Luton – Nathan Without Mick Equals Problems
It is Sunday morning, and I am about to put the cat among the pigeons, and I am not sure how it is going to be received.
But hey, is there anything wrong when it comes to courting controversy?
When Nathan Jones upped sticks and left Luton to join Stoke City, he was not, among the Luton supporters, the most popular of people.
Some saw his move as a betrayal to the cause.
However, his time at Stoke did not go as smoothly as he expected it to and with the Hatters being underwhelmed by the managerial skills of Graeme Jones, history conspired to allow a second coming for the Welshman.
The fact that the world was in the middle of a pandemic and spectators were forbidden from entering grounds, allowed Nathan’s return to happen without any verbal responses from those that felt betrayed.
Fortune conspired to give Jones the ideal start to his second period with the club, staving off the threat of relegation, albeit with a last day win against Blackburn and then, last season, steering Luton to a very respectable 12th position in the Championship.
This summer, Nathan set about a major revamp of the club, bringing in 8 new signings and such was the excitement levels among the support, talk of reaching the play-offs was prevalent.
But then came the awful news that Nathan’s sidekick, and Luton legend, Mick Harford, was fighting prostate cancer.
Mick bade farewell before the trip to take on Barnsley and the team responded with a fine 1-0 win, but since then, without his right-hand man, Nathan has seen the team go on a run of results that reads:
LDDDD
Yesterday, he watched his team throwaway a 3-0 half-time lead to draw 3-3 against a Swansea City side who had only scored 4 league goals all season.
Naturally, the support are a little miffed and already there is an element of negativity surrounding Nathan appearing on social media:
You have to question the management strategy of this game? There was none and the players absolutely clueless on how to play out a win.
— Paul Stokes (@paulstokesyorks) September 18, 2021
Jones got it wrong again
— Luton Town Football Shirts 🎩 (@LTFCShirts) September 18, 2021
And it also seems that the support are not to endeared with his post-match interviews, as the following illustrate:
NJ with the excuses. Never owns up when it’s clearly his fault for throwing away a 3 goal lead 🤦🏻♂️ #COYH
— Stevo (@_stephencook_) September 18, 2021
Shocking management from Jones second half. He needs to hold his hands up and take the blame
— cameronwoodman4 (@smokedogcam) September 18, 2021
And on the same theme, there is also a contribution from a Stoke City fan, who mused:
Stoke fan here. Just read this out of curiosity. He says the exact same things he used to come out with whenever we lost under him (90% of the time). Never takes accountability for his own shortcomings.
— Dan. (@MiaSanStoke) September 19, 2021
All of which begs me to ask the question:
Does Mick Harford contribute to the way the side performs far more than anybody anticipated or realised?
If so, how is Nathan going to fare with the continued absence of his right-hand man?
Last week saw the first managerial casualty of the Championship season with Nottingham Forest axing Chris Hughton, now I am not saying Nathan should be axed, but if things do not improve quickly and relegation fears start to surface, could the improbable happen?
Please feel free to have your say on the subject matter in comment facility beneath this article.
COYH’s
AFC Bournemouth v Luton Town?
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Luton Support Are Not A Happy Bunch