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Luton Now Is Not The Time To Betray The Faith

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A year ago, Luton Town were in freefall, with Graeme Jones at the managerial helm, it looked odds on as if the Hatters would be relegated and suffer a quick return to League One.

They were worrying times.

But, as if by magic, the Hatters hierarchy implemented a change, Graeme Jones was axed and a short time later, Nathan Jones returned for a second spell as the Luton manager.

It was an appointment that split the support, after all Nathan had deserted us, in our hour of need, to join Stoke City.

Many of the Hatters support could not forgive him for collecting the ‘Manager of the Month’ award, an accolade he had won during his final few weeks at Kenilworth Road, in a Stoke City top.

But those dissenters welcomed Nathan back into the fold when he orchestrated the Hatters great escape to secure a spot in the Championship for, at least, a second season.

That second season started well, indeed there was talk that Luton could challenge for a play-off spot.

Sadly, in recent weeks, those dreams have faltered, and Luton have started to slip down the Championship table after a run of poor results and poor performances.

Yesterday, against Stoke City, the very club he had left Luton for, Nathan witnessed what is quite possibly the worst performance the side has given since he returned, back in May 2020.

As a result, mutterings of discontent have suddenly started to appear on the social media sites.

The first I selected, infers Nathan’s future could be in doubt:

But if you think that is harsh, then what about this one:

No mincing words there is there?

It seems everyone has a view, some more controversial than others, as the post below shows:

Really!

Does that keyboard warrior believe Nathan is incapable of omitting some players for fear of a dressing room backlash?

Trying to come to a few rational thoughts about the situation, I was pleased to see a comment from a Vital Luton Town regular, Alistair, who, in his contribution, I think summed things up perfectly, when he wrote:

I do not like to lambaste Nathan as if it were not for his return last season, we all know under the previous incumbent Graeme Jones we were facing virtually certain relegation.

He must have motivated the players and given them belief for them to produce a string of brilliant battling performances to pull off the Houdini act that followed.

Then earlier this season the good work continued but of course as we all now know momentum has ground to a halt and stagnation has firmly set in.

Apart from a recent win against an awful Birmingham results have been disappointing. I wonder if Nathan Jones has gone into his shell or has, he lost the ability to rally the troops or keep instilling belief into them?

As some of us have already alluded to, perhaps picking the same players nearly every game has a great deal to do with it where they feel like they do not have to earn the shirt.

Another point I would like to make is he does not seem to give his new signings and fringe players much of a look in so when he does need to call on them, they are too rusty to adapt quickly enough.

Maybe herein there lies a big problem, involve more players, and drop ones that do not perform.

Also, maybe Nathan Jones over cautious attitude is rubbing off on others, but I do believe he can turn things around before it is too late, perhaps if he stopped to think about what he has achieved with Luton thus far and realised you do not necessarily become a bad manager overnight. Let us hope so.

I could not have put it better myself, Nathan deserves all our support and perhaps this Tuesday, when Millwall visit, there will be a shake up and things will get better.

Perhaps, apart from the above submitted comment, the best I could find about our current predicament, when it comes to social comments, is the one below:

Now is not the time to doubt the boss, be careful what you wish for, he is doing what he perceives to be his best, you could end up with another disaster like the previous incumbent of the role.

Luton Town v Millwall?

Luton to Win

Luton to Win

Millwall to Win!

Millwall to Win!

A Draw!

A Draw!

COYH’s

Previous article by Mad Hatter

Luton – There Is Criticism And There Is This

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9 comments

  • Alan says:

    Nj out is just knee jerk….as I keep saying this league is hard, also very tight…
    Acoupke if wins and your looking upwards again..
    The comment about us punching above our weight is spot on…..let’s get behind them and make sure we stay up…as for the season ticket and ifollow comment, you ain’t a true supporter bud, if you dont like it bog off down the M1…..

  • Chris winter says:

    Hi all, I put a comment on earlier. On the team sheets post. In it ask does nj need to change tactics an should he clear out players at the end of the season no matter what happens. An who would you keep let me know what you think

    • Mad Hatter says:

      Hi Chris, appreciated the earlier post,can I use it to develop a front page article for publishing tomorrow?

      • Chris winter says:

        Hi mh, of course you are always welcome to use anything I put up. As a debate I think it needs airing as to what fans think

  • Paul says:

    I think its NJ that’s betraying the faith, in his own players. How will he ever know the potential of his game changers if he doesn’t give them a chance to show what they can do in more that 10-15 mins.

    When they are sitting on the bench or not even selected, they must be wondering what they have to do to get given the chance to prove themselves, and if they do get the chance, it’s the last few mins and normally a lost cause, as we are already chasing the game.
    The likes of Colins, Pelly, Rea, Bradley, are consistently giving poor performances and don’t deserve a starting place.

  • JohnMD says:

    A number of Supporters have tried defending Rea’s inept passing by suggesting it’s just one game, but the fact is it isn’t. I made exactly the same comment after the Cardiff game, indeed I doubt I need more than one hand to count his passes reaching a Town Player in BOTH games, I also said after the Cardiff game Pelly needs a break, and again it showed against Stoke. I’m afraid much as I support NJ he does appear to have got stuck with his Team Selection. Three Names I think should list first, Sluga, Moncur, Morrell. I still believe if Cornick is left wide he can deliver, but the Formation needs to revert to one the Players were happy with, and I don’t need to spell that out!

  • Alan says:

    Funny DH is getting no criticism…started off great done jack shite past few weeks. Couldn’t cross the road…at the moment he is izzy brown take 2… I like pelly but I agree he should be out st the mo….midfield for Tuesday, for me, is : Clarke, Morrell, Ince, moncur…..

    • Bob Jackson says:

      Totally agree Alan. Pelly looks and plays like a tired man and needs to be rested, Morrell is a Welsh International and a quality player and yet sits on the bench he needs to play. Clark was our best player on Saturday and Ince has to play as does Moncur. Collins needs a rest and certainly our hitherto stalwart whilst a good Div 2 player is still just that so why keep faith with him.
      If Mr Jones doesn’t make changes a relegation battle beckons yet again but maybe there are unseen bigger issues behind the scenes at Kenilworth Rd

  • Bob Jackson says:

    Omitted the name Danny Hylton in my post above

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