Hatters confirm Paul Hart as assistant boss

The 62-year-old had been tipped to move to Kenilworth Road after leaving his position as Academy Director and U21s manager at Leeds United last month, having worked with Town boss Nathan Jones when the pair were at Charlton Athletic.

Hart, who made over 500 appearance for the likes of Blackpool, Leeds and Sheffield Wednesday in his playing days, watched on from the stands at Northampton on Saturday at Luton were beaten 2-0, and was present at the training ground this morning.

Speaking to the club’s official website, Hart, who has also managed Barnsley and QPR among others, said: “It feels great to be here. I’ve been looking forward to this and I feel very lucky.

“I’ve had 45 years in football and to come to a prestigious club like Luton, especially in this position as assistant manager is great.”

On what attracted him to the role, he added: “Obviously I knew Nathan from our time at Charlton Athletic, and I knew Mick Harford.

“I spoke to Gary Sweet about the organisation above the football and I was very impressed. It feels great to come to a place that has a pathway to future success.

“My priority over the summer will be to make sure that our pre-season is bang-on, we get exactly what we can from that and that we’re flying when we come back.

“The size of the support at Luton is incredible and we’re looking to give the supporters quality, winning football.”

On what Hart can offer the club, boss Jones, talking before the appointment was confirmed, said: “He’s someone I would like to bring to the club, I’ll make no bones about it.

“His experience, his knowledge, how he goes about stuff, complements my work and Kevin Nugent’s work very well and I think he’d be a real coup for the club as well.

“To have someone like that with that knowledge of what he does and also because he’s a fantastic academy man as well.”