"I'm not buying it" - EFL pundit questions Luton Town boss Rob Edwards as pressure intensifies | OneFootball

The Hatters suffered yet another defeat this weekend

EFL pundit Ali Maxwell of the 'Not The Top 20' Podcast has slammed Luton Town and Rob Edwards for yet another dismal showing in their 2-0 away defeat against Blackburn Rovers on Saturday afternoon.

Maxwell was joined by former EFL highlights presenter, Colin Murray, for this particular look at the weekend's action across the EFL, and was once again left unimpressed by numerous perspectives of the Hatters' performance and their overall squad outlook after an 11th defeat of the season was recorded at Ewood Park.

Goals from Brighton and Hove Albion and Liverpool loanees Amario Cozier-Duberry and Owen Beck just before half-time proved the difference between John Eustace's high-flying Rovers and the Bedfordshire outfit, who also saw Liam Walsh record his second red card of the season, just 11 minutes after replacing Tom Krauss in midfield.

It was yet another instance of tempers boiling over for the side who many expected to be challenging for promotion after a solitary season of Premier League football last term, with Maxwell left to bemoan Luton after waxing lyrical over the dominance shown by their opponents.

Ali Maxwell slams Luton Town after yet another defeat

As previously highlighted, the incident involving Walsh is the second time this season the former Swansea City man has been shown his marching orders this term, having also been sent off 36 seconds after coming on against Oxford United on October 1st.

After Michael Salisbury brandished the red card for serious foul play after a challenge on Yuki Ohashi, Luton's on-pitch captain, Carlton Morris, was seen shoving Walsh off the pitch as he protested his innocence in vain.

This was one of two particular facets in yet another drab performance by Edwards' men, which were highlighted by Maxwell, who began by saying: "(Blackburn were) against a Luton side who are so poor away from home at the moment, who have issues defensively and, one specific disciplinary issue as well."

"Liam Walsh, twice now this season, has come off the bench and been sent off," the presenter added. "First against Oxford after one minute, and this time after ten minutes."

"You can see from Carlton Morris' reaction, basically shoving him off the pitch quite aggressively, how annoyed his teammates are that he's now done this twice," he continued.

"It undermines the team," Maxwell stated. "Having said that, Rob Edwards blaming individual defensive errors, I'm not buying it at all."'

"They're a bottom-three defence," he declared. "It's not just individual errors, it's major issues of shape and organisation of setup and that comes back to him for me."

"So, problems for Luton," Maxwell concluded.

After such a poor start to the campaign, Edwards must look to address Town's defensive woes as soon as possible, having conceded an average of 1.8 goals per game across the season's opening 21 outings, keeping just five clean sheets in the process.

This isn't something which Championship onlookers are particularly used to from Town either, with a solid defensive base the foundations of their play-off campaigns in both 2021/22 and 2022/23.

Despite investing a reported fee of around £10m for Mark McGuinness in the summer, the Northern Irishman's services are yet to truly boost Luton's defensive ranks, and after losing Teden Mengi to a knee issue which could keep him sidelined for quite some time, more bodies and experience in this area of the pitch must be a priority for the under-pressure boss and his recruitment team.

This has been reflected in a recent report which suggests the club will garner a €2.4m sum for Christ Makosso of RWD Molenbeek, but whether the 20-year-old is the sole answer to an already depleted and unconfident defence, remains to be seen.