Luton v Swans | Vital Football

Luton v Swans

keith margam

Vital Football Legend
Next up, in the last game before Xmas, is the 410 mile round trip to Luton this Saturday at 3pm.
We come up against another ex-Swan, this time Luton manager Graeme Jones. He was assistant manager at the Swans during the Roberto Martinez reign, before they both ran away to Wigan taking most of our backroom staff with them. Graeme was apparently well thought of at Swansea and since he left we have tried twice, unsuccessfully, to lure him back as manager.
From 2007-20018 he worked with Martinez at Swansea, Wigan, Everton, and the Belgian national team. In Aug 2018 he left Belgium and Martinez after two years there, to become assistant coach to Darren Moore at WBA. They lasted seven months until March 2019 before being dismissed after a poor run of results.
In May 2019 he signed a 3 year deal to become manager at newly promoted Luton. His record there in 25 matches is W8 D2 L15 with a 32% win ratio.
In comparison, Steve Cooper W11 D7 L7 with a 44% win ratio.
 
Last time out:
Swans 3 - Middlesboro 1
Preston 2 - Luton 1

Last 6 matches:
Swans WDLLDL Pts5 (20th in Form Table)
Luton LLWLWL Pts6 (18th in Form Table)

Swans last 6 away matches: W2 D3 L1 F9 A11 Pts9
Luton last 6 home matches: W3 D1 L2 F10 A7 Pts10
 
A much improved showing again, continuing on from the Blackburn and Middlesborough matches.
It was a damp and cold day at Kenilworth Road, Luton’s small and antiquated ground, where the entry to the away turnstiles is through a house front entrance of a terraced street, quirky.
A good away turn out and the Jack Army were there in force and in full voice.
Celina and Ayew played out wide and hugged the touch lines. Carroll returned to midfield after a one match ban and Wilmot replaced the injured Cabango (groin), Baston replaced the injured Surridge (hamstring).
Both teams were willing to play attacking football which was enjoyable to watch.
We found the Luton defence resilient though, and hard to break down despite us enjoying plenty of possession.

On 79’ Byers was brought down in the box for a stonewall penalty. The inept referee David Webb amazingly booked Byers for simulation and players tempers boiled over as they jostled each other over the incident. (Saw it again on Quest+1, definite penalty)
Just reward for the Swans a few minutes later on 82’ to make the breakthrough as Ayew chested in at the far post right in front of our fans behind the goal, from a Fulton deflect
ed cross, his 10th goal of the season and his fourth in three games.
Jack Army went mad as the players celebrated with them.
We had a few scares as Luton had two corners in the last four allotted minutes of injury time, but the ref only blew for time as soon as he could see that the final Luton corner was cleared and didn’t produce an equaliser on 96 mins, two mins over.
So a happy weekend and on to the next match, a very tough one away at Brentford on Boxing Day.
 
Last edited:
Luton 0 - Swans 1 (Ayew 82’)
Possession: 46% - 54%
Shots: 14 - 20
On target: 1 - 4
Corners: 4 - 8
Fouls: 6 - 12
Cards: 1Y - 2Y
Ref: David Webb 3/10

Att: 10,062
Away Fans: 1,032 (sold out)
 
Last edited:
Quest football pundit Michael Brown had this to say on the EFL show last night:
“It’s no doubt it’s a penalty. It’s a good touch and he’s caught by Pearson. These are the decisions the referee have got to get right. It is very, very difficult and there is a lot of dives but still, ultimately, you’ve got to get it correct.”