Good News and Bad News...

As the old jokes go, there's good news and bad news. It seems par for the course as a Luton Town fan!


Since last week's column, we have seen a debacle of a performance at Forest Green and another two points lost at the death of a game on Saturday against Grimsby. However, while it may not be the action many fans wanted, we have seen some reaction from the boardroom after Forest Green and an improved performance by the team generally on Saturday.


The issues of Gary Sweet's programme notes has been eruditely and thoughtfully dealt with by David Mosque in his latest column, and I agree with most of his observations. I should just like to point out that since my column last weekend, I had received a few comments disagreeing that there had been an anti-2020/anti-Gary Sweet shift in recent weeks by what I like to call normal fans. By that I mean without a hidden agenda, and I was disappointed that said normal fans were being swayed by the 'agenda people'. Well, after the equalising goal went in on Saturday I think the volcano erupted and proved my point. The lid came off the box and a large number of posters on various sites have vented their frustrations at 2020/GS.


Yes, 2020 have to take some responsibility, because it has become apparent that some decisions have proven to be less great than they seemed. However, they were made based on the best knowledge available at the time and were not all made by one person, so it is inherently unfair to point the finger at one person in Gary Sweet. Gary has stated publicly the feelings of himself and the board and I know for a fact that similar feelings have been stated before directly to the concerned individuals in private, but despite a short rally in results, things have again reverted to how they were before that run, culminating in Gary's public comments.


I have stated recently that changing the manager at this time last season did not have the desired result and even were that the course of action desired by the board, it is imperative that any new appointment is a good one. Last season we were nailed on for the play-offs at the time of the change of manager and it allowed Gary Brabin to tinker with the playing style and blend of players looking for the best option to use in the play-offs. It oh so nearly worked and but for a very poor decision by Jason Walker to be too clever taking his kick and our leading goalscorer not having the confidence to take one himself we may have found ourselves promoted.


This season however, any new manager coming in at this point would not have the luxury of time to look at the team and not worry about results as we are by no means certain of a play-off spot. If the decision were made now to change the manager and then we failed to make the play-offs I'm sure that would then be seen as the board's fault, so they would be damned if they did and damned if they didn't. I don't know what decisions in that regard will be made but I'm glad I don't have to make them! Everyone has their opinion and we are all entitled to them, but we don't have to be damned by our opinions if they proved to be disastrous.


I have also been accused of being a mouthpiece for 2020 and even in one case as actually being Gary Sweet! I can assure you that neither is the case. I am an acquaintance of Gary and one or two others within the club and I have always found Gary and previously others no longer in active roles in the club as genuine and honest people who are, like us, supporters of Luton Town FC, and always willing to discuss matters that they are able to discuss, and sharing our frustrations when things do not go as desired. I happen to believe not only in their aims for the club but also their efforts in trying to balance pushing for success with working within our means so we don't become extinct as a club, which is a difficult job. None of these people deserve the personal criticism and in many cases downright libellous abuse they receive. In fact, there are some people out there who are very lucky that Gary and some board members are as good natured as they are and have not in some cases sued the people responsible for some of the outrageous allegations made against them despite the erroneous belief that by adding the word allegedly might make them bulletproof!


There are also many different views on the appointment of Lil Fucillo as an Associate Director in the role of Technical Director and I understand that the 3CR commentators used the term 'manager-in-waiting'. I would doubt that is the case for several reasons. Firstly, I can remember writing in a column at the time of his previously joining the club, "Lil Fucillo only came to the club about six weeks ago as a scout, next thing you know he's a coach, then Assistant Manager and now Manager. At this rate of progress he'll be Chairman by Friday week!" However, that didn't happen and his tenure was a short one. I last spoke to Lil when he was Manager at Wootton Blue Cross when I refereed a match in the UCL between Wootton and Daventry. I remember observing that he seemed too nice a guy to be a Manager after hearing his team talk before the game when the most aggressive thing he said to them was about me. He said, " You've had him before and you know that if you open your mouth he'll shut it for you. If you get a booking for a late tackle that's one thing but don't expect the club to pay fines if you get booked for dissent!"  I was happy with that, my job was half done, perhaps he could have a word with Mark Tyler! :-)  Secondly, he has stated he doesn't want to be Manager, and thirdly Gary Sweet has stated what he will be doing and managing did not seem to be part of his remit. I agree with David Mosque that it appears the board lacks someone who has a background in many areas of football and I believe he is seen as a fresh pair of eyes to see the problems and advise solutions. That may indeed include assessing all the personnel from manager downwards including the players.


I am as unhappy at the current state of the club, football wise, as the fans, the board and everyone else associated with the club, but it may not be a time for kneejerk reactions. It can be argued that different decisions could have been made and done earlier, but it is what it is now and whatever decisions are made by the board will have my support, as will the team, but that doesn't mean I won't be critical when the team doesn't put in a shift as they clearly did not on Tuesday night.


On the good news front, the team played much better against Grimsby and Andre Gray looks sharp, quick and has an eye for getting into good positions. I sincerely hope that negative team selection and lack of service that can bring does not knock those attributes out of him. I don't know if it is fear for his job or just his basic nature as a manager, but it seems that all too often Gary Brabin is scared of losing a match and sets his team up to be hard to beat rather than going all out for victory. Indeed, he may not even realise it, but it seems apparent enough to me and many other supporters. Personal abuse is not the way to vent our frustrations, I'm sure he is a personable man, but if he cannot deliver a team selection to win a game with the players up for it, then he is not the man for the job and sooner or later he will pay the price with his job. That decision and the timing of it if/when it comes, is not ours. We must let those in charge do their jobs and hope that we can sneak into and through the play-offs to League 2. If that doesn't happen then I am sure the picture as a whole will have been assessed and a new plan set in place for another concerted effort next season, but let's not give up on this year yet. Let us concentrate on lifting the players to perform. If we believe others are not doing their jobs in our quest for promotion let us not be found wanting in doing ours. 

Play-Offs no formality

I have been having a break from posting while bedding down in a new job, but I have still been watching games and, I admit, getting more worried about the prospect of another year in the BSP.

It is saddening to see some of the personal comments denigrating the custodians of the club and the managerial team, which is unnecessary and lacking in dignity. It is possible to to be frustrated and disappointed about the current status of the club, in disagreement with management strategy and unhappy with the performance of the manager and team without resorting to abuse and in some cases libellous character assassination. None of those things ameliorate the situation and can be downright counter productive. Most of the time such commentary criticises and abuses with no productive answers to the problems we are currently facing.

For what it is worth, my opinion is freely given, is unofficial and has no motive or agenda relating to personnel within the club. As many know I have supported the club through thick and thin since 1957 and have experienced all the ups and downs over the years but still remained a supporter. Nothing will change that so long as we have a club to support and until I have shuffled off this mortal coil.

I have always supported whoever may be in the roles of Chairman, Manager or MD etc. (Give or take a Gurney) and will cheer on whichever players pull on the hallowed shirt and step out on the field in the name of Luton Town. However, as with most supporters I am always arrogant enough to have my preferred players in a squad, to think I know better than the manager and to express disappointment when I feel certain players should be playing when they are not. Often it transpires that this has occurred because slight training injuries or illness has rendered a player unfit at the time and then one can see that there was a good reason. At other times the manager has his own ideas and I may disagree with them, but as many have stated in message boards, in answer to some people's critical comments over the years, I do not hold coaching badges etc so what do I know? Well, for a start, when I was first playing the game, and then managing teams at grass roots level, there were no coaching badges, every team played a keeper,  2 full backs, 1 centre half and two half backs, 1 centre forward, 2 inside forwards and 2 wingers. (That's 2-3-5 if you want modern jargon).The job of the full backs was to mark the wingers and the half backs to stop the centre and inside forwards and the roles of the forwards were to get the better of their markers. It was a simple game, but the emphasis was on attacking and winning games. Today teams are set up with all manner of agenda e.g to not allow a good team to score against them and go for a 0-0, but Luton Town, along with a few other teams notably West Ham United, have always been associated with playing the sort of football that fans like to watch. Like West Ham it has not always brought the success it deserves to the Hatters, but we still like to be entertained.

Currently we are not seeing the type of football we are used to seeing and love to watch, on a regular basis, which is harder to take when neither are we getting consistent results. Personally, I'd take boring football from now to the end of the season if it resulted in every match being a 1-0 win to the Hatters and getting back into the Football League! Then we could start building a side to progress and entertain.

So why are we where we are at the the present time, with the play-offs not even a formality yet? (In fact I am beginning to worry that we might not even make the play-offs and that is a great shift in my usual optimistic way of looking at things.)

It seems to me that all the best and most successful Luton teams over the years have had two basic themes. Firstly, regardless of squad size, they had a team which was built around a spine. By that I mean strong physical players at Keeper, Centre half and Centre Forward - No nonsense players who commanded their territory and almost dared their opponents to come near them. Secondly, 11 starting players who when fit and well virtually selected themselves, and when a player was missing you knew straight away he was either injured or sick or suspended. The introduction of substitutes to the game added an extra dimension that if a player had to go off you could replace him and that was probably the only way a sub would get on. Even with their bankrolling benefactors, the common denominator between last year's champions and this year's champions elect was that regardless of squad size, they have both played a regular starting elevens as dis Wimbledon last year and Wrexham this year.

Having given him the benefit of the doubt for a year, as I have done with previous managers, I believe that Gary Brabin has a large number of players who are similar in quality and can be interchanged without losing quality and he rotates them seemingly at random sometimes, and I don't think he knows even now what his best eleven is. The benefit of a team bonding by playing every week with the same players around each other and knowing where their colleagues are going to be just never happens. Players are played out of position just to get them in the side sometimes and lose confidence when the crowd gets on their back. I have noticed several times recently where a player is through on goal and should be shooting, but has shirked the responsibility by passing which puts another step in the move - the pass has to be a good one the receiving player has to either time his run onto the ball or has to control it and then look to get a shot away, all of which gives defending players a chance to get back - when the player with the ball should have buried it. Is this a lack of confidence brought on by the mood of the expectant Luton crowd?

It is my belief that Gary Brabin is genuinely trying to do his best, but with the resources at the best supported club in the BSP we should be at least in touch with top spot. It is unfortunate that in the last two seasons a club with no support has found a benefactor who threw money at getting promoted which was successful last year for Crawley and looks like being so this season for Fleetwood.  I also believe that Gary Brabin's  position as manager was in great danger just before the team went on the unbeaten run, but he bought himself some time with that run of results, and it may be that by the time they had reverted to being inconsistent it may have been too late to change managers. This is the very point in the season last year when Richard Money parted company with the club, just after losing a two-legged semi-final in the Trophy, and in a similar League position and that proved to be unsuccessful. Have we progressed in the year since then? I don't believe we have. It may be that Gary Brabin does not have long left at the club as manager, but let us preserve some dignity and not resort to abuse.

Similarly, I have known Gary Sweet for a few years now and I will be forever in his debt for the work he did in rescuing the club from some very dodgy hands and to see and hear him being abused and vilified makes me very sad indeed. I am mainly saddened by the fact that shit stirring by ex-employees and people who act for those who really stand to make a lot of money if they can get the club's backing for certain projects is beginning to be believed and supported by normal fans. Ask yourself this, if some of these people have much to gain by a Gary Sweet out campaign, could that possibly be because their propositions are not beneficial for the club and that Gary is protecting the club's interests and won't give his support to their projects? I don't know the answer to that myself but....."just sayin'".

If Gary and the board believe it is in the best interests for Gary Brabin to leave then that will happen. If they believe to the contrary then it won't, but don't attribute personal gain motives to what Gary does at the club. Gary is a supporter like we all are and I doubt even he realised just how much of a poisoned chalice it would be when he took on the role. I did tell him but after the event!

Here's hoping.... but not expecting..... we can get to and win in the play-offs.