Jon Brady promised Northampton Town "excellent" goalscorer - he did not deliver on that front | OneFootball

The experienced striker failed to score in a league game.

Moving from Luton Town to Northampton Town is usually greeted with success, but it wasn't to be for Danny Hylton when he swapped orange for claret and white.

Northampton have had a fruitful relationship trading players with Luton. However, the deal to bring Hylton to Sixfields is an outlier.

Hylton followed in the footsteps of Alan McCormack, Michael Harriman and Matt Taylor in joining Cobblers, having played for the Hatters, but could not replicate their success, following his move to the club in June 2022.

Former Luton man Cameron McGeehan has been a success for Cobblers so far after joining in the summer, and former Northampton players Lawson D'Ath and James Collins made a similar impact for Luton, having previously played for Northampton.

Despite winning promotion, the prolific striker didn't find the net for the Cobblers in a competitive fixture, having arrived with great expectation.

After months of speculation about his arrival, Hylton finally made his move to Sixfields in June 2022 after helping Luton to the Championship play-offs. Hylton had spent the last six years at Kenilworth Road where he scored 62 goals in the Hatters' meteoric rise up the pyramid.

Cobblers manager Jon Brady said, via the BBC: "He will fit in with our style. He has an excellent scoring record and his all-round play is good. He can help get us and keep us high up the pitch.

"He is an excellent professional and his experience and knowhow will be a real asset to us."

While Brady was spot-on about the striker's experience and know-how, Hylton had been a member of five promotion-winning teams during his career and added a sixth at Cobblers, Hylton didn't live up to his tag of being an "excellent" goalscorer.

Hylton made 30 appearances for Brady and failed to find the net once, despite his exploits in years gone by, but after a slow start to life at Sixfields and injury struggles, his role shifted to call on his know-how and become a disruptor on the bench.

The former Luton man will be remembered for his infamous cameos, which usually involved being brought off the bench late in tightly contested games to either wind up an opposing player or waste time and probably be carded.

Cobblers fans will best recall his influence in a home fixture against Stockport County where Hylton was subbed on to specifically target ex-Northampton defender Fraser Horsfall, which he did to great success as Town reversed a goal deficit to complete a 2-1 comeback victory.

While not contributing in the goal column, Hylton certainly contributed to the cause as Cobblers won promotion back to the third tier. Whether his role was worthy of his earnings, though, is up for debate.

Hylton has reunited with Nathan Jones

Upon signing for Northampton, Luton manager Nathan Jones said: "Danny has been my best-ever signing as a manager, and I am going to miss him every single day.

"He was the catalyst for all the other great signings that we have had, and has epitomised everything we have done here at Luton with his high energy, underdog spirit, the quality - just everything about us."

The former Hatters boss' relationship with Hylton is so good he has brought him into his setup in his new job at Charlton Athletic as a player-coach.

The 35-year-old's best playing days are probably behind him now, but it is fitting that he may well finish his player career and start his coaching journey alongside the Welshman who handed him 158 appearances at Luton.

Although Cobblers fans may not look back on Hylton's spell most fondly, the former Oxford United man had scored a plethora of goals at his previous clubs. It begs the question why he wasn't a success on the scoring front.

Northampton will have been glad to move on from Hylton with his salary likely consuming more than its fair share of Town's wage budget, which did not reflect his contribution.