The mutants up the road

Discussion in 'The Hornets' Nest - Watford Chat' started by Relegation Certs, Aug 14, 2018.

  1. UEA_Hornet

    UEA_Hornet First Team Captain

    This from their website about their chief exec...

    I thought they'd already won the Bet Square Premier?
     
  2. nascot

    nascot First Team

    Good grief. He's mental.
     
  3. ITK platypus

    ITK platypus Squad Player

    I don't think Luton will win the Premier League. That's my opinion.
     
    lutonh8a, Bwood_Horn and scummybear like this.
  4. Cthulhu

    Cthulhu Keyboard Warrior Staff Member

    Steady on there
     
    ITK platypus and Bwood_Horn like this.
  5. The Voice of Reason

    The Voice of Reason First Team Captain

    They won't win the FA cup either this year, THEY'RE OUT!!! :D
     
  6. The undeniable truth

    The undeniable truth First Team Captain

    Yes but only because they don't have their new stadium yet.
     
  7. onion8837

    onion8837 Reservist

    If they get a plastic pitch and ban away fans their results may pick up again, although I am sure that was just a coincidence
     
  8. I Blame Pozzo

    I Blame Pozzo First Team

    In some ways I hope they get a new or actually A ground.
    Part of their 'success' has been based on the fact that nobody in their right mind wants to play or visit KR.
    We all know that new grounds take a long time for atmosphere to develop,if it ever does.
    A sanitised Loon,if that's not an oxymoron,may not be a bad thing.Particularly if it takes forever and is double the estimated cost,as most tend to be.
     
    onion8837 likes this.
  9. Burnsy

    Burnsy First Team

    Did the F1 track get the go-ahead too?
     
    Witneyellow likes this.
  10. Otter

    Otter Gambling industry insider

    Scalextric got the contract.
     
    Witneyellow, nornironhorn and Burnsy like this.
  11. lutonh8a

    lutonh8a Squad Player

    A shiny new stadium don't mean guaranteed success it is sometimes the worst thing for a club, look at Coventry City for example.
     
  12. Otter

    Otter Gambling industry insider

    Look at what happened to Darlington. Their new ground costs eventually caused the club to go out of existence.
     
  13. Cthulhu

    Cthulhu Keyboard Warrior Staff Member


    Fingers crossed then. That they somehow think their brand of racist thug fans will somehow attract a larger and ever expanding crowd is laughable and to base a business plan on it seems like suicide. Good. Its exactly what happened to Darlington. Lets hope they have to take out some dodgy high interest loans to pay for it.
     
  14. WillisWasTheWorst

    WillisWasTheWorst Its making less grammar mistake's thats important

    I think that was more to do with the owners.
     
  15. WillisWasTheWorst

    WillisWasTheWorst Its making less grammar mistake's thats important

    I think that was more to do with the owner.
     
    nascot likes this.
  16. ST1968

    ST1968 First Year Pro

    Personally I take a different view. Three things

    1) Luton are our only real rivals and I for one miss playing them. The edge and tribalism when playing them is simply exhilarating. I want them to get to the Championship and stay there. However, going to KR is a miserable, cramped, literally painful experience in the ground and a whole lot of grief getting to and from. So I welcome them getting a new ground for both reasons

    2) There are now approx. 30 new stadiums in England/Wales and they can be roughly split in two between those built out of town/away from the historical base of the club and those built within walking distance of the town centre/heartland of the club. Luton's proposed ground sits firmly in the second group and hence one of the main reasons why it is so vehemently supported. Whilst exceptions exist (e.g., Brighton), there is still a good correlation of success stemming from those stadiums built within walking distance of the centre (Southampton, Leicester, Middlesborough, Derby) compared with the struggle of clubs building stadiums out of town (Coventry, Barnet, Northampton, Colchester, Darlington). So I think our 'friends' up the road have got the location right

    3) What I can't understand is their lack of ambition. A 15k stadium even Luton should fill easily but it is too small to compete long term with the many clubs averaging 20k and 30k+ in the Championship. Their MD's comments are laughable in the first place but when put up against the plans they have submitted - they are completely at odds. OK, they may have potential to expand to nearer 20k but even that will leave them at a disadvantage. Scraping around to get permission for a land sale to developers to fund what they are planning indicates that they may get a shiny new ground but I hear no news around having the funds/plans are in place to secure a strong financial future

    PS - Nathan Jones' manager of the month photo. haha.
     
    iamofwfc, Shakespearo and We hate 48 like this.
  17. lutonh8a

    lutonh8a Squad Player

    Even before Sisu, Coventry City had lost the majority of the fan base after moving to The Ricoh Arena from Highfield Road. It is Common Knowledge amongst people in Coventry that moving to the Ricoh was one of the worst decisions the club made. Cov basically threw the kitchen sink on staying in the Premiership and failed and lost a lot of fans after relegation and being crap in the Championship.
     
    Last edited: Jan 17, 2019
  18. wfc4ever

    wfc4ever Administrator Staff Member

    Well Leicester go relegated to League One the season we got promoted I think so their move into a new ground didn't exactly go according to plan at first..
     
  19. folkestone orn

    folkestone orn Squad Player

    Controversial
     
  20. Burnsy

    Burnsy First Team

    To answer point Number 3, I think you only have to look local to them and the MK Dons stadium to see what would happen when you play in a big stadium every week where you fill less than 50% of it. Far be it for me to praise anyone linked to that club, but their owner/chairman has got it right for me in terms of size. Have a full 15k each week and expand if you look like getting into the PL.
     
  21. ST1968

    ST1968 First Year Pro

    Firstly I need to update the numbers. My friendly Luton fellow NCT dad and I were chatting over this at the weekend. He pointed out that the correct numbers are 17.5k initially and nearer to 23k second phase. I pointed out that he told me the original duff numbers in the first place! But happy to correct here.

    I stand by my opinion though Burnsey. MK is not a football town and we all know the short history of Franchise FC.

    There are exceptions to every rule but if Luton have the ambition to compete in the top half of the Championship over the longer period then they need to match the income from the larger stadiums home to the other comparable large towns/smaller city in that league. So the comparison set includes Reading 24k , Boro 34k, Bolton 29k, Derby 33k, Blackburn 31k, Ipswich 30k, Wigan 25k, Norwich 27k and Preston 23k. Of course most games do not sell out, some clubs on that list are not succeeding this year but many are doing well, compete well against the big city clubs of Yorkshire and the Midlands and average very healthy home crowds.

    So 23k at Luton is getting towards that group but 17.5k is way off. 17.5k lacks ambition. Or lacks other external funding. I believe both. And I repeat my first sentence in that I really do want to see them compete. I just don't get why they are pegging the initial start low. I wager the expansions will come thick and fast assuming promotion is achieved and they will be a few years behind where they could have been.
     
  22. I Blame Pozzo

    I Blame Pozzo First Team

    They play Pompey Tuesday night.
    Heep big trouble in bandit country,all Bedfordshire Police on high alert?
     
  23. lutonh8a

    lutonh8a Squad Player

    Yet currently they have an average gate of 9,100 and have had crowds as low as 875 yes that is not a typo eight hundred and seventy five!
     
  24. ST1968

    ST1968 First Year Pro

    Love the non-typo number.

    Mind you what was Brighton's average before they moved ground. Probably similar. And where did moving to a 30k+ stadium get them?

    17.5k, even rising closer to 23k, shows that Luton's Board are not matching the ambition/vision Brighton's Board had in similar circumstances just a few years ago. Thus I don't think they will successfully compete in the Championship with a 17.5k stadium being built. I believe (but don't know as a fact) this comes down to funding as they can only build when unlocking the funds from the development of the land owned by the M1. Modern football economics - we may not like it but that is the way it is.

    But try voicing any of that opinion (and it is only my opinion) to a Luton fan. I only know one well and any genuine constructive alternative view is met with blinkers firmly on.
     
    lutonh8a likes this.
  25. Burnsy

    Burnsy First Team

    Not really sure you can compare them to Brighton who sold out a rented Athletics track every week before getting the Amex. They were literally there because they had no home ground of their own. L*ton do. Likewise Brighton were taken over by a millionaire who paid for their stadium lock, stock and barrel in one fell swoop - L*ton don't have that.
     
  26. andrew2209

    andrew2209 First Year Pro

    An EFL Trophy match against The Football Team Formerly Known As Wimbledon FC is kind of cheating though for the purposes of that stat.
     
  27. wfc4ever

    wfc4ever Administrator Staff Member

  28. Aberystwyth_Hornet

    Aberystwyth_Hornet Squad Player

    Is anyone else's banner coming up with the title from this thread then a picture of the characters from button moon?

    I'm all for no more horrid pics of Katie Hopkins but I don't need to be reminded of this thread (especially as they are looking odds on for promotion)
     
  29. UEA_Hornet

    UEA_Hornet First Team Captain

    What a fooking shower League 1 is. They're as good as up after today.
     
  30. wfc4ever

    wfc4ever Administrator Staff Member

    Maybe it shows Nathan Jones wasn't that good then if Mick Hartford can keep them going...
     
  31. I Blame Pozzo

    I Blame Pozzo First Team

    They've forgotten it all in Sunderland and Portsmouth.
    Only Barnsley seem to be in any kind of form.
    Gloomy.
     
  32. V Crabro

    V Crabro Reservist

    We HAVE to win the Cup this year, or at least qualify for Europe!
     
    Aberystwyth_Hornet likes this.
  33. Aberystwyth_Hornet

    Aberystwyth_Hornet Squad Player

    They're too close to us now, wouldn't even even say they'll be humiliated in the championship because we know it's a league that is ultra competitive.

    That and their new stadium and they could actually be fairly competitive again.

    Worse I nearly guarantee they'll become media darlings due to their journey
     
  34. W4BS

    W4BS First Year Pro

    I reckon the racist neanderthals will spoil any media love in that could occur. Hard to present a media friendly image when the d*ck heads are singing free tommy robinson songs, and invading the pitch when a result goes against them.
     
  35. Leighton Buzzer

    Leighton Buzzer Reservist

    How horrible, it's like the feeling of laying in a prison cell all night waiting to be hanged in the morning.
     
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