer in the Premier League this season than Manchester United.

Luton’s previous seven victories this season had all been by a single goal, the Hatters treating Gillingham and Bolton in domestic cups with the same respect as the top-flight sides they have humbled through no little grit, determination and organisation.

This was different: Luton beat the technical masters of Brighton at their own game, allying irresistible physicality with a quality underpinned by the brilliance of Ross Barkley. No player on either side completed more dribbles and he created more chances alone (five) than the visitors’ 16 players did between them (four). Jordan Henderson’s England days are numbered.

It was Barkley’s anticipation which caused Brighton to tear apart at the seams again for Adebayo’s third, before the striker capitalised on Joao Pedro’s sub-optimal front-post header from a corner to complete a memorable hat-trick.

Brighton had no response, De Zerbi’s two half-time changes engendering little improvement and Danny Welbeck leading the line at 33 looking precisely as such on one of those infrequent occasions in which the Seagulls implode. Few teams simultaneously have a ceiling as high as their floor is low.

That is three wins in their last 16 Premier League games, a sequence which started with Brighton’s last proper thrashing against Aston Villa in September – which might not have been as misleading as first thought. Perhaps it captured their essence perfectly as a team that capitulates as often as it annihilates.

The only team this was truly out of character for was a Luton side stretching their legs, showing their teeth and taking their chances. A second clean sheet of the Premier League season and their scoring of four goals in a game for the first time since March 2022 provided a potent mix. And that was under Nathan Jones, when “there weren’t any better than me around Europe for aggression, clean sheets, defending in your box and xG”.

The way Luton have landed on their feet since that coaching change should be studied. Watford and Southampton are not alone in being made to look foolish by Edwards’ development of this team; those Derby 2007/08 pre-season predictions are likely still pinned on the dressing room wall.

This season might still ultimately end in relegation. Luton rose from the relegation zone with this victory, a point ahead of Everton with a game in hand and the two teams directly above them within touching distance. The Premier League will be desperately hoping deductions and tribunals do not have to be factored into the equation come May, but it is an immense credit to Edwards, his players and Luton’s staff that that remains an eminent possibility.

And not to view everything through the prism of elite clubs, but Liverpool and Manchester United really might be looking at the wrong Edwards.