Sport
EXCLUSSIVE: What Motivated Hatters Boss For A New Deal At Luton Town
Luton boss Rob Edwards felt his decision to sign a new four year contract as Hatters manager was just the ‘right thing’ to do.
The 41-year-old has been a massive hit with supporters ever since moving to Kenilworth Road when replacing Nathan Jones in November 2022, leading the club to the Premier League via the Championship play-offs. Although he was unable to keep Town in the top flight last term, the Hatters relegated back to the second tier, Edwards himself impressed with the manner in which he dealt with everything that was thrown at him, including a crippling injury list that massively hindered Luton’s efforts to stay up.
Knowing he will be at the helm for the foreseeable future, Edwards, who had been at Forest Green for 12 months and Watford for 11 games prior to taking over Luton, told the club’s official website: “Before I came here, the biggest thing for me in taking the next role was support and time. You look at this football club and that’s what they’ve given everybody. We’ve got owners and a board that back their manager, the staff, and that was really, really key for me.
“Hopefully we’ve repaid that as well and I think we’ve been great for each other. We’re in a brilliant position where we all know each other really well now, and this is the right thing, it just is. It’s great to have more security and a long term outlook on things, because we are growing this football club, that’s what’s happening.
“We’ve had a hit, we’ve taken a hit, but I still feel and I think everyone’s the same, I still feel like we’re just on this upward trajectory, that’s where we’re going. It’s great that Gary (Sweet, CEO) and the board feel that we’re the right people to continue that for a long, long time.”
Although it was a brief experience of life in the highest tier of English football last season, there will certainly be no moping for Edwards and his staff ahead of the Championship campaign that begins in under two months, as he targets an immediate return to the big time. He continued: “After the game at West Ham (3-1 defeat), it was like, we want to be back here. There’s more to it than that though isn’t there, there’s a whole journey to go on.”
“I think there’ll be a real appetite, a real hunger to put a lot of the stuff that we’ve learned, a lot of the stuff that we’ve been trying to do, into practise straight away. We’re starting from a better place than what we were last season actually, because of all the recruitment that we’ve done, we’re in a stronger position and that really excites me.”
Having understandably struggled to get to grips with the Premier League in the early stages of the campaign, Luton then benefited hugely from a change in approach just before their 4-3 defeat against Arsenal in December, as they became a far more front-footed side, looking to take the game to the opposition. Despite being unable to secure another season at the highest level of English football, it did see Town score against every opposition team they faced and also earn a huge number of admirers for the excitement their games brought to a neutral spectator.
It’s a ploy that Edwards will demand Town continue with in their bid to return to the big time, saying: “I want it to be exciting football and I think that’s what we’ve shown now. I want us to be a really attacking team, a brave team, but exciting to watch. I want the fans to come and watch us and know they’re going to see a team that are giving absolutely everything, first and foremost, but a team that’s going to attack and try to win games of football. We didn’t win loads last year, we tried to, but we went into every game believing that we could and that’s going to be our way again next year.”
