Are top-flight battlers Luton ‘resigned to another relegation’?

Time is quickly running out for Luton Town, and there is no escaping it.

21 months have passed since the euphoric scenes to mark Rob Edwards’ club’s promotion to the Premier League.

The team, now led by Matt Bloomfield, faces the very real chance of regaining League One at the start of the following year because he was unable to keep them there.

Sunday’s 2-0 derby defeat by Watford left Luton stuck at the bottom of the Championship, five points from safety, and with only 12 games remaining to save themselves from a second successive relegation.

They have lost 11 straight games away from home, including one win in 12 of their previous 12 league games, and have only managed one point from that run.

Since beating Southampton 6-1 in January 1989, Edwards’ biggest top-flight victory came when they conceded, and he later said to BBC Match of the Day: “I believe we believe that the best way for us to go in this league is to attack.

” We have to keep our foot down. We can’t afford to stop because we’re not good enough to do that. “

Unfortunately, Luton were unable to transpose Edwards’ words into deeds, so they only won one of the 17 games, winning 2-1 at home against Bournemouth, and finished 18th overall, falling back into second place.

He expressed optimism about their chances of winning the first game of the current campaign, but they only managed one point, and it has been a difficult process since.

Following four defeats in a row, which placed them two places above the bottom three, Edwards eventually left on January 9.

They eventually settled on Bloomfield, who agreed a three-and-half-year contract, having only begun his managerial career in September 2022 at Colchester United.

It was his record at Wycombe Wanderers, though, which caught the eye of Luton, having guided the Chairboys into an automatic promotion spot in League One, going toe-to-toe with higher-profile rivals Birmingham City and Wrexham.

Since his arrival, fresh blood has been brought in to rejuvenate the squad, but eight games later, he is still waiting for his first Luton victory.

And now some fans are questioning whether he had the necessary experience in this circumstance despite having previously risen above the third tier.

” Bloomfield was a mistake, “said supporter Ceiron in a message to BBC Sport”. We have money. Priority should have been bringing in a proven player to help us maintain our championship and prepare for a summer rebuild.

The Cornish Hatter continued, “Due to Bloomfield’s poor appointment, which is obviously out of his depth, and the way we play, we will even struggle in League One next season.” It could become League Two’s best ground if Power Court is ever finished.

Eddie told BBC Three Counties Radio:” I just despair with this team, a non-league team could beat us. I can’t recall a worse team, so the club should hang their heads in shame. A supporter since 1982, we’ve had worse individuals, but as a team, they’re the worst. “

And Clive said:” Totally predictable result (against Watford) for the Hatters today, given current form and league position. There is so little quality in our squad, it’s hard to believe a year ago we were a Premier League side… the last 12 months have been disastrous. “

However, Richard did not hold Bloomfield accountable for his team’s continued poor performances, saying in a post-game: “When will fans and pundits realize that changing the manager doesn’t mean an improved team? Just look at Stoke (three managers this season already) and Manchester United.

“You must accept that no matter who is the manager, the players aren’t good enough.” I’ve already accepted it’s League One next season”.

BBC Radio 5 Live reporter Aaron Paul, who covered the defeat at Watford, said Luton had been “woeful” in the first half and overall had “not been good enough in every department”.

“This is a performance from a Luton team that looks like it is resigned to another relegation”, he said at half-time. “They look like they feel sorry for themselves”.

Forward Carlton Morris, however, did not foresee the game in the least degree.

“We’re in a difficult moment, there’s no disputing that, but it’s not how many times you get beaten down, it’s how you get up and react as a football club and as a human being”, he told BBC Three Counties Radio.

“We have to score when we’re on top and in the ascendancy, and be more diligent defensively.

The best you can do is to balance the game in your favor, but in the games we’re losing because we’ve not been good enough in both boxes is true, regardless of the overall performance.

The statistics clearly demonstrate why Luton is in such a dire condition right now.

They have only scored 31 goals in 34 games, two fewer than any other side in the Championship, and have let in 55 – one of only five teams to reach the half century.

Luton have lost 32 league games in just under 13 months of playing in 51 league games since that defeat against Brighton, which is more than any other Championship club.

Since beating Sheffield United at Bramall Lane on December 26, 2023, they have only won one league game away from home.

The Hatters were averaging 0.96 points per game this season when Edwards left Kenilworth Road, but since then, the average has dropped to 0.82.

By the end of the season, they will only manage around 38 points, which is not good enough to prevent them from falling.

Over the past 10 seasons, Reading’s total of 41 points is the lowest among the teams who have finished in 21st place, just above the drop zone, and last year Plymouth Argyle needed 51 to stay up.

Bloomfield acknowledged that his side had a difficult task ahead of them.

“It is but it’s one be believe we can achieve”, he told BBC Three Counties Radio.

Of their 12 remaining matches, Luton have five against teams no higher than 17th in the table – but unfortunately for them, given their record, four of them are away from home, against Cardiff City, Hull City, Stoke City and Derby County.

Given that they then travel to Burnley, the team with the most sloppy defense in English professional football, with just nine goals conceded in 34 games, their home game against Portsmouth, which is currently 17th, is unquestionably a must-win.

The visitors to Kenilworth Road in April will be current leaders Leeds United, who have only lost three games. They also have a home game against Middlesbrough in the coming month.

Burnley and Leeds not withstanding, Bloomfield’s men need a healthy points tally up to and including the game at 23rd-placed Derby on 18 April.

All three of those teams are currently in or near the play-off positions will then face West Bromwich Albion on May 2 after home games against Bristol City and Coventry City.