Luton Vs Accrington

[That Fat Centre Half]

Cant see a thread for this so I'll kick this off.

This should be a tough game with Accrington coming off the back of a good win against Burton so they should be full of confidence.

We're obviously not in great form and the key question for me is who do you drop to bring back Wilkinson. Personally I'd drop Lacey but by some accounts he had a less bad game than Franks last time out

As John Still has just surpassed 2 years in charge I'll take one of his favourite phrases on board, never too high, never too low, and not call this a must win but it would be a worrying turn to have 3 defeats on the spin.

I'll back us to control the controllables and win it 2-0 with Guttridge providing the kind of creativity that will make Cullen realise he should have waited for his return before asking to leave.

 

[Judge Dredd]

I get the sense that we may see Cullen again before too long. The offer, from whoever it was, has been rejected and Still seemed to leave the door open to a return in his interview today. I wonder what kind of reception he would get...

I'd say it probably is a "must win" if we want to stay in the fight for the automatic places. We have a tough looking schedule in March and lots of tough away games for the rest of the season so our home form is absolutely crucial.

It's a "must not lose" at the very least for play-offs, our safety cushion to the ones in the mix below us has rapidly disappeared and we need to right the ship as soon as possible. Apart from anything I'd be a bit worried to hear the crowd reaction if we dropped points again, the neanderthal section have begun to reappear again all of a sudden.

 

[Stanleyfan]

Looking forward to traveling down for this one. We played well V Burton last Tues and we're at home to Shrewsbury this Tuesday so playing some of the top teams. Seems a long time since we last played at Kenilworth Road (was it 2008??) - the same result would do me fine. I'll play safe and predict a draw 1-1

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

I also think we might see Cullen again judging from today's comments. I don't want that, besides being divisive, I don't think he's good enough to recover from making it so clear he wants out.

 

[Judge Dredd]

I also think we might see Cullen again judging from today's comments. I don't want that, besides being divisive, I don't think he's good enough to recover from making it so clear he wants out.

He's our best striker by miles in my humble opinion, so if he is stuck here for the time being we might as well use him. From the sounds of it he hasn't refused to play or anything, but yeah it will be a divisive one with the fans whatever happens - Cullen was a pretty divisive figure amongst the fan base even before all this stuff.

I wonder how he would even fit in to the tactical puzzle now that Guttridge is fit again (hopefully for a bit longer than last time!). Gutts off of Stockley looked quite promising at times against the Wombles, he seemed to always be in the right place to get on the end of a knock down especially in the second half. We've missed him so, so, so badly, even going back to the tail end of last season when we still had Gray. Such a clever player who is the absolute key to making Still's preferred 4-2-3-1 work.

When we were chasing the game we seemed to go with what looked like a 4-4-2 diamond, with Guttridge just behind the front two. Lee got the goal obviously but after that we seemed to lose our rhythm a bit whereas we had been well on top before Lee came on, so I'm not sure that kind of shape would work for us in any but extreme circumstances. Given Still's preference for a) a lone out-and-out striker and b) that lone guy to be a target man type up, combined with the imminent return of Benson - that would put Cullen in direct competition with Guttridge more or less. Even without his recent shenanigans, I'm not sure that's a battle he'd win.

Of course it's entirely possible that Guttridge will break down again on Saturday (please God no), in which case I'd be more than happy to see Cullen back in the 18...

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

I mean, yeah probably in terms of raw ability he's our best striker but he in my opinion doesn't fit into what we want to do in terms of system so in actuality it's a rather pointless title he holds there really.

We had an opportunity to build around Cullen and havent done that, probably because Still wants to play 4231 and values the system over building around 1 player and won't do that while he has made it clear he doesn't want to be here so I see no point in playing him again.

Basically you either play Stills preferred formation and accept it won't get the best from our "best forward" or you change to a system that does. You cannot have both.

 

[Chippy]

Cullen is an average centre forward at this level and the team should not be built around him as he does not warrant that. Simple as that.

I don't want to see him in a Luton shirt ever again after the way he has acted. Plenty of people would jump at the chance he has, so good riddance.

Moving on - fancy us to return to form. Im going 3-0 Luton. Guttridge man of the match and a goal apiece from Stockley and Lee again. Time we turned a corner. I'd drop Franks, by the way.

 

[Judge Dredd]

Lacey for me, though both deserve to be dropped he's been marginally the worse of the two for my money. Just hasn't progressed at all frustratingly.

 

[BelizeHatter]

Genuine concern about this game. Hope we don't take them lightly. An early goal would be nice. A loss here would be bad - I imagine on the terraces more than the changing room.

 

[Kenneth E End]

Luton really need to get their arses in gear today - losing is certainly not an option and only getting a point will be very disappointing. Its gone beyond the point of "not losing", we need all the points we can, because I can only see the gap increasing between ourselves and the top 3.

Potential team today:

GK Mark Tyler

RB Michael Harriman
LB Scott Griffiths
CB Fraser Franks
CB Luke Wilkinson

CM Cameron McGeehan
CM Jonathan Smith
AM Luke Guttridge

LF Nathan Oduwa
RF Elliott Lee
CF Jayden Stockley

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

Cullen on the bench then.

Interesting that Lacey is dropped out of the squad entirely and Parry preferred on the bench. That's not good news for his long term future in my opinion.

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

We were pretty poor for the first half hour or so, weirdly lifeless and didn't look we had a clear gameplan or anything. Accrington knocked it around fairly well and really should have gone ahead but luckily Justham made a good save, he looks a decent keeper.

When we finally got a spell of pressure we scored and didn't really look back after that, good to see Guttridge back so important in terms of his play and leadership. Lee played really well to, like the look of him a lot, very cool to slip Guttridge in I had had half expected him to try to shoot.

Cullen got a good reception so hopefully that's behind us until at least the summer.

Overall dodgy first half hour, after that good solid performance.

 

[Chippy]

Agree with above, took us a goal to get going, then we controlled the game and just walked through it to a 2-0. Could have had a penalty for the foul on Lee, and Cullen went close at the end.

 

[Kenneth E End]

Accrington a very physical side. Can see why they've caused problems to a number of teams this season.

 

[Kenneth E End]

John Coleman's post match comments - almost the complete polar opposite of what actually happened today:

We've managed to lose a game that we've been in total control of.
�We should have won and I think even the most ardent Luton fan would agree with me. They had the better of the opening 30 minutes, but did nothing after that.
�But it's never a level playing field. We're not playing at Underhill.
�When we play at home we have the best part of a thousand fans. But when Luton play at home they have eight thousand � and they heavily influence the 50/50 decisions. Get some more fans then? We've not had a penalty since September and have had SIX stonewall penalties turned down since then. Scythed in half, but then booked for diving on occasions.
�Luton had a five-minute spell of pressure where they had a little bit of help from some dubious decisions that kept the ball in our half - then they scored from it. If they weren't jumping in at every opportunity, the referee wouldn't blow up.
"Our keeper was fouled from every corner but we are not going to get them decisions because we haven't got 8,500 fans all shouting for a foul. If there was a decision to be made then it was always going to go against us. As proven this season, that hasn't happened.
"We were warned for time-wasting when we were in control of the game and in the second-half they are kicking the ball away continuously and nothing was getting said. That's rich from an away side this season.
�So they had the good fortune to be in the lead and then we've conceded another sloppy goal. So it was your defence rather than the referee?

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

Yeah those comments are a bit odd, they didn't control game bar the first 30 mins or so, after that it was pretty routine for us. They did knock the ball around quite well in that spell though.

As for the ref, didn't think he was too bad for either side. From my angle the penalty shout on Lee wasn't a penalty, looked like he went down very easily.

 

[Judge Dredd]

Agreed on the penalty shout, he shanked his first touch a bit and then went down looking for it as he didn't think he was going to reach the ball before the keeper.

To be fair to the Accy manager, his comments on their official site seem a lot more balanced (apart from the bit about the crowds influencing referees which is absolutely utter 100% horseshit as we have seen repeatedly this season).

http://accringtonstanley.co.uk/2015/02/coley-disappointed-luton-loss/?

“We’ve managed to lose a game that we were in total control of,” the manager said. “For forty minutes that was as good as we’ve played away from home.

“We’ve been very unlucky not to take lead but we’ve conceded a goal during their only spell of pressure in the first half.

A crowd of 8,700 watched the game and Coleman thought the home supporters had a big influence over contentious refereeing decisions.

He said: “It’s never a level playing field. When we’re at home we get the best part of 1,000 fans but when the big clubs like Luton, Plymouth and Portsmouth play at home, they get 8,000 fans – sometimes more – and it influences the 50-50 decisions.

“To give them their due, Luton have capitalised on the good fortune that had them in the lead and they’ve seen the game out quite comfortably.

“We got disjointed and lost our way, which is disappointing, but we can’t beat ourselves up. We’ve got a big game on Tuesday against Shrewsbury and we have to move on and learn from our mistakes.”

The bits in bold are pretty much how I saw the game pan out to be fair. We weren't at the races at all for 35-40 minutes and they really should have been a goal up from the one-on-one chance.

Second half we were in absolute cruise control and never looked like dropping points.

Guttridge is such a boss. Love, love, love him. Wilko's brilliant too, still can't work out why Dagenham parted with him so readily. As good as any central defender I've seen in the league this season.

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

I too love Gutts.

I love how he is constantly talking/having a go at everyone, including the ref all game. Even the referees seem a little intimidated by him

 

[Judge Dredd]

I too love Gutts.

I love how he is constantly talking/having a go at everyone, including the ref all game. Even the referees seem a little intimidated by him

Yeah, it's incredibly noticeable when you've been used to Silent Andy playing in that role every week. Gutts doesn't shut up for 90 minutes, it's fantastic.

Loved the line in PDW's Kneejerk Reactions:
"In France, I believe they call Zidane, the poor man’s Guttridge. Even if both his legs fell off and he had to sit on a chair on the half way line, would still be worth his place the way he cajoles his team mates – like a conductor with his orchestra."

 

[Sire Speirite VIII]

Agree 110% with colemans comments

 

[Chippy]

John Coleman is an idiot. End of discussion.

 

[Kenneth E End]

John Coleman is deflecting the blame from his players. End of discussion.

Accurate.

 

[Vanni]

Coleman is just like any other manager, they all come up with excuses after a defeat. Some even manage to come up with some totally bizarre reasons, especially when they're playing away, and see that few fans of their club made the trip. Few away fans mean there will be less people who'll contradict them.

All normal, afaic, they've got to look out for their jobs.

 

[Stanleyfan]

Travelled down to the match yesterday - I never knew Jayden Stockley played for you - we had him on loan a few years back but he only played a couple of games. I thought we started well - I can't believe Gornell didn't score but Luton stepped it up especially in the 2nd half. We've got Shrewsbury next up so we will try to do you a favour ;-)