“Wake up” – Stern message sent to Luton Town owners amid relegation crisis | OneFootball

There have been a few critics of Luton Town’s recruitment in recent times, and for good reason

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Luton Town’s drop-off from the highs of the past couple of seasons has been stark.

From battling the heavyweights of the Premier League and almost doing enough to stay in the division, they now find themselves staring down the barrel of League One football next season.

However, five points from safety with 12 games left to play, the race isn’t yet run for the Hatters; there’s still time for salvation.

We asked our Luton Fan Pundit, Simon Mills, what message he’d give to the club’s owners during this difficult spell for the Hatters.

Speaking to Football League World, Simon said: “My one message to the club ownership would be to wake up, adjust your strategies that you've been employing in the last two years in regards to transfers and the type of players that we sign.

“Stop taking risks on injury-prone players.

“Focus on what actually brought us to the dance, which wasn't this free-flowing attacking football that never materialised, but being strong in defence, and in the air, and being able to terrify any opponent we play. And yeah, that's about it.”

Luton’s recruitment has put them in a difficult spot

Simon is right to point out the numerous risks Luton have taken in recruitment in the past couple of years, which have likely not helped them up until this point and will continue to make things tricky moving forward.

Signing the likes of Marvelous Nakamba and Victor Moses, both now in their 30s and commanding wages of £30k and £25k respectively, according to estimates from Capology, look like ill-advised moves and put them among the club's highest earners.

Nakamba has started just 15 games this season, with Moses managing only 12, and the former still has another year to run on his bumper deal.

It may seem simple to say that now, with hindsight on our side, but these were rarely the sort of 40-game-a-season players that any balanced club would choose to make some of their highest earners — you can potentially gamble on one such name, but these are not the only examples in this Luton squad.

In the case of Nakamba, if the Hatters do get relegated, he will not be an easily marketable asset in the summer, with any outside clubs unlikely to stump up such a wage for him.

Most wouldn’t have expected Luton to be in this scenario, too, so fans will need to hope and pray such contracts include relegation clauses that cover a drop to League One — it could be crippling financially otherwise.

It even extends to deals like Millenic Alli in January. He looks a great prospect, but he has no pedigree in the second tier and, with a fee as heavy as £1.5m on his head, it’s a lot of pressure to rest on his shoulders, hoping he can dig the Hatters out of this hole.

Alli may have been a better signing for a club in the good times, where they can ease him in, where every game doesn’t feel make or break for the club’s future.