The last time we played Luton...

E

equaliser

Well-known member
...was a real turning point for us - in a bad way. We'd been on a brilliant run but the outside chance of closing the gap on Sheff U had gone, and Carrick decided to (we thought) rest Akpom and a couple of others. Luton had been grinding out 1-0 victories for months and after they luckily beat us that night would eventually pip us to third place. We fell away, losing to Rotherham, drawing at home to Coventry and then losing to them in the play-offs. Luton, historically. got promoted. Fair play to them, I thought they were a breath of fresh air in their one season up there - contrast to us under Karanka.

It would be nice if this Saturday's match could close that chapter, and we give them the beating we really should have given them. We were the better team that season - we scored 84 goals to their 57 - and of course, we had to semi-break up the side, while they went from strength to strength. I like Luton - working class town, good loyal fans, canny manager - but hopefully, it's our time now. There's nothing to fear in this league but we need to start putting a string of results together. If we do, we can have what we thought was in our grasp two seasons ago, but which started to fade from view that night...
 
equaliser said:
I thought they were a breath of fresh air in their one season up there - contrast to us under Karanka.
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I largely agree with what you've said bar this.

We got more points than them in our disastrous season than they did last year.

They were abject last season. But because their ground is a dump and they play like a Dave Bassett team people thought they were 'plucky'
 
At the time I don't think many people complained about resting players (Akpom was allowed to attend the PFA awards dinner as a result) and it also meant we avoided Sunderland in the playoffs. Quite a lot of people were relieved at the time and we still had a home draw in the second leg v Cov.
 
LaPennaBianca said:
I largely agree with what you've said bar this.

We got more points than them in our disastrous season than they did last year.

They were abject last season. But because their ground is a dump and they play like a Dave Bassett team people thought they were 'plucky'
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Nobody expected anything from them. They signed Barkley and scored 52 goals. Contrast with Sheff U - who got a measly 16 points and conceded over 100 - and even Burnley, who had Kompany and were expected to compete. I think they did really well, before falling away at the end.
 
I personally don't think there was any chapter.

They bullied us, luckily beat us, and got promoted.

They gave it a go in the PL when Burnley and Sheffield Utd pretty much resigned themselves to relegation in July.

They have suffered a proper relegation hangover, just outside the relegation places.......and our form against teams below us at home......😬😬

Not looking forward to it, going to be a tough game.
 
Watched them last night, Morris spent more time on his ass for no reason. We are going to struggle against their physical style and their cheating.
 
They will bully us off the park. Big strong aggressive lads against the softest underbelly in the division. Defeat.
 
Breath of fresh air yet they got fewer points than we did and would have been relegated with a month to spare if not for Forest getting a points deduction.
1 win, 12 defeats and 46 goals conceded in their final 15 games that season.

They were *****, they got more leeway because their ground was a meme and people saw them as a plucky underdog.
 
I live about 7 miles from Luton and in their prem season their own fans, generally, got behind them right to the end.

They did try and go toe to toe with prem sides and were found wanting though not for lack of trying.

The turning point for us that season was not against Luton but Jones goal being ruled out for offside against Coventry.
 
equaliser said:
Nobody expected anything from them. They signed Barkley and scored 52 goals. Contrast with Sheff U - who got a measly 16 points and conceded over 100 - and even Burnley, who had Kompany and were expected to compete. I think they did really well, before falling away at the end.
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But you were comparing them to us under Karanka not Burnley or Sheffield United?
 
Burnley spent an absolute fortune on players. Luton still had players who’d been with them since the National League, League Two and League One. Players signed for pennies. They also had their club captain almost die on the field at Bournemouth.

They had absolutely no right to be in the Premier League when you look at their resources - they were promoted with one of the lowest budgets in the Championship - and to be as competitive as they were for as long as they were is to their credit. Compare what they spent to what we’ve p*ssed up the wall on absolute rubbish over the past 8 years.

I really wanted them to stay up but it was too much for them in the end. But it was a brilliant achievement to be anywhere near the top flight in the first place imo.
 
LaPennaBianca said:
But you were comparing them to us under Karanka not Burnley or Sheffield United?
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True, and on the former criteria they over-performed expectations, whereas we did the opposite. I bet if you look at the bookies' pre-season odds, they'd have been heavy odds-on for the drop, whereas we would have been a much shorter price.
 
viv_andersons_nana said:
Burnley spent an absolute fortune on players. Luton still had players who’d been with them since the National League, League Two and League One. Players signed for pennies. They also had their club captain almost die on the field at Bournemouth.

They had absolutely no right to be in the Premier League when you look at their resources - they were promoted with one of the lowest budgets in the Championship - and to be as competitive as they were for as long as they were is to their credit. Compare what they spent to what we’ve p*ssed up the wall on absolute rubbish over the past 8 years.

I really wanted them to stay up but it was too much for them in the end. But it was a brilliant achievement to be anywhere near the top flight in the first place imo.
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great post, spot on
 
Some love for the Luton going on here, so apologies for not getting with that particular Zeitgeist. But the only use for Luton I can come up with is providing the English language with a long overdue opposite meaning for the word 'football'.
 
equaliser said:
...was a real turning point for us - in a bad way. We'd been on a brilliant run but the outside chance of closing the gap on Sheff U had gone, and Carrick decided to (we thought) rest Akpom and a couple of others. Luton had been grinding out 1-0 victories for months and after they luckily beat us that night would eventually pip us to third place. We fell away, losing to Rotherham, drawing at home to Coventry and then losing to them in the play-offs. Luton, historically. got promoted. Fair play to them, I thought they were a breath of fresh air in their one season up there - contrast to us under Karanka.

It would be nice if this Saturday's match could close that chapter, and we give them the beating we really should have given them. We were the better team that season - we scored 84 goals to their 57 - and of course, we had to semi-break up the side, while they went from strength to strength. I like Luton - working class town, good loyal fans, canny manager - but hopefully, it's our time now. There's nothing to fear in this league but we need to start putting a string of results together. If we do, we can have what we thought was in our grasp two seasons ago, but which started to fade from view that night...
Click to expand...
Not sure Luton was a turning point. We played well and were unlucky. The games against Coventry were tight because they were a very good side.
I don't think there's any chapter to close with Luton, we've beaten them on the last two occasions at home.
 
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