Scotty gives his opinion on recent events at Kenilworth Road, whether you want it or not!
Mudbath
A win against Derby and a mudbath at Brighton in a fortnight of little news
Reasonable performances against Derby and Brighton netted the four points which secure Championship status barring a combination of circumstances that would get you odds of a million to one at the bookies. It is certainly the last time I go to Brighton when it?s raining that hard!
The Withdean pitch was more like a tidal estuary and I haven?t seen conditions like that since the eighties and The Baseball ground. These days it?s rare to see a match allowed to continue with standing water on the pitch. Still it made for some stirring tackles. I?ll bet Kevin Nicholls was upset at missing it! He would have been in his element.
With the season over in all but name, I say again that I hope Mike will have a look at some of the ?nearly? players to assess whether they are going to make it or not. If not, then they need to make way for some players who will be part of an improved overall squad for next season.
Petulant
While I am a great advocate of Mike Newell and believe he has been a breath of fresh air with his honesty, I was very disappointed with his reported petulant outburst against unfair criticism on a website message board. His use of the terms ?low-lifes? and ?scum? is extremely harsh, if not outrageous. I agree that some of the criticism on website message boards is less than balanced or fair, but much of it is ironic and deliberately provocative to other website users, and even when it is meant, it is only one person?s opinion, and paying customers have the right to criticise, even if their vocabulary may be limited.
Pot to Kettle!
Mike was reported in The Daily Mirror as having said, ?I don’t do websites, the internet or e-mail. Call me old-fashioned, but I believe websites are an avenue for evil.
“We can take criticism but not from low-lifes. If whoever it was wants to come in the dressing room and discuss football they are welcome, but I doubt it very much.
“Eventually there will be laws introduced to deal with that sort of scum, but we all know how long it takes people in authority to see what’s going on.”
I?m sure that if any of us asked to go into the dressing room to give our opinion we would not be allowed to do so, so why make such a meaningless comment? I remember a while ago when Mike felt it was Ok to slate the performance of a referee/fourth official, (on a website!) and said that he could recognise incompetence when he saw it. So can we Michael, and there have been occasions when we have seen it this season.
To a degree we expect to see it at times, especially in a new division, and we are quick to praise when excellence has been witnessed, but when the vast majority of us who go and pay £25 to watch a match are not earning the £3000 plus per week that many of our footballers are, we have the right to make observations when the highly paid are not performing well!
All football fans are fickle and Luton?s are as fickle as any team?s, and fans will always have favourites and favourite scapegoats; that is the nature of football, but those of you who are collecting the big bucks must swallow the criticism and get on with the job. There is no place for throwing the toys out of the pram in that manner. Of course, it is fair and equitable that players and management should have the right of reply; refute criticism by all means but slagging fans in that manner is disappointing to see.
Jumping the gun!
In a bid to setle the rumours which were resurfacing about Mike Newell going to Leicester in the summer, Bill Tomlins announced that Mike had ‘agreed’ a new contract, and that the announcement was with Mike’s blessing, only for Mike to deny that he had even seen a contract yet. This is unhelpful to the fans and the facts should be correct before they are made public in that manner.
It is noticeable that two weeks later there has been no announcement that the contract, which Newell said was with his solicitor, has been signed.
I for one hope that Mike stays and completes the job he has begun. Within the confines of a small budget He and the team have acquiited themselves well this year and if the resources are provided, I am convinced that Mike could improve on this seasons league position and put us in the running for promotion.
Mike said today that he did not see a problem with signing the contract, but he is in no hurry as he is already signed until the end of season 2006/7, and that both he and the club want the contract to be right.
Have a good one!
Scotty
