MDF & Trivia Luton Town v Wolves 23/09/23

[shatter2]

We face Wolves tomorrow afternoon in our second home game of the season. Some are saying it's the first of three winnable games let's hope so!
We're still without injured players Clark, Potts,Osho and Barclays injury will keep him sidelined until maybe Tuesday at Exeter. COYH!!

Wolves Trivia.         The last time we played them in a competitive match.(apart from the PSF) was in the FA Cup in January 2013 winning that game 1-0 with a single goal from Alex Lawless. Their manager Stale Solbakken was sacked in the morning! We went on to beat Norwich at Carrow Road in the next round.



Alex Lawless celebrating his goal against Wolves.

[8two]

Thanks for the early 'Fred' Steve, no time in the morning to respond with full concentration on getting myself to Luton.


All time Luton vs Wolves

First game: 1932 lost 2 - 1 FA Cup
Last game: 2013 won 1 - 0 FA Cup
Games won: 13
Games lost: 14
Games drawn: 5
Largest win: 1955, 5 - 1, Division 1, Attendance 27,911 (I remember it like yesterday, not)
Largest loss: 1956, 5 - 4, Division 1, Attendance 46,761

And a personal item of trivia, I would have been in the Bobbers for the 1955 game where I'll be again tomorrow.

England players, centre backs and captains head to head

[bms]

Great post 8two - please cheer wildly on my behalf whether at the Kenny or on the sofa. Don’t anticipate another Day of the Centre Backs but who knows- COYH!

[Lake]

Lineup against Wolves

Kaminski Kabore Lockyer Burke Bell Lakonga Nakamba Doughty Brown Morris Ogbene

[Lake]

Subs

Krul, Andersen, Berry, Adebayo, Woodrow, Chong, Mengi, Pelly, Giles.

[greeno]

Well Pelly was outstanding when he came on, one shot excepted perhaps.

[8two]

I was truly entertained by a Luton team who wanted to play in their opponents half. I hope the management take that on board.

If that rocket from Morris had been a couple of centimetres lower, then I think we may have had an extra 2 points. Anyway, we are off and running.

Main things I take from the game were the performance of Burke, fingers crossed he stays fit; Obene, I've not seen anything so quick off the mark since Walthamstow closed down but he needs to learn to come inside on a dribble he's a tad predictable always going wide; and Doherty, who looks a constant threat when running with the ball and with crosses.

Man of the match must be one of those three and I'll go for Burke.

Finally, Pelly did more in the first 5 minutes when he came on than out No. 28 did in the preceding 50. I know it's early days but currently he is a bit of a passenger and that's the last thing we need in this league.

[proudhattersince74]

Can someone enlighten me as to why Woodrow was the one to replace Brown? I was fully expecting the referee to even things up after the Wolves red card but we did it for him with that substitution! Sorry, but I cannot believe that he selected as sub ahead of Luke Berry or Chong.

I'd have gone for Chong if we wanted raw pace against a tiring defence - Chong's shortcomings (IMO) when out of possession wouldn't have been such an issue today vs ten and with Wolves doing what we did at Fulham and sit very deep. Berry purely for his clever late surges into the box and bloody good finishing (usually).

Woodrow was slow, ponderous and lacked any real heart ... the complete opposite of everyone else who put in such admirable shifts. For someone who has played in the Premier League, I thought he may have some clever movement about him to find space but he never once attacked the near post when any crosses were about to be crossed in from our right flank - he simply ambled to the penalty spot surrounded by Wolves defenders. I cannot remember which analyst said it about Benteke (at Liverpool at the time) but he said something akin to, "his runs are almost designed to hide behind defenders" - that was how I saw Woodrow's performance when we needed someone to be fast, crisp with passes and take first touch control because there were so many Wolves players compacted around the penalty area.

Other than that, we were outstanding - every player did their part. Disappointed with the quality and accuracy of our crosses after the first 20-25 minutes from both set plays and open play but there were so few targets to hit in the penalty area versus giant defenders that very decent crosses would have been hard to convert.

I am a Pelly fan but his long diagonal passes were accurate and low trajectory so they arrived quickly - not something that the other midfielders gave us.

We are getting there but it is and will continue to be slow progress whilst we do not have any clinical goalscorers to pick.

COYH.

[Wimbo]

I enjoyed the game and have to say that I had an excellent view of the pitch from my relocated seat in the Bobbers; only a few yards from where my first season ticket seat all of those years.

As others have said, simply so nice to see our side taking the game to the opposition with superb pace, especially down the left side of the pitch in the first half; yes, crossing could at times be better.

You have to give credit to Wolves for their goal and again the pace was there from Neto leaving Tom Lockyer struggling. That apart, I felt Lockyer had a decent game alongside the excellent Burke: let’s hope we can keep Burke fit for the majority of the season. Latest recruit Sambi Lokonga may take time to settle: maybe a touch overly casual at times but his central midfield partner, Marvelous, was thankfully on very good form.

Nice to have a point on the board & nice to take the game to the opposition.

[bms]

Thanks for all the comments so far

[shatter2]

A much better performance in a very enjoyable game.
Below the new seats in the enclosure one of which is mine.....new colour still as uncomfortable though.😉

[8two]

Sept 24, 2023 15:12:15 GMT shatter2 said:

A much better performance in a very enjoyable game.
Below the new seats in the enclosure one of which is mine.....new colour still as uncomfortable though.😉

and still no backs to the seats? how non league. Also a picture of the main stand with not one yellow, orange sky blue pink seat in sight. Certainly tarted up for the benefit of our new television audience.

[8two]

and while I'm talking 'colour', I bet Stan Cullis et al are turning in their graves with the mighty Wolves turning out in sky blue kit. As an aside, chatting to Bill, I said that in my early days I knew many of the names in every Division 1 team, these days it would be a problem to name any other than the odd few in half a dozen of the top teams.

[shatter2]

Sept 24, 2023 15:53:09 GMT 8two said:

and while I'm talking 'colour', I bet Stan Cullis et al are turning in their graves with the mighty Wolves turning out in sky blue kit. As an aside, chatting to Bill, I said that in my early days I knew many of the names in every Division 1 team, these days it would be a problem to name any other than the odd few in half a dozen of the top teams.

Including ours! 😎

[biscot boy]

I thoroughly enjoyed the match and the change in tactics to a more attacking formation was a positive move. I agree with the genereal concensus that Lockonga struggled, I am not sure if he lacks ability, commitment or confidence. I suspect the former. I do not think Marvelous played particularly well, he had more space than usual but required to many touches before parting with the ball and slowed things up as a result, allowing Wolves to regain their shape. I thought Pelly played much better than either, he was passing the ball quickly and created more time and spapce for the recipient as a result.

My main concern is that we are not getting players into the oppo box quickly enough and as a result we did not benefit from the crosses of Doughty in particular as much as we could have done. I would like to see the other striker(s) playing closer to Morris as we need to score goals otherwise we will perish.

I thought Burke played well and he has looked comfortable all season, I think he is a Premier class player and can only hope he stays fit. Bell also has improved considerably since he joined us, particularly his defensive play. Hopefully Osho will soon be fit and we will then have a mobile and quicker defensive back 3.

Like Proud I do feel that Berry should get more minutes, he is probably our best natural finisher and has a nose for a chance. He is also a good footballer and competitor. Heres hoping for a contiuation of our improvement.