Luton Town: Five thoughts from the first week of the 2020/2021 season
The football season is back under way already and Luton Town have gotten off to a solid start. With two wins from two, including a potentially crucial win already away at Barnsley, the Hatters appear to have carried on from where they left off last year.
But what have we learned so far about how Luton are approaching this season? I’ve put together five quick thoughts about the Town from the first week of the new season.
- Making the case for the defence
This is my third blog about Luton Town and those of you have read the first two will know that I cannot stop banging on about how badly the Hatters defended in 2019/2020.
Over the course of last season, Luton were one of the worst defences in the league. But as outlined elsewhere, the side’s defensive work improved markedly upon the return of Nathan Jones and that trend has continued into this season.
In the first two games, the Town have only conceded one goal so far and kept a clean sheet in the league’s opener. Luton have conceded 26 shots against for an average of 13 per game, a reduction on last season’s near 15 shots per game against average. Only seven of those shots have been on target across two games, with Barnsley restricted to just one shot on target in the Championship curtain raiser.
Now, of course, we do need to account for the quality of the opposition. Norwich did field a weakened side against Luton (though one that, even when missing 13 players, still resembled a solid Championship side), while Barnsley’s Dominik Frieser will wonder how he missed a thoroughly presentable chance to muddy Simon Sluga’s first clean sheet.
But even then, it is welcome to see Luton continuing to prioritise defensive solidity. In a slightly chaotic league, such an approach could help the Town clamber above the fray at the bottom of the table and beat the pundits pre-season expectations of narrowly avoiding the relegation places.
2. Jones goes with what he knows
In 2020/2021 so far, Luton Town have used a total of 16 players. Of those players, only five (Martin Cranie, Simon Sluga, James Bree, Jordan Clark and Rhys Norrington-Davies) were not at the club when Nathan Jones left in January 2019. And in terms of the two starting elevens, only three of those players — Sluga, Cranie and Norrington-Davies — have made it out for the kick off.
Nathan Jones looks to be leaning strongly on the players who delivered back to back promotions for the club during the majority of his time in charge this season. While Graeme Jones looked to strengthen the side with ‘experienced’ Championship players, Nathan Jones is clearly favouring the players who delivered for him through the divisions.
So far, the signs look good. It was clear when Jones was at the club — and even after he left — that he was exceptionally close to the first team and that they were willing to play for him. The number of points that Luton have picked up since his return really underlines that.
While still incredibly early days, the side is playing with a welcome sense of purpose and a feeling of unity. The question will be what happens when Luton hit a bump in the road and whether Jones decides to keep the faith — or freshen things up — in response.
3. Slow and steady bringing in the new faces
On the other side of the coin, Luton’s new signings have mostly deepened the squad rather than spend much time on the pitch. Aside from Norrington-Davies, who has started both games, all of Luton’s new signings have either been restricted to appearances off the bench (Jordan Clark and the returning James Bree) or haven’t made it into the squad yet (Tom Lockyer).
In a usual Summer, this might be the kind of thing to raise a few eyebrows. But the heavily truncated nature of pre-season, the forthcoming fixture pile up and — in the case of Lockyer — a strange international break has given Nathan Jones the option of gradually bringing the new faces on board. And as it stands, the approach seems to be working out well.
Norrington-Davies has done enough in two appearances to suggest that he may lay claim to being Luton’s starting left back even when Dan Potts and Brendan Galloway. Jordan Clark produced a match winning 20 minute cameo against Norwich in the Carabao Cup.
And while Bree and Lockyer have yet to appear, the former impressed heavily in the last eight of the season for Luton while the latter recorded two clean sheets on international duty.
In short, we might not have seen too much from the new faces through the door but the upcoming busy fixture list should give us a chance to see them all in regular action in short order.
4. James Collins looks ready for a big season
When James Collins first signed for Luton, I will admit that I probably didn’t fully appreciate his potential to become an integral part of the side.
Though he signed from Crawley Town with a decent reputation for lower league goal scoring exploits, which seemed perfect for League 2, I wasn’t really sure whether he could make his way up the leagues with us.
However, Collins has proven to be an essential part of our play. As well as being a decent goal scorer, his overall work rate, the ability to lead the line and professionalism — which, pre-COVID, would see him stay in a hotel away from his family pre game day to avoid distractions — has seen him step up first to League One (where he secured the Golden Boot) and then to the Championship (where he secured 14 in his first season.
Importantly, Collins has started this season impressively. As well as scoring a hat-trick in the Carabao Cup, he netted the winner against Barnsley with an impressively clinical finish to take his total to four goals in two games.
And while Luton do need to improve the service in to him in the coming weeks, as Jones acknowledged in the post match interview against the Tykes, Collins looks in fine fettle to aim for a 20 goal season.
5. Martin Cranie is a baller
Zinedine Zidane, Johann Cryuff, Ronaldinho…these names are nothing compared to the majesty of Martin Cranie in full flow.
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