Luton confirm backroom staff duo have left Kenilworth Road

Luton Town have confirmed that Paul Trollope and Richie Kyle have both left their roles as joint assistant managers at Kenilworth Road.

The coaching duo arrived alongside Rob Edwards in November 2022 as they played their part in masterminding some of the finest moments in the Hatters’ history, including promotion to the Premier League via a Championship play-off victory over Coventry City on penalties in May 2023. With manager Rob Edwards’ having departed by mutual consent last Thursday, both Trollope and Kyle were in the dug-out for Saturday’s FA Cup third round 2-0 loss at Nottingham Forest, supported by chief recruitment officer Mick Harford too.

However, they have now both exited the club as Town look to bring in a new manager, Wycombe’s Matt Bloomfield heavily tipped to be Edwards’ replacement, as speaking to Luton’s official website, chief executive Gary Sweet said: “Along with Rob, Paul and Richie have played a huge part in our recent success and they leave with our heartfelt thanks and respect for the job they have undertaken.

“That extends especially to the most recent period when they have acted with great dignity and professionalism in looking after the squad since last Thursday. They and their families will always be welcome visitors to Kenilworth Road, certainly as our guests, but hopefully in the away dugout before too long. We wish them both every success with whatever role lies ahead for them.”

Following Luton’s defeat at the City Ground on Saturday, Trollope had faced the media afterwards, admitting he had been proud of the performance Town’s players were able to produce so soon after the departure of Edwards. The only thing missing was a goal for the near 2,000 travelling fans though, as he said: “We were desperate for it, we would have loved that, especially in front of our supporters.

“A special mention for them, as obviously things haven’t gone our way on our travels this season, there have been some difficult games, but the numbers we turned up with and the support was great. Afterwards the players showed their appreciation and I think they showed their appreciation to the players for the spirit and commitment they showed as well.

“Life goes on and football moves on really quickly and it’s what Rob would have wanted and what the club wanted. There was a lot of emotion on Thursday, but you could see yesterday (Friday) morning the preparation we did and the training we did, there was a real focus. There were lots of people to prove wrong and this football club is built in fighting adversity and the spirit and togetherness and I think we showed that.”

The former Bristol Rovers and Cardiff City manager had also been happy with the manner in which Town looked to attack the tie as well, particularly after the break, when Carlton Morris was denied by Reds keeper Carlos Miguel with a late header, adding: “Coming to a Premier League team, although they rotated a few, we really didn’t want to sit back and die a slow death which you can do with the form they’re in and the quality they have.

"We wanted to be brave but we wanted to have a balance to the play as well, press when we can, have a good shape when we can, and we got that. We could have been better with the ball in the opening period, a little bit nervous, when we won it back I thought we could have kept it, but we grew into it and then started showing some good signs towards the end of the first half.

"We asked for a little bit more final third action, a little bit more forward thrust if you like and I think we produced that in the second half. It would have been wonderful to have nicked an equaliser before the second one went in, or even to get one back in front of our fans to really have a charge up in the last few minutes. It didn’t materialise, but I’m not going to be too critical of the players as I think they were great.

“We were pleased with the back four, I thought it functioned well. At times it looked like a five with Izzy Jones tracking their wingback, but there were some pleasing aspects for us tactically. We were pleased with how the players took the messages on board. Again, although they rotated a few, they're still Premier League squad players and some very good players and I thought we coped well with a lot of the game.”

Meanwhile, the Hatters have also announced that analysts Joe Stephenson and Finley Taylor have left the club too.