Newcastle nonsense proves Garth Crooks, not Luton, is the one who ‘cannot be taken seriously’

Garth Crooks is the one who “cannot be taken seriously” as the foolish pundit continues to doubt Luton Town after his poor “down by Christmas” shout.

It’s good to see the tangerine colours of Luton back in the big league once more, but I can’t take them seriously, and see them down by Christmas.

The not-so-wise words there of Crooks, who foolishly wrote off Luton Town way back in September after the newly-promoted side lost their first three Premier League games.

Luton’s start to the season was admittedly a harsh wake-up call for Rob Edwards’ side, who only scored two goals and conceded nine in the process. But these comments showed Crooks was not only being disrespectfully dismissive; he was also blind to the bigger picture of the Hatters’ 2023/24 campaign.

They proved during the summer that they would not be corrupted by the bags of Premier League money and would stick to their principles during their unexpected time in the limelight.

For a club of Luton’s size, the Championship play-off final and Premier League prize money would be significant enough – if used wisely – to stabilise for many years to come.

Luton were never going to spend rashly in the summer in a desperate attempt to avoid relegation. Instead, they have continued to work with a sensible transfer budget to ensure the big bucks can be spent on uplifting the club’s infrastructure so the positive impact of their promotion to the Premier League can be long-lasting.

Much of Luton Town’s team from last season has remained the same in the Premier League, with the sprinkling quality in certain positions in the summer – Ross Barkley and Chiedozie Ogbene especially – adding to what were already strong foundations.

And while their opening couple of games did not have positive outcomes, Luton’s manager – handsome Rob as he’s known to his friends – has remained calm and worked wonders as his team has grown into the season.

As Burnley and Sheffield United’s campaigns have descended into deeper misery, Luton have learned from their early-season mistakes to comfortably emerge as the side most likely out of the three to avoid relegation.

Luton’s defensive issues have decreased as they have become more confident in attacking areas, with their tally of 32 goals in 22 games only matched by 15th-placed Brentford out of sides in the bottom nine.

The Premier League minnows would have still had great fun this season even if they were sh*t, but they are loving life with safety becoming an even more realistic opportunity.

Luton’s hopes have been boosted further by them taking four points from games against Brighton and Newcastle United.

The 4-0 win over a laughably inconsistent Brighton side was arguably the result of the season so far and the Hatters came close to following that up with a win at St James’ Park.

The Magpies have not quite been as strong at home this season as they were in 2022/23, but Arsenal, Aston Villa, Brentford, Burnley, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Fulham and Manchester United have all been beaten at St James’ Park this term so that stadium is usually an intimidating place for away sides to go.

Not for Luton, though. They matched Newcastle for attacking intent and came close to claiming all three points having led 4-2, but they were made to settle for a very respectable 4-4 draw in the end.

So Luton Town head into a winnable home against Sheffield United this weekend a point clear of the bottom three with a game in hand. Surely enough to impress Mr Crooks?

No, of course not.

After the 4-4 draw against Newcastle, in his column for BBC Sport, Crooks – after including Luton striker Elijah Adebayo in his team of the week – concluded.

I had consigned Luton to the scrapheap months ago but their season has suddenly become interesting… However, when a team scores four goals away from home they are not just expected to win, they are entitled to win. The mere fact Luton scored four goals and still failed to take all three points raises massive questions about their ability to remain in the league.

Crooks deservedly got a grilling in today’s Mediawatch column after coming out with this nonsense, but please allow me to shove the dagger in a bit deeper.

Firstly, Luton’s season has not “suddenly become interesting”. It became as such long before his “down by Christmas jibe” – which is growing even more absurd by the day – and certainly in recent months as they have established themselves as an increasingly capable contender to avoid the drop.

And then to suggest that Luton were “entitled to win” at Newcastle – a side with one of the best home records in the Premier League over the past 18 months – is bizarre beyond belief.

Luton may have come away from that game feeling a tad disappointed at the outcome. But they would have been losing sight of the bigger picture as it is not a crime to only draw at St James’ Park.

And finally – the pièce de résistance – the “massive questions” about Luton’s safety credentials, which Crooks reckons are caused by their apparent deficiencies at the back.

Crooks must be forgetting that Luton do not have the worst defensive record in the division; from what the pundit has said, you’d think they would be way down with Burnley and Sheffield United in the goals conceded charts.

But Luton – who have let in 42 goals – are only a couple adrift of everyone else (barring Burnley and Sheffield United) in the bottom half and have only been beaten by a margin of two or more goals on four occasions this season – less than Chelsea, Manchester United and Newcastle, among many others. It’s hardly the level of issue Crooks is making it out to be.

Succumbing to his stubbornness, Crooks resembles an ostrich – and an idiotic one at that – as he refuses to take his head out of the sand while he’s on the wrong side of the Luton Town debate.

Luton may well end up going down, but they will not reduce themselves to Crooks’ expectations of them and become a joke in the process. Unlike the pundit, they will be “taken seriously” as their achievements so far this season warrant that and they will no doubt relish answering these “massive” questions placed on them.