Your honor, I would like to have my last article scratched from the record. Why!?! Because I couldn’t have been more wrong! Luton is not back in the groove. Not unless that groove includes forgetting how to defend as Birmingham unlocked every Luton flaw in a 5-0 thrashing at Kenilworth Road on Saturday.
I don’t know if Birmingham caught Nathan Jones and his Luton side by surprise, but the Hatters found it difficult to string more than two passes together in the first half. Add that to not being able to deal with Birmingham’s aerial threat, and the first 45 minutes will not be on any Luton season highlights. The inexcusable part is most fans would have been able to tell you how Birmingham would play once the team sheets were released. Yet Luton just couldn’t deal with it.
Having an aerial presence like Lukas Jutkiewicz meant Birmingham was always going to put the ball in the air as much as possible. It was then up to Luton to deal with it. They didn’t. Instead, they were two goals down inside the first 26 minutes and forced into changes to stop the bleeding.
I’ve seen a lot of dross over the years. Hell, I followed the club through five seasons of non-league football. That first half was up there with some of the worse. No creativity mixed in with the inability to deal with the threat of Tahith Chong’s crosses meant it really could have been more than 2-0 at halftime.
Birmingham agreed and netted a third three minutes into the second half.
From then on, it was a case of damage limitation for the Hatters, but they couldn’t even manage that. Birmingham unlocked every Luton flaw and deservedly added a fourth in the 84th minute and a fifth in the 87th minute, sending Luton fans heading towards the exit and the traveling fans into full voice.
The shellacking will give manager Nathan Jones food for thought ahead of the Hatters clash with Sheffield United next week. Another performance like that will simply not be tolerated by a fan base that has never hidden their voice. I understand never to get too high, never too low, but it’s difficult when you’ve just watched 90 minutes of absolute carnage.
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