For Luton Town, it all boils down to the final day of the Championship season on Saturday (7th May) — as a side who escaped the grips of relegation back to League One following the final game of the campaign just two seasons ago are now, somewhat unbelievably, on the cusp of the play-offs!
With either a victory over 21st-place Reading at Kenilworth Road or defeats for Middlesbrough and Millwall, who travel to Preston and Bournemouth respectively, the Hatters will book their place in the play-offs — defying all the pre-season English Championship betting odds.
If Nathan Jones’ men are to miss out on the play-offs at this stage of the season, after looking almost nailed on for a place in the top six following the surprise victory for automatic promotion chasing Nottingham Forest in mid-April, it could easily be branded a remarkable collapse from the Bedfordshire side.
Indeed, the dropped points from the 1-1 draws against Blackpool and already relegated Peterborough United will understandably be cited as games Luton should, and could, have won — which would have sealed their play-off place with a couple of games to spare.
But you must remember that the Hatters were never meant to be in this position in the first place, and while missing out on the play-offs would be a bitter pill to swallow for the club’s passionate fanbase, it should still go down as a very successful season in the Luton history books.
Not even the most ambitious of Championship outright tips would have thrown Luton into the mix for a play-off place prior to the season getting underway last August, with a top 10 finish perhaps even too much to ask from Jones’ men — yet, here some are branding it a disaster should the Hatters miss out to either ‘Boro or Millwall.
Luton are certainly not out of their depth in the Championship, as they proved last season — finishing 12th in the standings after Jones returned to the Kenny after a short, unsuccessful stint and Stoke City and miraculously turned things around to save them from the drop on the final day of the campaign.
But a play-off place, or even finishing seventh for that matter, would be a massive overachievement from the Welsh manager and this bunch of players. With one of the smallest transfer chests and wage budgets in the division, Luton have had to stick with a wealth of the players who helped them climb to the second tier from League Two — and a lot of them are arguably below the standard of the league.
However, it is the lack of star names in the dressing room that arguably makes Luton the nitty, gritty team they are. Every player fights for their team and they all work tirelessly to Jones’ high-intensity demands — much like Leeds United under Marcelo Bielsa in many ways.
But like the Yorkshire side, Luton’s all-guns-blazing approach has resulted in far too many injuries. The absence of more than eight first team players in the business end of the is another factor that has cost the team crucial points, and while it’s been ingrained in their methods, it’s perhaps something that Jones must reconsider.
Whatever the outcome against Reading, this has been a successful season for Luton. But they have set the bar high for themselves ahead of next year, and the fan’s expectations will perhaps be raised after the exploits of this campaign.
So, it will be interesting to see if they will push for the play-offs again, or crumble under the pressure like Barnsley!
Robert Griffith is a content and essay writer. He is collaborating with local magazines and newspapers. Robert is interested in topics such as marketing and history.
