Post by QPR Report on Mar 16, 2009 6:39:09 GMT
I know there are Luton haters on the boards. I'm not one of them. For me, Luton are Alec Stock, Mike Keen, Don Shanks, Don Givens, Roy Wegerle, etc.
BBC - Mike Newell to feel force of Luton Town fury
Kaveh Solhekol
Mike Newell will receive a hostile reception at Luton Town tomorrow, when he returns for the first time since leaving the club two years ago. The Grimsby Town manager has become public enemy No 1 in Luton after he demanded £300,000 from the club, who are bottom of Coca-Cola League Two with only 13 points. “What he’s doing is disgusting,” a source said. “He’s kicking the club when they’re down.”
There could hardly be more at stake when Luton play Grimsby at Kenilworth Road. Luton are heading for nonLeague football for the first time in the club’s 124-year history and Grimsby, who are a place above, are on course to join them in the Blue Square Premier next season.
Newell talked himself out of the Luton manager’s job in March 2007 when he accused the former owners of mismanaging the club and making illegal payments to agents.
He replaced Alan Buckley at Blundell Park last October, but has won only five times in 28 league games and his reputation as a manager could be destroyed if Grimsby and Luton go down at the end of the season.
Related Links
Luton enjoy beating big boys to youth title
Well done to Luton, but theirs is a cautionary tale
Joy for Luton as they defeat Shrewsbury
“What’s happened to our club is an absolute travesty but we’re still confident we can stay up,” Gary Sweet, the Luton managing director, said. “Even if we do go down, there’s no reason why we can’t come straight back up.”
Newell’s rocky relationship with Luton’s previous owners started a chain of events that have seen the club fall from the play-offs places in the Championship to bottom of the Football League in three years. Before the start of this season Luton were deducted ten points by the FA for making illegal payments to agents and 20 points by the Football League for breaking insolvency rules. Without the 30-point penalty Luton would be in mid-table and Newell’s new team, Grimsby, would be bottom.
“Mike Newell is no longer the whiter-than-white guy we thought he was,” Rob Hadgraft, the author of Luton Town: Staring Into The Abyss, said. “We admired him when he spoke out about corruption, but that’s before we found out that he had a clause in his contract that entitled him to a 10 per cent commission on player sales.”
Newell insisted last year that he would not start legal proceedings against Luton’s new owners. He claimed that he would pursue the club’s former owners for money that he believed he was owed, but last month Luton received legal papers from Newell’s solicitors demanding £300,000. “He did a very good job in difficult circumstances but lots of people can’t forgive him for what he’s done,” Hadgraft said.
BBC - Mike Newell to feel force of Luton Town fury
Kaveh Solhekol
Mike Newell will receive a hostile reception at Luton Town tomorrow, when he returns for the first time since leaving the club two years ago. The Grimsby Town manager has become public enemy No 1 in Luton after he demanded £300,000 from the club, who are bottom of Coca-Cola League Two with only 13 points. “What he’s doing is disgusting,” a source said. “He’s kicking the club when they’re down.”
There could hardly be more at stake when Luton play Grimsby at Kenilworth Road. Luton are heading for nonLeague football for the first time in the club’s 124-year history and Grimsby, who are a place above, are on course to join them in the Blue Square Premier next season.
Newell talked himself out of the Luton manager’s job in March 2007 when he accused the former owners of mismanaging the club and making illegal payments to agents.
He replaced Alan Buckley at Blundell Park last October, but has won only five times in 28 league games and his reputation as a manager could be destroyed if Grimsby and Luton go down at the end of the season.
Related Links
Luton enjoy beating big boys to youth title
Well done to Luton, but theirs is a cautionary tale
Joy for Luton as they defeat Shrewsbury
“What’s happened to our club is an absolute travesty but we’re still confident we can stay up,” Gary Sweet, the Luton managing director, said. “Even if we do go down, there’s no reason why we can’t come straight back up.”
Newell’s rocky relationship with Luton’s previous owners started a chain of events that have seen the club fall from the play-offs places in the Championship to bottom of the Football League in three years. Before the start of this season Luton were deducted ten points by the FA for making illegal payments to agents and 20 points by the Football League for breaking insolvency rules. Without the 30-point penalty Luton would be in mid-table and Newell’s new team, Grimsby, would be bottom.
“Mike Newell is no longer the whiter-than-white guy we thought he was,” Rob Hadgraft, the author of Luton Town: Staring Into The Abyss, said. “We admired him when he spoke out about corruption, but that’s before we found out that he had a clause in his contract that entitled him to a 10 per cent commission on player sales.”
Newell insisted last year that he would not start legal proceedings against Luton’s new owners. He claimed that he would pursue the club’s former owners for money that he believed he was owed, but last month Luton received legal papers from Newell’s solicitors demanding £300,000. “He did a very good job in difficult circumstances but lots of people can’t forgive him for what he’s done,” Hadgraft said.