Hatters CEO doesn't expect managerial change to harm Town's transfer plans
Luton remain confident of securing their targets in January
Luton chief executive Gary Sweet doesn’t believe that the club’s transfer window plans will be affected in any way by the decision to change manager this week.
With clubs in England having until Monday, February 3 to bolster their squads for the second half of the campaign, previous boss Rob Edwards had been discussing a need to freshen up the playing personnel this month to try and make sure Town pulled clear of a relegation zone they found themselves far too close to for their liking. They did that on New Year’s Eve with the addition of RWD Molenbeek defender Christ Makosso, before a 2-1 loss at QPR, Town's fourth straight loss saw the club decide to part company with the former Welsh international on Thursday before any more business was done.
Since the news came out regarding Edwards’ departure, the Hatters have continued to trade, signing Middlesbrough attacker Isaiah Jones for an undisclosed fee yesterday, with striker Joe Taylor moving to League One Huddersfield Town too. With that in mind, Sweet doesn’t think their plans in the market will need to be altered too much, saying: “The manager that we’ll select will be appropriate to the playing style that we desire to have as a football club, and that’s not formation, this us just about playing characteristics and where we want to be, athletic, and have a fast running front line.
"So those characteristics are what we’re looking for players coming in and they’re also characteristics we’re looking at as a manager who is going to be taking over. One would hope that the players that we’ve got identified are going to be players that the new manager will warm to, so I don’t think there’s actually going to be too much trouble, we’re probably in a good place.”
Having described the summer transfer window as a ‘chaotic’ one, Sweet is already far happier with how the current window is going, although reiterated that despite the addition of Jones, not too much is needed before the deadline passes in early February, as he continued: “Versus the summer, January is always a little bit different.
"It happens either very early or very late, normally very late. Generally speaking the players that are only available in January are the ones that other clubs don’t want as they’re in their contract expiry period or only have a year left, so it is a little bit of a minefield, you need to be careful where you tread. We do know what we’re doing and we will be active. We have identified a number of players, we’re not bringing a lot in, there’s not a huge amount we need to change, but whoever comes in will have a say on that.”
Meanwhile, having lambasted a number of agents in the summer, describing them as ‘unscrupulous’ in their attempts to unsettle the players who had remained at Kenilworth Road following relegation out of the Premier League, Sweet is content with the actions of those who is working with this month, adding: “There are some very good agents as well by the way, but I think we’re in a good enough shape with good enough relationships with most agents that none of that will hinder us.
"There are certain agents that we might have come across in the summer that won’t darken our door again and I’m quite happy about that actually, but they generally are the ones that won’t have the best players by the way, they’ll be just a bit disruptive. But those decent agents we’ve got a great relationship with them and we’re talking to those almost on a daily basis.”