If the Hatters can replicate the kind of play they shown against his Blades team over the weekend, Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder has backed them to stay in the Championship this season.
Luton never put any pressure on their opponents in their 2-0 loss at Sunderland, therefore Town manager Matt Bloomfield made seven changes to his team before the game. That all changed on Saturday at Kenilworth Road, though, as the hosts came within two minutes of Thelo Aasgaard’s attempt being saved by Michael Cooper after Elijah Adebayo returned to partner Carlton Morris up front.
Adebayo wasted two fantastic chances as the Hatters’ newly discovered offensive vigour persisted until halftime, with Izzy Jones stopped by Cooper’s legs and Aasgaard curling against the bar. Even though Town was unable to replicate their impact following the interval, they were still able to save two more Morris headers before Anel Ahmedhodzic’s close-range goal with eleven minutes remaining gave United the victory.
Because they were still at the bottom of the standings, Luton’s fears of relegation were heightened by the Blades’ ascent to the top of the table. “We knew what was coming, we prepped for the not old Luton Town but the Luton Town that has been successful and especially here,” Wilder remarked, suggesting that this might not last for long.
“They gave their supporters something to get excited about in terms of their approach, they stuck it on us, they played forward off the top straight away and from my point of view, when they play into the top like they have done, to Carlton Morris and Adebayo, it’s a really difficult proposition to deal with and they made it difficult for us in the first half.
“We made a couple of changes, we were better second half, they didn’t really create as much and we had to find a way to get through the game. But it was a day when we knew it was going to come on for us and we managed to get the three points. It never felt like a top-ish team versus a bottom of the table team. On that performance Luton should be nowhere near the position they’re in. If between now and the end of the season, if that’s a stock Luton Town performance they will win games and win a few, as I should imagine they’ll look at that performance as one of their best.
“It was everything from the year they went up, it was everything in the Premier League that Premier League teams struggled to cope with.”We witnessed it go straight back to the goalie and land on top of you right away. And you were on top of every free-kick. Sometimes it’s incredibly hard to get out of it and attempt to play your natural, normal game, but you just have to cope with it. Sometimes we tried, but they were really game. After playing against Morris and Adebayo, our centre halves slept well and will be relieved not to face them again this season.
Wilder himself came in for some stick from the Town supporters as he went down the tunnel afterwards, due to his brief stint in charge of sworn enemies Watford a few seasons ago. Asked about that, he continued: “I managed Watford for ten games. It’s not that I managed 250 games and have a Watford tattoo on my shoulder. It’s how it is – it’s always difficult. You get it and you have to give a little bit back and that’s how it is. There’s no issue – they’re passionate supporters at Luton. It’s a passionate football club, a down-to-earth hard-working football club and the supporters are the same.”
At the start of the season, most people would have had Town as the team to be up at the top challenging for promotion due to the manner in which they attacked the Premier League, only suffering relegation in the penultimate week of the campaign. United meanwhile were cut well adrift, as with just three wins all year and 16 points, conceding over 100 goals, they were rock bottom of the pile.
On how they have avoided the kind of predicament that the Hatters find themselves in, Wilder said: “We’re miles better than we were last year. The narrative at the end of last season was that Sheff United would struggle and Luton would be one of those teams that would be looking to get back into the Premier League.
“I don’t know the story. A good man lost his job, but we had the opportunity to make wholesale changes to the way we played and to personnel. I’d like to think that freshness and players who were scarred from a difficult Premier League season didn’t have a hangover.”
With Town having replaced the manager who got them to the top flight in Rob Edwards, with Matt Bloomfield taking over last months, asked if he had felt there were any noticeable scars around the place when he walked into the building, the Hatters boss added: “Chris is a fantastic manager, done it for a number of years, knows the game inside and out.
“Sheffield United know they’ve been in a good game, we’ve given them a good game. It’s not about giving people good games though, it’s about getting results, where we are at this stage of the season, but we have to put that on and that has to be based on performances. If we keep doing that we’ve got every chance of turning it around, we will turn it around, and that’s where our focus has to go to.
“I don’t think we’re the first football club that have gone up to the Premier League and found it tough to come back down in the Championship. It’s been a tough first two thirds of the season for the football club, there’s no getting away from that. Chris spoke about the scars, maybe there were a few, but we’re working hard to erase them and have a better future.”
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