'There's still plenty of fight left in this lot'
- Published
Independent commission panels, tribunals, points deductions, appeals, points additions and now VAR bias accusations. What a crazy season this has been. None of it instigated by Luton but all of it affecting them.
The outburst from Nottingham Forest at the weekend was extraordinary implying their defeat at Everton was because the VAR official was a Luton fan. The irony is Luton would have preferred a draw.
It shouldn’t directly affect the Hatters but a bit like when Sir Alex Ferguson and Jose Mourinho pointedly introduced officials into their narrative before games, it sows that little seed of doubt. Officiating in these final four matches is now going to be on a knife edge.
For Luton to stand a chance of getting out of the relegation zone, they will have to improve big time on that last performance against Brentford. To produce their poorest performance of the season couldn’t have come at a worse time.
Afterwards Rob Edwards told me it was to do with lack of urgency and intensity. It's true. And it's clear they are massively missing the pace that the injured Chiedozie Ogbene offers them.
Starting three players on their return from injury may have been a bit too much and led to a somewhat disjointed performance. But there were many other circumstances leading to this outcome.
Brentford's game plan was excellent; move the ball quickly so as not to get pressed by Luton and end up in a battle. And by moving the ball quickly they exploited the space afforded to them and my did the Hatters allow big gaps in defence and midfield.
Luton were unusually naïve in their play and were hesitant in their decision making. It was an off day for all of the players bar goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski and that inevitability leads to defeat in the Premier League.
On a day of very few positives at least the rusty Gabe Osho and Sambi Lokonga got minutes under their belt and will be better for it in these final matches. And if it's Forest that Luton need to catch then they would rather be playing Wolves this weekend than Manchester City.
The players were hurting on the final whistle and many will write them off on the back of that result.
But one thing we know about this group of players is that they won’t give up. There's still plenty of fight left in this lot.
Commentary of Wolves v Luton on BBC Three Counties Digital Radio