Sweet hails 'marvellous' job done by Town chief Nathan Jones

Town chief executive Gary Sweet has hailed the ‘marvellous job’ done by manager Nathan Jones since returning to the club.

The 47-year-old came back in May 2020, and against the odds, led the Hatters to Championship safety, when they had looked dead and buried.

This term he has gone further too, with Luton never once in danger of relegation, Jones turning the team into one which is honing in on a top 10 finish for the first time in the second tier since 2006, Sunday's win at Bristol City moving them up to an impressive tally of 60 points.

Sweet said: “Nathan’s done a marvellous job.

"Everybody will know the history but right here, right now, not only have we got the best manager we can possibly have for Luton Town, but we’ve got him going forward.

“We’ve got a great crew of coaches, support staff working with him, the harmony in that department is unbelievable.

“We have positive days every day and it’s great to see and all that is really led by Nathan.

“It’s great to have Nathan at the helm putting us in a position where we can start planning for next season earlier than we ever have been able to, so it’s a great feeling.”

Sweet and the rest of the Town board took a calculated risk to bring back Jones when many might not have, after the manner in which he left the club to go to Stoke City back in January 2019.

Then he left suddenly and controversially, with the Hatters in the middle of a promotion battle to reach the Championship, something they ultimately did with Mick Harford at the helm.

Many supporters vowed to never forgive the Welshman, but he has surely won any doubters over this term, making it a decision that has proved to be a successful one though by the Luton hierarchy.

Sweet added: “It’s more than paid off.

“I said before that in many ways going to Stoke for a period gave him a life lesson, gave us a life lesson as well.

“But not just as individuals, him and his family, our coaching staff and the board here, everybody and the supporters, they’ve all really embraced him back.

“If you hadn’t done so before beating Watford that would be the turning point.

“He’s given us that accolade that has been a long, long time coming, that is really all down to Nathan and his squad of players and I’m so grateful for that.”

Speaking after Luton hit the 60-point mark at Ashton Gate on Saturday, a result that means Town now can't finish any lower than 14th this season, Jones himself said: "It's been a real progression, but we don't want to finish too high as then expectations and the board, so you've got to be careful!

"But no, in all honesty, we want to push boundaries, we want to keep moving forward and we've shown we can do that."