Hatters boss reveals why decided to set fire to the table tennis table used by Luton's players after taking over at Kenilworth Road

Town manager had been desperate to improve the culture among the squad
Hatters boss Nathan JonesHatters boss Nathan Jones
Hatters boss Nathan Jones

Luton boss Nathan Jones has been discussing just why he took such drastic measures to burn the table tennis table used by the Hatters players in the early stages of his first spell as Town manager.

When the club were at Ely Way, ahead of their move to the Brache, it was common for the players to indulge a spot of ping pong at the training ground, with more often than not, a competition in full swing ahead of and after pre-match press conferences.

However, once Jones took over in January 2016, it soon became a thing of the past, and the decision has worked a treat too, Luton going from 18th to 11th in League Two during the first four months of his tenure, and improving on that position every season since, so much so they are now on the cusp of securing a play-off place in the Championship.

Speaking to Talksport about just why he took such a decision, Jones said: “We let the season go and then we said how do we change the culture and the environment?

“We changed one or two personnel, we recruited different individuals, the table tennis room, we turned into a prehab studio, so they had to like it or lump it.

“We started to get a different type of player in, a different type of character, an athlete, so the prehab studio was more conducive then a table tennis table.

“I'm all for recreation and we've got a pool room in our training ground and a games room, but at the time, that was taking precedent over the real stuff.

“We had to smash it up first to get it flammable and once it was flammable then we put it good use.”

Jones insisted he hadn’t been wanting to punish the players, rather set about creating a new culture at the club that was geared towards success and an elite mentality.

Telling Three Counties Radio, he added: “When I came in, I felt the culture and the environment there wasn’t what is is now.

"I felt some of the players were more concerned with being good on the table tennis table than they were about being professional footballers.

"Now the players do rehab, prehab sessions, they do their own individual sessions and that wasn’t going on.

"There was a big table tennis culture so I thought I can either cajole them and try to get them into the gym or I can burn the table tennis table.

"It was far easier to burn the table tennis table and get them in the gym.”