Trotty

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Hey Guys.

Not sure if any members can remember my previous stories, but its been a while since ive had the drive to write a new one. My recent ones have been on Youtube which i have had a bit of success at but i prefer writing.

As you can guess ive decied to try and take Luton all the way to the top of European and World Football.

Im in my 3rd season but i will bring everyone up to speed by 1800 with mainly screenshots of league tables and transfers. With the possible job offers ive turned down also included

I will then give my opinon on the version of events and tell you on players i have missed out on, but more importantly the ones that arrived at Kennilworth.

Hope you follow my success or failure.

What i want from all of you on the forum is support and your opinions.


More to Follow.
 
Chapter 1
(1st Season)

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2012/2013

When I first got the job of Luton Town i thought there wouldn't be a lot of work to do in order for us to be back in the football league, but how i was wrong. We had a squad full of talented players at this level but no real depth so i had a busy window with no funds working mainly in the loan market.
As you can see by the signings i wasn't hanging around. I wanted depth to my squad which i got...eventually. Still the side wasn't good enough and we lacked consistency and was dropping silly points against much weeker opposition.
Even though our results didn't look to bad i wasn't happy and neither was the board. they soon got on my back telling the press that my job wasn't safe and unless things made a dramatic turn i would be sacked. I Eventually managed to turn things around although it wasn't easy and we just managed to scrap into the playoffs by the skin of our teeth.
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We achieved promotion but not the way i was hoping and the board still wasn't entirely satisfied with my progress, but the club was going in the right direction and the fans were happy.

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This was my best XI of year when fit.

I went into the 2013/14 season slightly worried as i knew a lot of work was going to take place.​
 
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Well done on promotion, I hope next year is not a struggle.
 
Chapter 2

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Season 2013/14

After we gained promotion it was clear a lot of changes had to happen in order for survival in the football league. I made the decisions relatively quickly and soon highlighted my target signings and the players that were going to leave the club.

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A few keys singings i made which made an impact on the team were:

Adam Webster:- A solid young centre back who went straight into the 1st team and by god didn't he impress. No surprise` he ended up being voted player of the season by the fans.

Derek Gaston:- I signed the goalkeeper at the end of the transfer window after Dean Brill picking up a serious knee injury which ruled him out for 2-3 months.

Adam Reed:- A good battling young centre midfielder from Sunderland who was injury prone but when playing made the midfield tick.

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As you can see the 1st half of the season wasn't our best but at this the time we were lying above the relegation and had a cup run going after qualifying to the 3rd round Fa Cup. I was impressed however how we managed to grind out wins, but more importantly we were able to score goals.

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Our league form picked up and we soon finished comfortably above the relegation at one stage i though the playoffs were a possibility before the final 3 games. We managed to make the 5th round FA Cup before being knocked out 2-0 to QPR which shows how far the club as come so far.

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We managed to secure a respectable 12th place in the league, which is a massive positive as its told me not alot of work will need to be done to secure a playoff place next season...Unless Injuries are going to be a telling factor.​
 
Keep it up!

Think I bought ganz on my Luton save that season, he was frighteningly effective!

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk 2
 
Chapter 3

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Season 2014/15

After a promising 1st season back in the football league, i didn't think we need much just to push on to seal promotion into League 1. Again though there were lots of in and outs in the transfer window.

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A big nam signing for this division was the Moroccan centre midfielder from Birmingham Merouane Zemmama. Unfortunately though he didn't make an impact and i didn't resign him come january. A lot of the players brought in were mainly to add a bit of depth and were young which i was happy to loan out.

However they has been one player that was bought in that has impressed that was James Keatings a striker from Celtic.

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With an excellent start to the season i really did think it could be our season but sadly our form dipped come October due to a few injuries but we are still up there come the end of January

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We again had a good cup run in he FA cup again loosing to a very strong Blackburn side but we did go 2-0 up very early but in the end the cream rose to the top with Blackburn winning 4-2.

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We are currently 9 points behind Rotherham but with a game in hand we can still catch Rotherham but firstly i want to secure a playoff place and then kick on to try and claim automatic promotion.


Thats where I am at the moment apologies it has taken longer than anticipated to get you up to date. Appreciate all the response and now hopefully my updates will be a bit more detailed​


 
February 2014



So after January we were in a strong place to push for promotion and with the team fully fit i had high expectations to finish the season strongly.

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Our 1st game of the month was against a very strong Wrexham side. Luton took the lead with James Keatings goal 5 minutes after half time. We maybe should of finished it of before Wrexham grabbed an equaliser and deep into injury time Jonathan Smith popped up with the winner.
As you can see by the stats it was a well deserved win and an important 3 points.

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We followed the Wrexham with a convincing win over AFC Wimbledon. We killed the game off after 17 mins with 2 quick fire goals and from that moment there was only going to be one winner. We finished the half 4-0 up. I decided to take a few key players off for rest and we ended up finishing the game 6-2. Only disappointment was that we gave away 2 sloppy goals one from a corner and the other a route one situation.

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I game against Carlise which was **** of a battle either side could of won the game with plenty of breakaways but both teams defences were not going to be beaten. We managed to get ahead with a goal from a corner from centre defender Ryan Innis on 11 minutes.

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This wasn't a game for someone who wanted to goalkeeping heroics or strikers playing out of the skin. Neither was having a fantastic game. It was a game full of chances but both sides didn't have a clue where the goal was which shows with shots on target. We somehow managed to walk away with a convincing 3-0 victory. 1st goal from young forward James Keatings, 2nd from centre back Ronnie Henry. The 3rd canning off the post only to hit the goalkeeper Taylor on the back.

What a fantastic month February turned out to be undefeated and lying 2nd in the league. On a personally note we picked up manager off the month.

March 2014

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We continued where we left off in February with a hard fought victory over fellow promotion contenders Torquay.We were 2-0 up after 34 minutes with goals from Keating and Eboma but Torquay managed to get one before half time through former England striker Darius Vassell. 2nd half we flew out of the blocks and restored our 2 goal lead through Jonathan Smith. Torquay pulled one back through versatile player Joe Oastler to make it a nervy finish but we managed to hang on to secure a very important 3 points.

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Our run came to a disastrous end loosing 4-2 to Shrewsbury Town. We didn't get off to the best of starts with former Cardiff City striker Nicky Maynard getting his 1st of the afternoon after just 3 minutes.Marc Richards thought he better get on the act with his goal on 15 minutes. It didn't get much better wither when former Scotland international Ross Mccormack making it 3-0 on 22 minutes. At this point i wanted t get the boys in for half time. I made 3 changes at half time but that didn't make any difference with Maynard getting his 2nd on 65 minutes to make sure the game was over. We eventually woke up and responded witn a goal through our on loan right back Shay Facey. Jake Howells got a goal on 81 minutes to make it 4-2 and gave us an outside chance.

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I was hoping for a response after the game against Shrewsbury but didn't get it, it was another humiliating 4-2 defeat to the hand of Morecambe this time. Conor Doyle and Dave Hislon getting the goals for the home side to get them 2-0 up before half time. Chris Mitchell and James Keating pulling us level in-between the goals centre midfielder Mendy got a straight red. I was sure whether to try and protect the point or carry on. Sadly i chose the wrong option on the day pushing for the win with Dave Hilson sealing his hat-trick after scoring 2 more goals both on the break.

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After the last defeat i called the players in for a team meeting reminding them what was at stake this season. It didnt goal as well i had hoped with not much positive response, however we managed to beat relegation threatened Barnet 2-1. Barnet kicked the scoring off on 61 minutes with Matt Fry. We came to life in the last 10 with veteran midfielder Claude Gnapka getting the equaliser before substitute Sam Williams getting the winner only to get injured and taken off 2 minutes later.

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Sadly we finished the month on another defeat this time to Aldershot. it was a the usual performance of the month creating nothing and struggling to defend against raw pace with Cadogan getting their 1st on 36 minutes. Shortly after half time Peter Vinceti made it 2-0 which made us start chasing the game and Craig Reid but the game to bed for the home side in the 86th minute.

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We finish the month in the automatic promotion spot just 7 points off top with 5 games remaining, sadly going up as champions is beyond us and with York breathing down our necks just 2 points behind every game is vital till the end of the season. Fingers crossed we can hold on and go up and be one step closer to the promise land.​
 
End of Season 2014/15

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After a poor month in March i was hoping to turn our fortunes around and kick on and secure promotion. We had 5 games and they weren't the easiest all teams had something to play for whether it was for playoffs, automatic or to avoid the drop.

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1st game of the month was against Rochdale who were currently lying in 5th with every chance of gaining automatic but we made we showed lethal finishing by winning convincingly 3-1. Two games in a space of 8 minutes from James Keating before he got his deserved hat trick just after the break. Rochdale got a consolation goal in the 62nd minutes through Reece Feeney.

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Another very impressive display from us. Eboma got his 1st of the day on 4 minutes and we never looked back. Rhys Inniss scoring a bullet header from a corner on 15 minutes just before Eboma got his 2nd to take us 3-0 up after 24 minutes. Promising young centre defender Adam Webster scored from another corner to take us 4-0 up at the break. James Keating wanted to get in on the act with a goal in the 63rd and Tonne getting his 1st for his the club after signing in January. Rhys Innis rounded the scoring up in the 76th minutes to take us 7-0. Port Vale managed to get on the score sheet in 85th with Aaron Mcclean scoring a poachers effort in the 6 yard box.

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On paper we should have recored a comfortable victory but against a team fighting for relegation it was never going to be that easy. We finally broke the deadlock in the 71st minutes with a goal from the spot from Eboma. Adam Reed sealed the victory with a goal 7 minutes from the end to give the home side all 3 points.

This was the game which sealed promotion and now we were trying to catch Rotherham who were currently 3 points ahead.

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MK Dons were hoping to end our unbeaten run this month and at the time were in the last playoff spot. The 3-0 defeat didnt do them any good but it kept our title chances alive. All the goals coming in the last 10 minutes of the game. Matt Smith got the 1st of the afternoon on 83 minutes the game was put to bed when Adam Reed scored on 89. Matt Smith got his 2nd on 91 minutes which rubbed salt into the wounds for MK Dons.

So it was down to the final game of the season 3 teams all having a chance Rotherham, Torquay and Luton. Who would come out on top...

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Coming into this game we knew we had to win, unfortunately things didn't go our way eventually going down 1-0. If we could of hit the target things might of been different but it was our day and congratulations to Rotherham.

Clayton Donoldson won the league for Rotherham with a goal on 68 minutes after a delightful free kick was pumped into the box and Donoldson was there with a bullet header.

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We achieved promotion which was what i was expecting at the start of the seaoson. The board didn't have the same aspiration as they were expecting a top half finish. If i have one criticism it was the amount of goals we conceded and it will be on part of the team il be looking to strengthen next season.​
 
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