Luton post match reflections

[Heliosphan78]

Gore and Spence showed some great skill at times but yes it was a backs to the wall showing, no much flair. Gore is a very, very good player. Way out of our league. Just hope we can keep him beyond January but I think the likes of Sheff U etc will sign him on permanent deal

I think the lads showed a lot of endeavour today and defended well, arguably deserving of a point based on that alone.

But I want to see more quality from us. Gore, Spence and Benson were all on the pitch in that second half and we still couldn't create anything. As an attacking force we were literally non existent. Poor Josh Ayres barely got a kick, never mind a sniff of goal.

I guarantee if we play like that every week, we'll lose more than we win. I'll caveat that by acknowledging the injuries and the fact Martha wasn't available. Had he been available Powell would have played in midfield, as he did against Lincoln. We look a better side with him in midfield.

[mellowmiller]

I hope the usual detractors of MH will realise that we potentially have a very good young manager at the club who is currently getting an awful lot out of a severely depleted squad.
He hasn't had much luck this season and never had a full squad to pick from but has persevered with his principles and got us moving towards the fringes of the play offs. That really is some achievement in the circumstances.

[RU66]

I hope the usual detractors of MH will realise that we potentially have a very good young manager at the club who is currently getting an awful lot out of a severely depleted squad.
He hasn't had much luck this season and never had a full squad to pick from but has persevered with his principles and got us moving towards the fringes of the play offs. That really is some achievement in the circumstances.

He had some luck today! Luton didn't turn up!

[mellowmiller]

He had some luck today! Luton didn't turn up!

......and just like that a usual suspect turns up.

[Townerslovechild]

He had some luck today! Luton didn't turn up!

Or maybe we stopped them playing to their strengths...ever thought of that ?
Anyway,great point against a team who will be top 3 this season,think Mat must dip into the free agents pot,we really need someone other than Huggy Bear who can last for more than 45 minutes.

[RU66]

Can we get McGuckin back? Only forward we have who could play Nombe his role.

[ragingpup]

I think the lads showed a lot of endeavour today and defended well, arguably deserving of a point based on that alone.

But I want to see more quality from us. Gore, Spence and Benson were all on the pitch in that second half and we still couldn't create anything. As an attacking force we were literally non existent. Poor Josh Ayres barely got a kick, never mind a sniff of goal.

I guarantee if we play like that every week, we'll lose more than we win. I'll caveat that by acknowledging the injuries and the fact Martha wasn't available. Had he been available Powell would have played in midfield, as he did against Lincoln. We look a better side with him in midfield.

You also have to give credit to Luton who are very good at right pressing and when we did get the ball they were very quickly onto us to close us down. They will very likely end up in the top 3 this season but they met a side in us who were very aware of what they wanted and shut them down.

Going forward, as I said in earlier post, I really worry, without Nome now Hugill and Sherif how were going to get goals against even much weaker teams. We have done excellent battling midfielders but no one in front of them. Big worry

[Derbymiller]

We should have brought a couple of free agents in previously now it is a must we need the options. I still think all these injuries on the same areas cannot be purely bad luck and letting the management team investigate it on their own is foolish. Perhaps TS doesn’t care enough anymore to want to get to the bottom of it, I do not know, but surely external expertise would help the club either see it isn’t due to controllable factors or it is. I feel for MH but this run of injuries isn’t just a this season issue, and just talking about luck makes no sense. Recruitment has to be a factor, there are core players at that club that don’t fall foul to every little twinge and get on that pitch and give their all, where as some at the club go from one injury, one twinge to the next. MH seems to be creating something interesting at the club but he needs some help from the leaders at the top of the club. Fingers crossed for some positive news on injuries soon.

[mellowmiller]

Can we get McGuckin back? Only forward we have who could play Nombe his role.

Don't know, but even if we can he's not going to be the answer because he's not even starting in Eastleigh's team.

[mellowmiller]

We should have brought a couple of free agents in previously now it is a must we need the options. I still think all these injuries on the same areas cannot be purely bad luck and letting the management team investigate it on their own is foolish. Perhaps TS doesn’t care enough anymore to want to get to the bottom of it, I do not know, but surely external expertise would help the club either see it isn’t due to controllable factors or it is. I feel for MH but this run of injuries isn’t just a this season issue, and just talking about luck makes no sense. Recruitment has to be a factor, there are core players at that club that don’t fall foul to every little twinge and get on that pitch and give their all, where as some at the club go from one injury, one twinge to the next. MH seems to be creating something interesting at the club but he needs some help from the leaders at the top of the club. Fingers crossed for some positive news on injuries soon.

MH explained this week why we weren't going to sign free agents. His reasoning was plausible but, reading between the lines, suggested the money probably wasn't going to be available.
If we are around the play offs at the end of the year it will be interesting to see what sort of backing the chairman gives the manager in the January window.
Don't hold your breath!