Opinion: Trouble at the Top
Kevin Lennon reflects on back-to-back relegations for Luton Town Football Club and takes a deep dive into what may have caused the decline, challenging leadership to make tough decisions.
For the second time in two seasons, Luton Town have been relegated.
Last Saturday was a day for the emotions as we witnessed another relegation (the 8th since I started watching the club just under 50-years ago). Now the dust is starting to settle but the pain remains real, social media is on fire and no doubt everything will get worse next month when the 2025/26 fixtures are released.
After a long period of year-on-year progress and reaching the holy grail two years ago wining and dining with champagne and cavier at the likes of Old Trafford and The Emirates it’s now Lidl branded coke and soggy Rich Tea biscuits at Burton and Mansfield. But in essence it’s a return to reality and the perfect opportunity for a huge reset across the Club and the fanbase.
For me, our current issues all started the minute we earned our last promotion. Our CEO standing on stage warning about Billy-Big-Bollocks at the same time together with his Commercial Director he was disenfranchising long-standing loyal commercial backers and supporters in favour of the short-term coin. The everyday fan also became an afterthought as cameras were everywhere and the focus was nauseatingly on profile raising.
Instead, as we were stepping into the unknown this was the precise time our board and particularly our significant majority owner Paul Ballantyne should have been conducting a major independent strategic review into how we ran the business and bringing in suitably qualified people. We were the Vauxhall Astra SRi suddenly about to drive onto the F1 track at Silverstone with the likes of Ferrari, Mercedes etc. As time has shown, relying on what previously worked has seen that Astra career into barrier after barrier.
Our commercial and retail teams have remained very non-league in their approach. Our CEO had done an incredible job to-date across many aspects of the business but was now dealing with different beasts and quite frankly it has often seemed more like Stevie Wonder was driving that Astra rather than a top-performing CEO on a 7-figure remuneration package (something alien to over 99.9% of your everyday football fan).
Luton’s club shop remains rooted in the days of non-league and League Two.
This was the time to bring in an experienced football CEO who knew how to deal with those “pesky agents”. This was the time to bring in an experienced Director of Football who would buy into the strategy of the owners, understand how to balance the wants of the manager and have a clear recruitment strategy that would cover us for all eventualities within the confines of the approved budget.
This doesn’t mean we should have gone out and spent silly like Ipswich and Southampton did last summer. However, it could certainly have been someone with more contacts than we saw only bringing in a raw Japanese right back from Belgium in January a month after we had horrifyingly lost the only true leader in the team the month before.
Hashioka has struggled for form and fitness since joining the club in January 2024.
A new Commercial Director could have exploited ways to maximise income short-term and long-term, rather than anger clients who had supported us through tough times. How some of those could have been welcome this year given the numerous matches that have remained sponsorless, players kits unsponsored (did anyone not feel if we couldn’t sell all the kits sponsorships in the EPL then retaining the price at £1,200 in the Championship was probably not the brightest move…), so many empty tables at the end-of-season dinner and so on.
I could write pages about the diabolical retailing side of the club. When will we finally get someone leading that side of the business that knows what they are doing. Retailing is all about having the right product, in stock in the right quantity at the right price backed up by a solid supply chain. Why could shirts be bought via the black market weeks and weeks ahead of the club having stock? The lost opportunities last season were shocking. Let’s get a proper retailer in please.
Ultimately all the above falls under the responsibility of the CEO and to see such little improvement after all these years under the governance of 2020 is quite frankly a shitshow.
Then we get to this season. The spin about the home kit being retained for a 2nd season was amateurish. Why not just come out and say “Sorry, we fucked up, but at least you don’t have to fork out for a new home kit”. The fans aren't stupid, well not the large majority!! Anyway on the positive side for parents of kit-hungry kids, the seed has been sewn for all our home kits going forward to be retained for two consecutive season, especially noting our new found environmentally-friendly conscience.
Our summer recruitment was again as lame as the excuses about the agents. It was like a kid crying in the school playground and to subsequently hear that 37 starts in 7 seasons Baptiste and injury-prone Walsh were the creative replacements for Barkley rubberstamps the view we have the wrong people leading this side of operations.
This season has been a shambles. I admired the loyalty and humanity shown by the Board to Rob Edwards but it was as clear as day that he should have gone straight after the abysmal thumping at The Riverside with an international break in front of us. If current rumours circulating are found to be true then more shame on the Board.
The table never lies and while we pulled things round in the final stretch it was to prove one step too far. We had a very unbalanced squad. Who was the bright spark thinking it was good to have only one true left back (a left-sided defender with pace) in Doughty who we would pin our whole attacking strategy on and flog him to death, so unsurprisingly he then picked up a couple of key injuries. Where was the real midfield playmaker? Where was the back-up challenge to Morris and Eli? Where was the CB with pace, until we signed a player for development in Christ. Having had disastrous form since the end of January did anyone not think there were deeper problems? Excuses are for losers, winners find answers. All-in-all there was no real clear strategy. So it can be no surprise that when Bloomfield came in and the rot deeply set he was having to cope with one hand tied behind his back.
As many of you know I was heavily involved in the ousting of the previous owners of the club and working to install 2020. It’s not been easy for them, they’ve had a lot to learn along the way but up until two years ago had done exceedingly well on most counts (except the retail and commercial operations) and created something we could all be extremely proud of.
Unfortunately the damage done in the last two seasons has now made us a national laughing stock with the national media also labelling our latest relegation a disgrace.
Multiple players have been part of back-to-back relegations.
Management at every level are judged on results and this should also be apposite off the pitch.
I’ve analysed businesses, advised businesses and sat on boards for the last 35-years and it is in the down and challenging times that you can only really assess how strong management are. Rarely have I seen a CEO/ Senior Manager stay in a business for so long unless they are a unique superstar (Simon Wolfson at Next or Howard Marks at Oaktree probably falling into this category).
Gary, I’m afraid your time is long up and you should now move across and focus on delivery of Power Court. This is an equally important project and with a developer not used to building stadiums in this country will require close guidance.
Let’s bring in a new CEO with the appropriate experience. Someone who will come with fresh ideas, re-engage with the fans without the spin, be accountable, surround him/ her with people that challenge them rather than nod their heads and comply. Someone who won't be all-controlling and recognise where deficiencies lie. Someone who can push us forward again but ultimately knows they report to the stakeholders. Someone who won't take fans for granted but garners their respect. Someone who would also recognise our increasing female fanbase and the neglected inhumane toilet facilities despite regular complaints. Also, someone who doesn’t want to be the constant face of the media when times are good. How many other club CEOs can you honestly name, other than Daniel Levy - who has also been in power for an inordinate amount of time and that’s going well with the natives too!!
Despite all of its character, Kenilworth Road lags behind other stadiums in facilities.
We need an operating board that adheres to strong corporate governance. Again, one that will challenge, have good strategic eyes, understand all parts of the business and has a diversity that will enable the delivery of results on and off the pitch.
We also need someone in charge of football, whether that be a Director of Football or likewise. Someone that can outlive managers but ensure there is minimal disruption and/ or transition when we do. Someone respected through the game who has a strategy for a squad that can play more than one formation. A squad that will appreciate in value and be true assets. A person that has a strong wide scouting network that finds us more hidden gems we can turn into diamonds. Someone who will ensure we don’t overpay for panic signings, won't seek injury-prone players or rely on out-of-contract players. Someone who can convince the board to invest our current riches wisely. Someone who can also provide a pathway for our outstanding youth players and ensure this part is a profit centre too. Someone that can assemble a squad of players that will once again understand what this club is about and reconnect with the fans. Someone who can be up and running ASAP. Someone who has a long-term plan so we do business upfront rather than lastminute.com. For me this role is more important than any individual player. This person with ownership and accountability can create the longevity the Board seeks with players that are accretive assets who the fans seek in their demand for success on the pitch.
The time for pussyfooting is over. Don’t get upset about the time it takes for the club to bring out a statement. Let’s focus on the actions now being taken. These actions define our future not words . Let’s see the club has real intent to reset those foundations to get us back in gear again moving forward and upwards.
I am not one who will call for the head of 2020 but equally won’t harp on about playing Hayes & Yeading away. Constructive criticism should always be welcomed, acknowledged and taken on board rather than derided and just swat aside. What 2020 has done for this club is unreal and something to be proud of especially after the dark days in the 2000's. The infrastructure we now have is superb evidence of this. However, this season (and perhaps last season's relegation too) would have been totally avoidable if heads were out of the sand, we stuck to our core beliefs and we hadn’t got all Billy-Big-Bollocks two years ago. There is a new 25,000 stadium only three-years down the line and if we hope to fill it every game then some hard work with the right people driving the club forward needs to be starting ASAP.
The above are all my personal views and those alone. I feel the Board now face their biggest challenge since the early days. It’s time to stand up and be counted. Time for tough decisions. Time to get us all back together as one pulling in the same direction. Time to make everyone look up at us rather than laughing down on us. Time to put the pride back in our stride and time to win back those fans we have lost. Paul Ballantyne hasn't attained his riches through luck. He's clearly a smart man but he has seen the value of his ownership in the club crash like shares in the Great Depression, but let's hope smart decisions can see that fully recover again.
In the meantime don't let this ruin a great summer (I'll see the fellow England fans I know in Barcelona) and remember every cloud has a silver lining so here’s to Blackpool away in the sun for the weekend and first game of the season!!
