Luton Vs Mansfield

[That Fat Centre Half]

May as well get this thread going as there is enough of us about!

Mansfield fans seem none to confident about this one, can see why with their form since Flitcroft took over, but surely their form cant last forever, even with a terrible manager. Mansfield always seem to be one of those sides who we struggle against as well, wouldn't quite put them in the bogey team category but very close to it, at least to my mind.

Our wobbles are much documented at this point. Still disappointed that we have let the season come to this where we are having to look over our shoulders, with the way things were going I was expecting us to be cruising to the line at this point, but we have been poor for a good while now. Almost feels like we are going up because everyone else is so poor rather than us being good at the moment. Very anti climactic end to the season no matter how NJ tries to spin it.

Id assume Gambin comes in to replace Berry, he seems to be the one who is next in line. Feel like that will lead to a very unbalanced midfield but we shall see. Maybe Pelly gets one last shot at kicking on with his career here (how many times have we said that!!!). Youd also expect McCormack to come in for Rea who i think had a bit of a shocker against Colchester and seemed badly affected by Berrys injury to me, and perhaps Stacey for JJ who I thought was dreadful on Friday. Wouldnt be too averse to getting Cornick in there somewhere, perhaps for Shinnie. Might have to change the shape for that though and maybe a little reactionary after Fridays performance.

Thinking a frustrating 1-1 in this one. Even though Adam is adamant 1 goal wins it for us, I cant see us not conceding some silly goal.

 

[Richard Cranium]

We played well Monday and may have gotten something if Benning wasn’t so stupid. Quietly confident we can come away from this one with something too. I’ll go for a draw.

 

[BelizeHatter]

At some point we have to show a reaction and turn in a fluid dominating display........don't we?

 

[oakroader]

Easter special...
Carry on Luton....

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

At some point we have to show a reaction and turn in a fluid dominating display........don't we?

I think we have played quite well in some games in this run, Accrington in particular i think we were good, Cambridge was alright too until Collins shot us in the foot. But the last time was Crawley back in February when we convinced at all.

 

[Maple Hatter]

This game is very difficult to predict. I'm hoping the team have a "do it for Luke" attitude and come out with a positive attitude from the off. We have to get the fans with us from the beginning and go all out for that first goal. Sit back and start the game cautiously then we can expect a very nervy 90 minutes. Agree that Mansfield are a bit of a bogey side but we have also had some decent results and performances against them particularly at the Kenny. I imagine they are under as much pressure as us with the money they've spent, Evans abandoning ship and their recent slump in form. I'm sure McCormack will be back in the team and Gambin in for Berry but I'd keep JJ at RB. He needs more game time and we can't keep chopping and changing that position every time one of them has a bad game. NJ needs to start showing some faith. I went for a draw only because I have no idea which Luton Town will come on to the pitch. The crowd need to be 12th man tomorrow. They can make a difference and the players could certainly do with their support.

 

[Kenneth E End]

This game is very difficult to predict. I'm hoping the team have a "do it for Luke" attitude and come out with a positive attitude from the off.

There shouldn't be the need for this though. We're second in the division and have been in the top 2 since virtually the start of the season (I think?). They shouldn't need motivating. Yet they don't look like a side that's motivated at the moment.

 

[Indian Dan]

If we have any slight hope of reaching the play offs we need a Luton win - and a Accy win and a Carlisle win. Saying that, even if that did happen we are so inconsistent we may not take advantage.

Just about given up, tbh.

 

[Wiinotfit]

We'll finally score more than 1 wide open 3-3 draw end to end Easter cracker

 

[Judge Dredd]

Best case scenario for me at this point is that we crawl over the line by winning our home games and Jones gets offered a job like Ipswich on the back of his hyper-inflated media reputation and we start from scratch next season.

Expect us to win tomorrow and if we don't I will be seriously worried as I think we need 7-8 points to get promotion and can't see us getting too many away from the Kenilworth at the moment

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

Best case scenario for me at this point is that we crawl over the line by winning our home games and Jones gets offered a job like Ipswich on the back of his hyper-inflated media reputation and we start from scratch next season.

Expect us to win tomorrow and if we don't I will be seriously worried as I think we need 7-8 points to get promotion and can't see us getting too many away from the Kenilworth at the moment

Interesting view JD, I didn't think you were quite so down on him! Sort of inclined to agree, given the hash he has made of this part of the season. He doesn't learn and any remotely big game we screw it up. Its happened so often you have to question what on earth he does to prepare them.

I thought he might be gone in the coming summer too, given his growing reputation but lately I'm less inclined to think that might happen, simply because of the mess he has made of this final part of the season. That surely cannot have gone unnoticed in the game.

Can sort of see some parallels to his opposite number tomorrow, when Flitcroft was at Bury. Was backed heavily in that summer and were widely tipped to take the title, but only scraped up on the final day and then flunked it in League One the next season.

 

[Indian Dan]

Flitcroft would flunk it with Man City’s first XI

 

[Kenneth E End]

Best case scenario for me at this point is that we crawl over the line by winning our home games and Jones gets offered a job like Ipswich on the back of his hyper-inflated media reputation and we start from scratch next season.

Wow! We're second in the bloody division!!

What more do you want!?

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

Wow! We're second in the bloody division!!

What more do you want!?

If the season was flipped on it’s head, so we started off like we playing now, do you think he makes it past Christmas?

Not sure he does to be honest.

To be clear not advocating he gets fired or anything, but definitely wouldn’t be too upset if he went off to new ventures in the summer.

 

[BelizeHatter]

Hadn't thought of it like that. Imagine how happy we'd be if season was flipped. We'd have this (false?) feeling he was a magician and really good Manager

 

[Kenneth E End]

OK lets have a look at the stats - in the last 20 matches (i.e. splitting the season in 2) we've earned 32 points dating back to Notts County (H) at the start of December. Over a season, that would equate to 74 points. In most seasons that would be play off form.

OK, the last 10 matches (still 14 points) wouldn't equate to anywhere near that, but we've had some difficult matches and every team goes through a dodgy spell. Accrington, the only team above us, have gone on a stonking run.

Football supporters fickle short termism does annoy me. Remember when Still was sacked, we were far closer to the bottom than we were the top.

 

[Kenneth E End]

Hadn't thought of it like that. Imagine how happy we'd be if season was flipped. We'd have this (false?) feeling he was a magician and really good Manager

And at the end of the day, if the season was flipped, we'd still have 74 points from 40 games!

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

Agree we are being fickle but we are all fans, so to be expected.

And I’d suggest that with the backing he got in the summer, if we only got 74 points and ended up in the playoffs again, he wouldn’t be here the following season either!

Baring the miracle of us winning the playoffs!

 

[Kenneth E End]

Agree we are being fickle but we are all fans, so to be expected.

And I’d suggest that with the backing he got in the summer, if we only got 74 points and ended up in the playoffs again, he wouldn’t be here the following season either!

Baring the miracle of us winning the playoffs!

Since 2020 took over in 2008, we've had 6 different permanent managers. They've all been backed to the hilt at significant cost to the directors. In that time we've only had 1 promotion and 1 EFL Trophy to show for it. We had promotion opportunities in probably 8 of those 10 seasons. Is that not a sign that promotion isn't actually that easy? Especially when you're expected to do well.

Say what you like about Steve Evans and Micky Mellon pissing the Conference with £££ when we were down there, but you can't just a team together.

Nathan Jones has a better win % than every manager apart from Richard Money and Allan Brown in 80 years.

 

[oakroader]

Put it another way....
You’re fuel gage shoes empty...
You know you’re running on gas...
Your also secretly trying to get the most out of the tank to see what the true total distance would be from a full tank...
How many fuel stations do you have to pass before acknowledging you’ve been a complete dick?
Risking damage to the car and
Braking down ....
And the misses says....
Why don’t we get as much mileage from the second half of the tank??
You answer her back by admitting bad driving habits and management.
Hick...happy Easter....hick....

 

[Conker]

Heard we played well against Accy but obviously the rules of the universe indicate we are not allowed to beat ‘em.

If we don’t get anything today I’m seriously worried about the play-offs.

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

Looks like we’ve changed shape with all of Collins, Elliott Lee and a Hylton playing.

The big call is Oakys favourite Pelly coming in to replace Berry. If we were going to go this shape I’d have thought Downes would come in perhaps. Surely the last of last chance saloons for Pelly and his career here, simply has to be switched on today which isn’t always a given!

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

Played alright up until the standard shit piece of defending that Mansfield scored from (I did tell you Adam!). Since then Mansfield the dominant side and really could have had another goal to be honest.

Pelly has done well in midfield to be fair to him, probably our best player so far.

 

[Vanni]

One fine manager indeed is Nathan Jones. O ye of little faith

 

[Conker]

Jesus Christ we are on the verge of completely bottling everything under Flitcroft.

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

Big victory that, good to win one like that and feel we are headed up on merit and not because of others incompetence for the first time in a little bit.

Came out 2nd half on the front foot having had a wobble just before half time and played really quite well. Collins made a key block at 1-0 on Angol, looked a certain goal from my view of it.

Pelly excellent run for the first and then a nice little of justice for the free kick and Reas goal, the free kick given for a very cynical foul in Collins who was about to play Ruddock clean through.

Have to say well done to Ruddock. He was outstanding, can even forgive him having a shot at the end instead of squaring it. Well done that man.

 

[AdamStag]

See, that's Mansfield in a nutshell. That's the Mansfield I expected.

Dominated the game for the first 60 minutes, should have put the game to bed. We don't as we haven't players who can put the ball in the net (though I must state after my earlier criticism of hemmings his goal was brilliant).

We then concede, and then concede from another diabolical decision for their goal - blatant foul for us on the half way line right in front of the ref who somehow doesn't give it, he then gives something similar to them (of course he does, we got fuck all from him all day) they have a free kick and Logan makes ANOTHER mistake.

Fucking Groundhog Day Mansfield, we deserve nothing from this season.

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

Don't think Mansfield dominated the first 60. Was reasonably even and I think we had had probably the better of the play. In fact before the goal I thought Lee should have buried a 1v1 only for Hemings to more or less bury the exact same chance a few seconds later. Then we gave a silly goal away with stupid defending and Mansfield had us well and truely rocking up until half time. Probably should have been 2-0 at half time with the scramble at the end of the half.

Second half we were on top from the outset I felt.

Can’t recall seeing anything untoward prior to the second, so be interested to see it again. It was definite foul for us though and Collins would have certainly played Ruddock clean through who was in acres of space.

 

[AdamStag]

Don't think Mansfield dominated the first 60. Was reasonably even and I think we had had probably the better of the play. In fact before the goal I thought Lee should have buried a 1v1 only for Hemings to more or less bury the exact same chance a few seconds later. Then we gave a silly goal away with stupid defending and Mansfield had us well and truely rocking up until half time. Probably should have been 2-0 at half time with the scramble at the end of the half.

Second half we were on top from the outset I felt.

Can’t recall seeing anything untoward prior to the second, so be interested to see it again. It was definite foul for us though and Collins would have certainly played Ruddock clean through who was in acres of space.

Don't doubt your free kick, we though it looked obvious for us where we were!

That's why you're going up and we aren't. You've decent forwards who take their chances, we don't. Your 2nd goal for instance, one of our forwards wouldn't even have thought to have gone for that dropped ball.

The players and flitcroft need to take equal blame, there's no way whatsoever we should have lost that, and we shot ourselves in the foot, again.

 

[Kenneth E End]

Terrific victory that, and one that I didn't expect at half time. The opening 30 was even enough however after a diabolical bit of defending allowing Hemmings to put Mansfield 1-0 up, we were all over the place and lucky not to go further behind.

Second half we made Mansfield look pretty ordinary. We stepped it up a level; something we always seem to need to do after falling behind after poor defending.

The play from Pelly Ruddock was an excellent bit of play, pulling it across for Collins to score his 20th of the season.

Then we got some luck - there was a clear foul around the centre circle, which the referee allowed to carry on, only for a Luton to get a foul of their own around 35 yards from goal. It was a pretty poor free kick from Sheehan; not hit with a massive amount of pace although it bounced in front of Logan who then spilled it for Rea to slot home.

After than Mansfield tried to pile on some pressure, but they didn't create anything that you could call a chance.

Glen Rea's goal was Luton's 100th of the season.