Luton Boss: impassioned plea

If Kevin Blackwell is as good as his word, he will be the right man at the helm for the difficult times ahead.

He stated today, in the press conference, how he was reassured by today's news and will not be looking back but forward.

In a veiled snipe at the any potential new board members and management as well perhaps, as the playing staff, he suggested that only backers are wanted and anyone who wants to be negative and criticise need to get out or stay out.

Blackwell said:

'This is about the future; this is about moving forward and the questions that have got to be asked are: How are we going to get there and what are the plans for Luton Town Football Club?

'What happened in the past can't be dealt with. That's history. So as far as I'm concerned, anyone who's got a vision that's dynamic and wants to help this club move forward, get on board. Anybody that wants to knock it, get off. They're not going to be part of it and you won't be accepted round here.

'I think for too long we've had negativity. We've got to be positive at Luton Town Football Club in every aspect from commercial, from the Directors and the Chairman, the Manager, the Kit Lady, the supporters - everybody's got to be positive.

'We've got to make sure that everybody's proud of Luton Town Football Club. How big a role does Luton Town play? It's massive to this community. It is the focal point of the town. There will be reservations, I'm sure, but we mustn't let them take us backwards. We must be positive and take it from there.'

Later in an exclusive interview for the Official Luton Website, he said: 'It's been depressing, I'll be honest with you. I read the papers myself and it does get you down. But this is a new era and I certainly won't have anybody on my staff talking about the past. It is about moving forward and how we can make this club a force to be reckoned with again.

'We've waited long enough for some good news, haven't we? The Chairman coming along today has allayed a lot of people's fears and none more than my own. I can understand the fans' trepidation, but we have a man now on board who's got some substance, not just in terms of financial clout but in terms of dynamic movement in business an I think he'll really pull this club right round.'

When questioned on his transfer budget he replied:

'Every manager wants more and I'm no different, but what we want to do is develop the Club on a few different fronts, not just the Youth, but the community, the football side and the stadium development, so there's four or five fronts and we have to make sure that the business moves forward.

'We haven't got to sell players, the Chairman's made that quite clear. My remit is not: Come in and ship out who you can. If we don't want someone to go they don't have to go. But I have to look at a young player's personal ambitions. If a big club comes in, I'll discuss it with him and decide what's best not just for him but for Luton Town. (Ed:If this were applied last season we'd still be in the Championship.)

'I want to make sure that we can compete at the top level. I can't compete in transfers, I think we all know that but what I think we can compete in is good training facilities, good coaches, good IT, good sports science, good medical - I want to really revamp all of that to the highest possible spec that we can and I think that will be a factor in bringing players to the football club.'

He also said that Luton will be working harder to find young local talent.

'If I don't sort out my own back yard, it's no good looking at other people's back yards. I don't think we've been aggressive enough in and around Luton and Bedford and the surrounding areas. I think it's a tribute to the football club that six or seven players in the last game of the season actually came through the youth set-up. Maybe in the past four or five years there haven't been that many coming through.

'Having spoken to a lot of people in the area, it's been felt that Luton has been very insular and not gone out there and sold our wares and our product, and tried to help young developing teams. From now on we will be out there, we will be offering our assistance, both in education and in coaching - and in scouting. So if anybody can help, then I'm more than interested.

'This is not my club or the chairman's club, it's Luton's club, Bedfordshire's club and we want to make a difference and make everybody proud to be part of it.'

Stirring words indeed, but the proof will be in the pudding, so to speak. I would be particularly pleased to see the Youth scheme back to its former strength, as when John Moore was in charge. Too many local talents are playing elsewhere because their local club didn't bother to scout them.

The time for talking is over, Kevin. Let's see some action now!

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