Luton Outlaws - Independent Message Board for Luton Town FC

Hi Everyone,

So near yet so far. It is the hope that kills you in the end.

All true, but football has a way of shoving you down then raising you up again. On the 27th May 2023 we beat a Coventry City side in the play off final. None of us that day thought a few short years later we would be in League One. The lesson of course is sometimes you have to go back a few steps in order to move forward. Coventry have shown that even when the chips are down if you stick together then dreams can come true, even when you have been crushed on the biggest stage.

Our season has been all over the place to be frank. A tale of if not quite two halves, then definitely three thirds, the bad, the ugly and the good. A run of 12 wins and two draws in that final third was promotion form. Of course that included the Wembley win. However, too many silly lost games or games that were drawn when we should have won cost us in the end, and "that goal" by Stevenage really did sum our season up. It should have never come down to other results to help us, it should have been in our hands from the start. Control the controllables as a great man once said, how very true!

Jack Wilshere and Chris Powell have it now seems settled into their roles and with it we have seen the green shoots of improvement starting to taking place, it has taken time but we are beginning to see consistency and desire to win games after what has seemed like forever where we didn't seem to have a clue what we were doing.

It was looking a little rocky at times and we said so as an organisation, but a season is a marathon and not a sprint.

Both Jack and Chris have stated how the atmosphere can influence games at home. I feel they haven't really experienced what it can be truly like once we are going for it. But to get to that stage it means winning consistently and giving the support something to get behind.

Winning at Bolton, who had only lost once before we rocked up, really does mean that going into the new season gives us hope that it will be a very successful one as long as we can keep the momentum going. This of course depends on recruitment to strengthen what we have and clear out the deadwood to return to the Championship. To say our recent transfer business has been hit and (mostly) miss would be an understatement.

Hopefully we can keep Kasey Palmer on a permanent basis and hold on to our Player of the Season Jordan Clark. FFP rules though, are going to make it extremely difficult. That's not an excuse but a reality something that we are going to have to accept.

We had a day out a Wembley, we picked up a trophy and just missed out on the playoffs. On paper not bad depending on your starting point, but we know it can and should have been so much better, and it must be next season, our penultimate at Kenilworth Road if all goes to plan at Power Court.

Keep the faith!

Enjoy the World Cup summer, we go again!

Carpe Diem!

Kevin Rouse
Chairman
Loyal Luton Supporters Club