CEO Gary Sweet claims that Luton’s culture has come ‘under attack’ since being relegated

CEO Gary Sweet claims that Luton’s culture has come ‘under attack’ since being relegated from the Premier League last season.

Expectations having been raised following their unprecedented success over recent years, but now they’re to find form having returned back to the second tier.

They currently sit 16th in the Championship, with 18 points from 16 games played, 8 points from the playoffs, and 3 points above the drop zone.

Luton extended their run to six league games unbeaten against Hull at Kenilworth Road on Saturday, keeping five clean sheets in the process.

Victory eased pressure on Edwards, who had spoken about regaining his focus following speculation and some unrest about his future.

Hatters CEO Gary Sweet claims that Luton’s culture has come ‘under attack’ this term with expectations having been raised following Town’s unprecedented success over recent years culminating in reaching the Premier League last season. https://t.co/yijzfRWBfY

— LutonNews_LTFC (@LutonNews_LTFC) November 25, 2024

Sweet said, as reported by Luton Today: “We all know that our away record has been less than satisfactory, since our single goal victory at Millwall following the first international break in September, culminating in the humbling defeat at Middlesbrough.

“Our unsatisfactory away performances and results is a topic which we’ll certainly not hide from. Indeed, with the current Championship season having more than two thirds still to run, entering the international break presented us with an opportunity to take a deep, collective breath before reflecting upon our current situation – to fully understand why we’re not firing on the requisite number of cylinders that should be seeing us challenging at the other end of the table.

“While I could wax lyrical about the specific reasons why I feel we are where we are, I believe it would be more constructive to explain that this last fortnight has felt like a defining period where, collectively, we have delved in detail and searched out souls to identify how we can gain much more consistency. Suffice to say though, it is apparent that our club’s culture has been under attack over the last few months. Not by any dastardly enemy, or by Leagues, Associations (or even referees!) and not by our opposition, but brought on by ourselves.

“The pride we have all felt over recent years has been amazing, as we have all enjoyed our unparalleled rise, ticking off four consecutive promotions while upholding the ‘Luton-way’ by keeping to our principles on and off the pitch and even maintaining a sustainability at the envy of many other clubs. A rise which resulted in us arriving in the promised land, with many believing that we had ‘reached our destination.’

“So it shouldn’t be a shock when, upon hitting our first big bump in the road – our first relegation for 15 years – it had more of a seismic effect then perhaps a minor impact of a flat tyre. There have been many factors at play here too. Pretty much everything we’ve been through over the last 18 months has been untrod territory for us.

“Despite our experience (and perhaps age) we are still learning. Indeed, many of our supporters won’t have been old enough to have experienced or remember what a relegation feels like. We are all learning. Thankfully our captain Locks (Tom Lockyer) is well on his way to full recovery and fitness, but those events that unfolded last December (the Welsh international’s cardiac arrest at AFC Bournemouth) have, quite naturally, had a lasting effect on us, but often consciously forgotten.

“The summer transfer window was a huge education for everyone involved as we saw unscrupulous agent after unscrupulous agent take a pop at selling many of our players an unrealistic fantasy which was a somewhat unplanned and hard to navigate disruption. Along with a number of other obstacles en-route, I can’t deny that we’ve all been tested over recent months.”

“It’s rather obvious that our rise couldn’t simply keep continuing – a stall at some point was more than inevitable – but it was always about how we recover from the impact. The duty to protect our club culture doesn’t just fall on those representing us on the pitch or others at the club. Your willing contribution is also important. Arguably, too many of us were guilty of high expectations as a former Premier League club, to continue the level of our performances almost seamlessly.

“External factors will always come into play and are often impossible to proactively avoid and, what I would urge everyone to be willing to accept is the submission that this is a process that has needed to run its course, but for us, collectively, to battle on and uphold the ‘Luton-way.’ This is our own battle and we are determined to overcome it. After an inspiring coming of minds over the last few days, we are motivated by the head-strong determination from everyone which we hope will reveal itself today and, more pertinently, at Leeds and Norwich in the coming days.”

Here’s the initial fan reaction as CEO Gary Sweet claims that Luton’s culture has come ‘under attack’ since being relegated…

@callumLtfc: pretty sure it was him & his chums plus RE who claimed we could go for automatic promotion 🤦‍♂️ this man will blame anyone but himself.

@bernieE78: He acknowledges that in the notes. If by chums, you mean the rest of the Board, I think we all thought we’d be doing better than we are. He’s trying to say they’ve all learned a lot and reviewed the issues – it’s what they do from now that counts. Keep the faith mate

@callumLtfc: the issues stem from poor recruitment especially not replacing lockyer

@GrantTheHatter: What he means is – I don’t want to spend any money

@TParton8: BS the club said promotion was the goal this season most fans said maybe play-offs at most. If the club showed some ambition in the transfer window & use the stature of the club being in the premier league instead we went for injured free bench players.

@Gudge62: Because everyone would have been happy if they said mid table.

@DonnyLebowski: What a crock of shit

@LTFC_Dave: Always someone else to blame!

@SSE_LTFC: Gary, the “Luton Culture” as you put it has come under attack because the club themselves (that includes you) and the management raised the fans expectations yourselves at the start of the season by talking about going straight back up, let’s be clear on that.

@Robbohat: Don’t trust the guy at all, sorry 🤷‍♂️