Are top-flight battlers Luton 'resigned to another relegation'?

Former Wigan Athletic midfielder Thelo Aasgaard was one of the players brought in by Luton during the January transfer window

There is no escaping the fact that for Luton Town time is rapidly running out.

It is just 21 months since the euphoric scenes to celebrate the club's promotion to the Premier League under Rob Edwards.

But he was unable to keep them there and the team, now with Matt Bloomfield in charge, are facing the very real possibility of finding themselves back in League One at the start of next season.

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 not won for 12 league games and have taken just one point from their past 14 away from home - a run which which included 11 successive defeats.

So is there any hope for the Hatters?

Hatters' decline and fall

On 30 January 2024, Luton beat Brighton & Hove Albion 4-0 with the help of a hat-trick from Elijah Adebayo and climbed out of the Premier League relegation places.

It was their biggest top-flight win since beating Southampton 6-1 in January 1989, and Edwards afterwards told BBC Match Of The Day: "I feel - we feel - 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."

Sadly Luton were unable to turn Edwards' words into deeds and they only won one of the 17 games that followed - a 2-1 home victory over Bournemouth - and finished 18th to slip back into the second tier.

He was upbeat last summer about their chances of bouncing back at the first attempt, but they only took one point from the first four games of the current campaign and it has been an uphill struggle since then.

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

And the choice of his successor was obviously going to be a crucial one for chief executive Gary Sweet and the board.

Was Bloomfield the right choice?

Matt Bloomfield would like to be playing against former club Wycombe Wanderers in the Championship next season

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 experience for this situation without having previously managed above the third tier.

"Bloomfield was a mistake," said supporter Ceiron in a message to BBC Sport. "We have money. Priority should have been getting someone proven in to keep us in the Championship and look towards a rebuild over summer."

The Cornish Hatter added: "Such a poor appointment with Bloomfield (clearly out of his depth) and the way we're playing we will even struggle in League One next season. If they ever finish Power Court it could be the best ground in League Two."

Meanwhile, Chris messaged BBC Three Counties Radio to say: "January signings, all youngsters, no experience brought in. I think Bloomfield is wishing he'd stayed at Wycombe."

Have the fans lost hope?

Eddie told BBC Three Counties Radio: "I just despair with this team, a non-league team could beat us. The club should hang their heads in shame, I can never remember a worse team. 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."

But Richard did not blame Bloomfield for continuing poor performances, posting during the game: "When will fans and pundits realise that changing the manager doesn't mean an improved team? Just look at Stoke (three managers this season already) and Manchester United.

"You have to accept that the players aren't good enough whoever is manager. 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."

But that was very much not the view of forward Carlton Morris following the game.

"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 game's won in both boxes, irrelevant of the overall performance - the best you can do is balance the game in your favour, but in the games we're doing that, we're losing because we've not been good enough in both boxes.

"We need to get that ruthless edge back."

What chance over final 12 games?

Luton's next away game is against Burnley, who won 4-1 at Kenilworth Road in August despite Tahith Chong's goal for the Hatters

The statistics are a clear indicator of why Luton are in their current plight.

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 also lost 20 league games this season - more than any other Championship club - and 32 in 51 league matches in just under 13 months since that victory over Brighton.

And they have won just one league game away from home since beating Sheffield United at Bramall Lane on 26 December 2023.

When Edwards left Kenilworth Road, the Hatters were averaging 0.96 points per game this season - since then, that figure has declined to 0.82.

On that basis, they will only reach around 38 points by the end of the season which will certainly not be good enough to save them from the drop.

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 conceded his side face an uphill task to survive.

"It is but it's one be believe we can achieve," he told BBC Three Counties Radio.

"We understand the situation. It's not where we want to be but the only way to get out of it is to stick together and keep fighting."

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.

It means their home game against Portsmouth - currently 17th - is surely a must-win, given that they then travel to Burnley, the side with the most miserly defence in the English professional football, with just nine goals conceded in 34 games.

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

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.

After that, they will meet Bristol City and Coventry City at home before finishing off away to West Bromwich Albion on 2 May, all three of those sides currently in or around the play-off places.

Looks like staying up could be a tough ask.