wilsoncgp

I don't think he gave much of a care about any of that. He seemed to sanction letting Clarke go despite what was perceived as an already existing injury crisis and one that could get worse. Then it did and he had no bloody CBs. All he had to say on it at the time was we'd be fine and had others who could step in. He didn't look unfit as such when he came back but as far as the club were concerned, Howson wasn't particularly ready for playing that much football every week out of position, but he had to.

Yeah that's fair. Carrick giving up on him so quickly after he came back was a surefire sign of a problem too. He must have thought it was gonna be easy to bring Giles back into a familiar environment and put an arm round his shoulder and that was all it was gonna take to get him back to his best. At no point did it ever feel like Carrick was getting to grips with the problems surrounding Giles. Maybe it says more about the player than Carrick but Carrick certainly seemed blind to it.

I think it's a mix of issues. Giles was always a questionable player to have at a Premier League club like Luton. He's not a great defender and he would be asked to defend often. That and Alfie Doughty was already there, had been a part in their success already and adapted better to the challenge. I think he's one of those players that could really come out of their season in the Prem with his head held high.

He may but I think it's important to say that's part of the process. The best manager is the best manager available at the time you need them. If you're interviewing candidates who put their names in the hat that you see value in but their situation is not even financially difficult but procedurally difficult, then you have to be willing to walk away from that. And as Dom also says, similar to Cooper, there's a fundamental issue hiring a manager who might not even want to be here. Rohl wants a Bundesliga job, Cooper wants a Prem job or a job overseas. The manager before our previous one had that exact same problem and despite hiring mid-season, ended up entertaining the offer of a club in a perilous situation in the Premier League before the end of that season, just because they'd already made it there. That must echo strongly in Scott's mind. It doesn't necessarily devalue Edwards ability to take this job if it's an easier decision to make due to concerns unrelated to their ability. We need a manager, we need to get started, we can't be faffing on with Chansiri all summer.

Giles was absolutely superb for us at the start and is still only 25. I don't know what's going on with the lad but for me, I think what he's lost is his momentum. He needs to properly settle. He went to Luton and Doughty was better. He went to Hull which is a basket case and never seemed to want to be there. And he came back to us in the short term but Carrick seemed to hope he'd have an immediate impact on the back of the worst 18 months of his career, he gave up on him 5 minutes in. If someone can grab hold of that potential and put it on the right path, I believe there's a player there. I don't think this is the right place for him but in the right team with the right manager, that lad will show his worth again before his career is done, I'm sure of it.

Edwards signed his new Luton contract 19th June last year. Tomorrow is 19th June. I think that could be why. Some weird situation around his compensation where one day it costs some amount and the next day it costs significantly less.

I thought he was fine for a fair bit of time. I gave it a 5. I think he still has something to offer.

I think it's more often than not that it could be defined as a failure, for sure. Woodgate's season and Carrick's first full season stand out to me as seasons I was more convinced we'd miss out. Warnock's full year is probably the closest to that other than those 2 and I think on the balance of it he was selling, we should certainly have been aiming for it. I think this season is going to be tougher than last season to achieve playoffs but Edwards is going to have a full preseason to work with the squad. There's Lath money, potentially some more Rogers and Spence money, presumably Hackney money to come. There's some sterling reasons our recruitment can go well if handled correctly. I would say that last season I wanted to see us challenging the top 2 like Sunderland did for a period, where finishing in the playoffs was still finishing in a strong position. This season I'd expect playoffs to be the target. The resources are there to be in that fight but I think it might be a tougher fight, as well as Edwards adapting to an approach that works for us. There's no doubt in my mind that this squad is not built to be what Luton were the year they went up so there's going to have to be some changes to work through.

I think people are gonna have to give Edwards the chance to show what he wants to build here because how he played with Luton at this level doesn't even reflect everything he's done in his relatively short managerial career so far. The only consistent thing really has been wing-backs - and I have a feeling he might not even end up playing with those here. I could be wrong but let's see what happens.

Whilst I understand that some people will look at the other candidates and make their own judgements of who ranks better, for me personally I don't think there is any kind of chasm of difference between them. None of the candidates really grabbed me and made me think "This is who it has to be". Everyone in that process therefore was going to come into this job with a point to prove and Scott will have the same point to prove picking Edwards, Cooper, Rohl or whoever else it might have been. So yeah, really much of a muchness in terms of who was picked.

Reasonably happy with the appointment if this is how it's gonna go. Scott gets the man he initially wanted for the job before Carrick amid a thorough interviewing process? There'll be spotlights on that, I'm sure. But I hope it's entirely based on how this process has gone. This is a big appointment for Scott, make no doubt about that. I don't think he's beyond criticism for the last 2 appointments but I think this one is going to apply more scrutiny onto his part in this process, it certainly feels like Gibson has taken more of a step back to me. If it works out, massive plaudits for Scott. If it doesn't, I think more people might think it's time to move on. Not sure where I'd stand because I still believe significantly more in the process after he came in vs. before it but let's see how it goes.

He seems quite a tactically flexible guy so I wouldn't say I'd be shocked to see him change from that to match our squad. But it's certainly a formation he's used a lot and might be hoping to use again.

I've landed on 6 though it could have easily been 5. Just mediocre across the full season, really, mixed in with a couple of really good performances where it looked like he might sort out the left hand side.

4/10 for me. Hard to give him higher. He was injured for too much of the season. It's not a slight on his character but even when he was fit this season, it was a mixed bag.

Was he a Nobby recommendation?