Hatters sign 2 on deadline day.

Luton Town have announced two 11^th hour transfer deadline day signings with Collin Samuel and Stuart Fleetwood. These are two very good signings for the club and strengthen the options for Gary Brabin immensely.

There was mixed reaction from the fans on the message boards, the so called ‘Happy Clappers’ or ‘reasonable fans’ as I prefer to call them, welcomed the news with optimism, while the ‘perennial moaners’, many with ulterior agenda, found fault, as with everything that happens at the club.

You can only play 11 players on the field each game, have options on the bench for change where necessary and have cover in reserve for injuries and suspensions. In an ideal world we'd have a tall striker as well, plus maybe another central defender, for that cover but the club will never make all the fans happy. If we play with a big man up front there are those that argue that that leads to ‘hoofball’ and we don’t play with the usual variety and pacy good-to-watch football; a criticism levelled at the club when we had Gallen or Owusu playing. When we play without the tall man there are those that argue that our forwards are not tall enough to head in the crosses from good wing play. You can’t have it all ways at the same time. Similarly, we do have cover for Central Defence; we are using it already to cover for George Pilkington’s injury! I am sure that were Pilks fit one of the present pairing would not be playing every game.

A look at the squad shows that we have a very good group of players for this level and while the start is undefeated and we would have liked another 4 or 5 points by now, we are not out of touch and have a game in hand. So why these two players and what is behind their signing?

5 ‘ 9” Trinidad & Tobago International Collin Samuel, 30 yrs old, is a versatile forward, and can play anywhere along the front line, although not a prolific goalscorer. As happy on the left or right foot, this gives plenty of options within a game. He is solidly built and can put himself about when necessary, so will not be easily dispossessed, or knocked off the ball by the physical teams a la Braintree. Collin was a free agent and signed a 1 year contract.

Stuart Fleetwood, 25 yrs old, and also 5’9”, came in from Hereford United for an undisclosed fee and signed a 2 year contract. Stuart is a widely experienced player; mainly in the Football League. His former clubs were Cardiff City, Brighton, Forest Green, Exeter City, Charlton, Accrington and Cheltenham, plus two stints at Hereford, where his chairman David Keyte praised his efforts of 18 goals in 49 appearances last year as follows:

"Stuart had a fantastic season last season; he worked tirelessly for the team and was instrumental in helping the Bulls retain their Football League status.

"Albeit a step down for Stuart, this gives him a new challenge and opportunity and everyone at Hereford United wishes him every success for the future."

Luton tried very hard to sign him in 2008 but lost out to Charlton Athletic on that occasion, although Charlton never played him in the team, promptly sending him to Cheltenham on loan! Stuart may not be 6’3” tall but he knows where the goal is, and is deadly around the penalty area, which is an asset in any team. Indeed the last time he played in the Conference he scored 28 goals for Forest Green and averages 1 goal per 3 games throughout his career.

I hope the fans will now allow the team, the directors and our new players a honeymoon period, of at least the usual 45 minutes, before getting on their backs… Please?

We now have a little catching up to do. The game in hand will be played on 13 September and by then we could well be up where we want to be.

Also, yesterday a new Luton Town Fans site went live. It is imaginatively called Luton Town Fans! This blog will be repeated on the site and I will be contributing to a regular column. Check it out.  You will find it here: http://www.lutontownfans.co.uk