Town boss insists clubs are envious of how Hatters have achieved their success

Luton boss Nathan Jones insists that the way the Hatters are run is the ‘envy’ of a number of other clubs in the footballing pyramid.

Town have earned a huge amount of plaudits this term for their efforts on the pitch which has seen them almost do enough to secure a play-off position in the Championship with one of the smallest budgets in the second tier.

However, it is the work that is done off the field that Jones was eager to point out, with Luton not shelling out vast sums of cash to put themselves in any financial difficulties in getting to this position, preferring to trust the efforts of the coaching staff and those at the Brache to help get the best out of the side on a weekly basis.

Speaking to Three Counties Radio, he said: “Structurally, we are the envy of a lot of football clubs, because ideally everyone would like to do fantastically well without spending a hell of a lot of money, but that isn't the case in football on all levels.

"The ones that can do it by staying within budget, by not crippling themselves in terms of financially, by not going into real massive debt, by not opening up trapdoors that if it doesn't go right, they are in serious trouble, and then can do align themselves with a philosophy, can align themselves with the fans, with the community, play a certain way, get results and again stay well within budget, that’s the way to run a football club.

“We do it very well and that’s not just the manager, it takes a hell of a lot of people to do that.

“So many people from the board to the chief exec (Gary Sweet), the manager, to now the academy, through the catering, the ground staff, Kempy (Peter Kemp), who is the stadium manager, media, every single thing has to come together, be aligned, want the good of the club and that’s what we have and we’re very, very good at doing that.”

Jones also insisted that bringing the right people in to fill roles throughout the club, coupled with the signings made to bolster the quality of the squad, have been the main reasons why the Hatters have been able to do so well during his two spells at Kenilworth Road, improving their league position every term.

He added: “This has been a process since 2016.

“We’ve recruited, we’ve played a certain way and we’ve really had a core of good people right throughout the club for a long, long time.

“Then recruitment is everything because no matter how good a manager or how good a coach or how good a CEO you are, if you get recruitment wrong you are done.

“We've got recruitment right here in terms of human beings, athletes and players, so that's probably been the secret.

“Then we’ve had a plan and everyone believes in it and everyone pulls together because these are the most wonderful group to work with.

“They push boundaries, they work hard every day, they are humble, they take adversity on the chin and they want to achieve something.

“We have no superstars and we have a group of players that want to achieve something - they are nowhere near their ceiling.

“There are certain groups and I’ve had certain groups where it didn’t mean everything to then to get prompted out of the Championship as it wasn't the biggest thing that’s ever happened to them.

"So when you lose that hunger, it's very difficult to create an environment and a culture that is conducive to elite sport.”