Bad week at the office

Well, my confidence in the team's ability seems to have been temporarily misplaced and our reign at the top of the table was very fleeting. Two bad results have seen us plummet to 9th in the league table. While it's not exactly terminal, it is not ideal and has played into the hands of the suicidal and those with an agenda once again to peddle their negativity on the fan sites. While other teams are getting on a roll we are apparently on a potentially downward spiral which must be halted quickly with a victory at home to Barrow on Saturday.

Firstly, I was unimpressed by the tactics at York City and I agree with some of the naysayers that Gary Brabin has a tendency to be negative away from home persisting with this 5-4-1/4-3-3 formation which leads to the isolation of the lone striker when the service from the 'wingbacks' is not at its best. The Luton way is 4-4-2 and not only usually brings success but is also more entertaining to watch. 4-3-3 is entertaining enough when all is going well, but this season it has not brought rewards leading to too many draws and on Saturday leading to being picked off by a lively York City. The defeat at home to Cambridge was disappointing on many levels. To start with the first half was good apart from the end result, but the second half was inept and while a draw was the least we deserved, on the overall 90 minutes, we did not show enough quality in the final third to deserve victory. I felt that the manager allowed the team to stagnate and made poor choices about the timing and nature of the substitutions.

Robbie Willmott played well in the first half and had a couple of the numerous chances made been taken we would not be involved with nit-picking the performance as we would probably have gone on to win comfortably. It reminded me of the three home defeats against Rushden, Kettering and Stevenage a couple of years ago. It seemed the longer it went on the confidence of the players drained and they ran out of ideas and were vulnerable to a sucker punch which eventually came. There never seems to be a plan B when things are not happening for us. So far, Aaron O'Connor has not made a significant difference when coming on as substitute, whereas Adam Watkins and JP Kissock have. I think O'Connor needs games to get some form back, and possibly not in the first team, he is a much better player than he has shown so far. Also, he should never be used as an impact substitute, it's simply not his style. I would have liked to see Watkins on at the start but at least at half time, and if we are going to concede silly goals then we have got to score more ourselves and two games without scoring is already two games too many. Stuart Fleetwood should not have to be coming back into midfield to get the ball, he should be allowed to roam free in the opponents' penalty area and sniff out half chances along with having the ball put in dangerous areas for him to head in. He will score if he gets the service, and provide lay-offs for a striking partner as long as there is one in the side! Perhaps out leading goalscorer AMS? Just a thought!

This season has so far been a disastrous one in terms of injury and suspension, but we have probably got the best squad in the league to deal with that and other teams will struggle if and when they run into such problems. Alex Lawless was suspended for Tuesday's game but may be out longer because he punched a wall and broke his hand at York. Well that is a great help to our plight! Also it has been well documented that half a dozen players are injured who would be in the squad were they fit. Well they are not and those coming in have got to do better. We need to get on our own roll and put together another undefeated run preferably with a run of victories to stay in touch and put pressure on those above. It is too early to predict what is going to happen by Christmas but I am still confident that we will be there or thereabouts by then and that we will push on to win the title even if we have to bring in reinforcements. I'd just like to see Mr Brabin get them playing a more attacking style of play home and away. There are no teams in this league that we could not beat; as I have said before they should be afraid of us, not the other way around. Players must be played in their best positions not merely accommodated. We have enough wingers not to play AMS out there and enough utility players not to need two defensive midfielders, one of those should have been sacrificed for young Watkins or Kissock.

I think the call by some for the manager to be sacked is ridiculous at this stage of the season especially when he has not had his full squad to choose from, and he has to be given time, but the pressure will no doubt be there for him and I hope it doesn't produce even more negative 'trying not to lose' tactics. Come on Gary let's go out to win, home or away, because strange though it may seem, the side effect from winning games is that you do not lose either!

Say 'we are top o' the league!'

Despite the disappointing result at Bath City last night, results elsewhere saw us go top of the league for the first time this season, albeit on goal difference. I'm not saying we will remain there permanently, there may be ups and downs. In fact it appears rare for the team that is top at Christmas to win the league. However, I firmly believe that we will be right up in the mix at Christmas and then push on from there strengthening in January if needs be.

So, how are we really doing? I know people on message boards are critical of our start, and some are fearful of the other three teams who are level on points with us, and a few that are currently only a point or two below that, including York City, but I find it hard to be critical of the Hatters or afraid of anyone in the league this season.

1) we have very long injury list, especially relating to defenders, yet we have conceded fewer goals than any of the other three and have the joint best defensive record in the league, so how good will we be when the injured defenders are fit?
2) we began with shortcomings in the striking department, but have the highest goals scored of anyone in the league bar none, and as a result of these two stats:
3) we obviously have the best goal difference.
4) we are the only team as yet unbeaten.

I know all the above is common knowledge so why be afraid of any of the teams level with us at present? I can't think of a reason. It is mooted that some of the challenging pack have some decent players, especially in the striking roles. Well - we have the best squad. Gary Brabin has identified weaknesses and has brought in players who have not only strengthened the squad generally but who all bring different attributes, giving him not only cover for injury and suspension, but also options to play different players for different tactical reasons. Incidentally, I think Stuart Fleetwood is by a long way the best striker in the division. He will not only score goals, but he has the ability to hold up play, his distribution is good and he will win balls in the opponents' penalty area creating chances for others. As far as scoring is concerned, he has been very close to scoring a lot of times in the few games he has played so far, but has been unlucky and one of these days he is going to have that little extra bit of luck and will score three or four in a match. What is more, I don't care if his goals are all from a yard out or go in off his arse! He gets in good positions, and that's instinctive. I was a little dubious about Jamie Hand coming in, but he has shown that, in this league, he is a very useful player. Jon Paul Kissock looks a great prospect and adds yet another dimension to midfield. Janos Kovacs looked a different class at Bath, and I wouldn't be surprised to see him come in permanently, nor would I rule out James Constable coming on board, either on an initial loan or else in January, to give us a boost. He is most certainly unhappy at Oxford and was so close to joining, in addition to Fleetwood, in the recent transfer window. As I mentioned before, Fleetwood was a snip and barely made a ripple in the club's finances to bring him in and the club sees this as the season to win the league, so they still have most of the fee they had agreed with Oxford for Constable, still in the coffers.

So good business has been done, in and out, and I can see no reason why the other teams in the division don't have a hell of a lot more to worry about in us, than we do in them. Luton fans have been fickle since time immemorial. We win a game, we are world beaters; lose one and we are rubbish. As we are unbeaten, we have to start complaining about draws now? Give me strength!

This IS our year! We SHALL be promoted!

Keep the faith and keep being the extra man especially at home.

An old face returns!

Janos Kovacs, the giant Hungarian former Hatters defender has come in on a 1 month loan from Hereford United to ease Luton's mounting central defensive problems. With George Pilkington still out and Beckwith suspended for three games, the Hatters only have Will Antwi as a recognised Centre Back. Janos was a little hit and miss defensively for us when he played here but he was great in the air in both penalty areas.

Janos said: " I am very happy to be back and I will try to help this football club. This very beautiful football club.

Well observed Janos!

He will go straight into the squad for tonight's away match at Bath City.

Hatters train is back on the rails

After an unbeaten, but hit and miss start, it looks as though the Hatters train is back on the rails, fully stoked and building up speed. Back to back wins have seen them take over third place, kindly kept warm for them for a few days by Mansfield.

It seems that Brabs has put a few more pieces into the jigsaw puzzle and a better idea of the full picture has emerged. Jamie Hand looks the bulldog midfielder that we lacked, promptly getting his fifth yellow card of the season on Saturday and being suspended for Tuesday at Telford. Stuart Fleetwood is looking the striker we needed and is a different class for this league. If you knew how good a deal was struck to secure his services you would be impressed with the negotiation skills of 2020. It hardly dented the transfer budget and I don't believe we have seen the last of the 'loan market' dealings yet. From what I have heard, the club really believes that this season, we have  a very good opportunity to win the league and they are prepared to do whatever it takes, within the bounds of common sense and resources, to make it happen.

On the injury front there has been good news. Charlie Henry is playing again, although I would be surprised if he is even considered for first team duty this side of Christmas, if then. The true nature of Pilks' injury, which had been baffling the specialists, has finally been identified and he is now following advice in getting back to full fitness and, while it may yet be a few weeks before he starts match practice, at least he is now truly on the mend. Shane Blackett, who had a very serious adductor tear, the sort that can end careers, has healed enough to get back into light training, but only when he puts his muscles under full pressure will it be known if he will ever be the same as before the injury. I wish him all the best, he's had extremely bad luck to pick up such an injury.

Dan Gleeson had a bit of a set back but is on the mend. We need him back above all else, so let's hope it is soon. I have no news of Freddie Murray's injury at the moment but if I hear I'll report.

Lincoln City next, who have not been playing as badly as their results have shown, but their confidence must be low after getting such poor results. As frequently mooted, we really must make Kenilworth Road a fortress that no team comes to expecting anything other than defeat! Saturday is a good chance to make it 3 in 3 wins and put the pressure on the top two who are now looking over their shoulders after we moved to 3 points behind them. It was pleasing to see the club rearrange the postponed match so quickly; points on the board are always better than games in hand.

Now that the squad is beginning to gel and looking less likely to concede, and more likely to score, let's get back to 6000+ home fans and make some serious positive noise to get right behind the team. They are playing some attractive football too.

Hatters' helping Hand

So after the transfer window shopping, Luton have opened their loan account with the signing of Jamie Hand from Hayes & Yeading. A 27 yr-old, 6' midfielder who is no stranger to the referees' notepads, Jamie is described as a ball winner with an eye for a pass. We seem to be collecting midfielders at the moment but he adds a different dimension and gives Gary Brabin a difficult choice for the central roles. Jamie certainly caused us a few problems when we played Hayes & Yeading consistently breaking up our attacks, so let's hope he can continue in that vein.

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