Bloomfield states Luton's squad know their efforts at Lincoln won't be tolerated
Hatters manager discusses woeful outing at the LNER Stadium
Luton boss Matt Bloomfield revealed his players have been left in no uncertain terms that their level of performance against Lincoln City last weekend will simply not be tolerated going forwards.
The Hatters produced a worrying display at the LNER Stadium that was instantly forgettable as a dreadful opening half an hour saw the visitors trailing 1-0. Town did restore parity late in the second period through Jordan Clark only to concede twice more in the closing stages to suffer a second successive defeat, as the manager and players came in for some fairly hefty stick from the travelling supporters who made the trip.
Having had a few days in which to digest his squad’s efforts and get back on the training ground to try and put things right, then ahead of this afternoon’s clash against Doncaster Rovers, Bloomfield insisted he has been able to learn plenty about some members of his squad too in the aftermath, saying: “They want to work, they want to get on, they want to learn, they want to be better.
"They’ve been left in no uncertain terms that last week wasn’t good enough, so they have to respond. As much as I’ve had to respond, the players have to respond and together we have to be a unit, we have to stick together. You find out about people in tough times, not in good, so I’ve found out a few things this week and we have to stand shoulder to shoulder and fight together.”
Having stated on Saturday that he would wait until they were back at the Brache before really going into detail on what went wrong, asked just how he has got his message across in the last few days, Bloomfield continued: “You have to deliver it in different ways as if you just rant and rave for every minute of every day it gets lost, so you have to find different ways to deliver the same information. We’ve tried to do that, we have done that the best we possibly can. We came into the building Monday morning, we got on with our work and we’ve worked very hard during the week. I want the team to represent me and represent us in a better manner and I know they will.”
After the game, long-serving midfielder Clark stated in his post match interview that he didn’t feel it looked like the result ‘means enough’ to some of the players who pulled on a green shirt. Asked what he thought about such a statement coming from a member of the squad who has been to the Premier League and back with the Hatters, Bloomfield said: “We’ve got a new group that we’re trying to knit together and have a culture of a football club as quickly as we possibly can.
"In tough moments you find out a lot about people and we found out a lot last Saturday, so we have to keep trying to go after our goals, keep going after the culture of the football club, the culture of the group, accelerate that as quickly as we possibly can. There’s been a huge turnover and we have to keep working towards knitting that group together as quickly as we possibly can.
"We had a tough moment last week against a very well organised team as well by the way, Lincoln, I’ve been there a few times, I won their last year, got beat there this year. They were organised, they test you physically and mentally, and we didn't stand up to it last week. So there's obviously something missing, but we have to keep working towards putting that all together and making sure that it all knits together as quickly as possible.”
However, Bloomfield did agree that it is down to the players to show on the pitch that they want to get out of the slump they are currently in, adding: “We’ve had 43 shots in the last two home games, we can only coach to a certain position, we have to go and produce as a group. I’m standing shoulder to shoulder with the boys, it is about us as a group doing the best we possibly can. Last week wasn’t good enough and I take responsibility. I am the football manager of this football club and when results and performances aren’t good enough, it’s my responsibility, so I take the responsibility for that, but as a group we have to be better.”