Playing to our strengths

We had to get the elephant out of the room.

When we knew about the interest from Luton, I was concerned. I’m sure Gary Sweet, the chief executive, and Mick Harford felt the same way.

I’d just been at Watford, and there is no love lost between the two clubs. And I would have been taking over from Nathan Jones, who’d done a brilliant job.

Both of those things were playing on my mind, but in my first meeting with Gary and Mick we aired it all. We talked about my experience at Watford, what it could look like if we came in, and how we would manage that with both the supporters and the media.

The chat went well, which led to another one with the board, and thankfully they saw us as the right people to go with. I certainly felt, as I had done when going into Forest Green (below) 18 months earlier, that these were good people. I knew I was going to get both time and support.

Going in during the break for the World Cup was very useful. To get that amount of time to work with a new team in the middle of the season was pretty much unique, but it gave us a real chance to build some relationships. We got away for a week, to do some warm-weather training in Dubai, but we were also able to work on that togetherness and understanding.

I think the key thing for us was to go in and show a level of humility. It wasn’t about Luton becoming the Rob Edwards show. The lads had been doing great under Nathan, and we wanted to keep that going. It was a case of playing to our strengths, and making sure we were sticking to a few core principles: if we lose the ball, we want five-second regains; if it’s a recovery run, it’s a sprint; fast support whenever we have the ball. If I can see those three things, I know that we’re working hard.

We felt like we didn’t need to change too much in terms of shape. Carlton Morris and Eli Adebayo were in good form and I wanted to keep two strikers on the pitch. That’s what I had been used to at Forest Green, so it seemed to fit nicely.

"we enjoy the defending side of the game. i get that it's not sexy, but it wins football matches"

As time went on, a couple of shifts gave us a little bit of variety on the ball. Moving Amari’i Bell to play as the left-sided centre-back allowed us to play Alfie Doughty, who did great for us through the season, at wing-back. Bell on the left of the back three, and Gabe Osho or Reece Burke on the right, gave us the ability to build up and attack down the sides, or play diagonals, on top of being able to go into the two forwards.

In January we brought in Marvelous Nakamba, and he was the real glue for us. He allowed our number eights to be really aggressive and roam a little bit more, knowing he would always be in a good position to stop any counter-pressing or counter-attacks.

Between the end of January and the middle of March, we won six of 10 league games – and they were all 1-0. A lot of those games were tight and came down to really fine margins, like Sheffield United away. In a couple, though – Swansea and Bristol City at home – we created a lot of chances and probably should have scored two or three.

But we didn’t, and then it comes down to the whole team to keep the clean sheets that get you over the line. That means working hard to press aggressively from the front and, if we lose the ball, reacting quickly to win it back.

We did that well, but then we actually enjoyed the defending side of the game: the blocks, the headers, clearing the box. These are things that people might not talk about much, and I get that it’s not sexy, but they are really important in terms of winning football matches. We did them as well as anyone in the league.

In that run of six 1-0 wins, Carlton Morris got that all-important goal four times. He was obviously a key player for us, but not just for his goals. It was his work rate, his hold-up play and him being a constant nuisance; he is really difficult to play against, and makes defenders very uncomfortable. Eli Adebayo was brilliant at that as well, and the majority of the time it was the two of them playing up top together.

"it's stupid coaching if you don't try and use your strengths against the opposition's weaknesses"

Of course, we haven’t been a team that’s going to play through opponents too often. But there was a run towards the end of the season where we played three teams in a row that were maybe struggling a bit more in the league: Blackpool, Rotherham and Reading. We felt we were going to have more of the ball, which we did, so we had to look at playing slightly differently.

We didn’t have to tweak too much, but we wanted to work more on our possession and controlling the games a bit more than we usually would. So we worked on our eights pulling either outside or inside, knowing the opposition midfielders would want to be aggressive, to try to open up passing lanes into our strikers – and from there we could go wide. It worked relatively well in those three games; the seven points we got from them got us over the line and into the playoffs.

We still had three games left before the playoffs, though, and managing that was interesting. Should we rest players, maybe look after Carlton? We had so many discussions as a staff, but the key thing for us was to keep the team consistent and maintain our momentum. So we made a plan: we would get Carlton to 75 minutes and then get him off, and make sure we used all five subs in every game. We wanted to arrive in the playoffs with confidence, but also fit.

Sunderland were our opponents in the playoff semis. They had a young squad, but they also had some really talented individuals who on their day can kill you. The bottom line was that we wanted to get back to Kenilworth Road for the second leg and still be in the tie, although we didn’t talk about that with the players. For them, it was a case of let’s go there and win.

We started really aggressively, on the front foot, and went 1-0 up through a set-piece. They were missing one or two centre-backs and we felt that could be a weakness for them. It’s stupid coaching if you don’t try and use your strengths against the opposition’s weaknesses.

We were really brave out of possession, too. Amad Diallo and Jack Clarke drop into really awkward positions, as did Joe Gelhardt as the nine, but our outside centre-backs went all the way in with them. We knew we were going to leave space in behind, but we made sure if we went man-for-man on one side of the pitch that we would go zonal on the other. If they missed out our press, we knew we had to be ready to cover it.

"a lot was going through my mind. did we need to change it? should we look at something different?"

Diallo scored a world-class goal just before half-time, and of course then the momentum is with them – 44,000 mad fans and an incredible atmosphere. Sunderland are a good team with really good individuals, and they were entitled to have a moment or two in front of their fans in a two-legged tie. We knew we were going to have to ride it out, and in the main we did.

We struggled for rhythm in the second half, didn’t press as well or keep the ball well enough in transition, but once we went 2-1 down I think the boys were really intelligent. Sunderland kept pushing, but they didn’t create much beyond a few long-range shots. We didn’t want to lose, of course, but at full-time we knew were still in the tie.

We'd decided to stay the night in Sunderland after the game. We were having to travel up and then back down, by coach, for the two legs, whereas they only had to fly down for the second leg. We wanted to recover properly, but the extra night also allowed us to go back over the game as a staff, and pick out the clips and anything else we felt was important to debrief with the lads.

The following day, some of the lads spoke. I remember Tom Lockyer speaking really powerfully, about the opportunity we had and the belief in the room taking them back to our place. A lot was going through my mind, too. Did we need to change it? Should we look at something different?

But the other question was what had got us to this point? Consistency had got us 14 games unbeaten before the first leg, and I felt that the team for the first leg was the right team for the second leg too. I had belief that, three days later, the boys could turn it around; that they could show the quality and character that had got us to that point.

They were incredible throughout the whole second leg. The energy levels were brilliant, the fans were great, and it was just a phenomenal night for the football club. It was a really tough tie against a good team, but we played to our strengths and got over the line with a 2-0 win.

"we had done a lot of research on penalties before the playoffs. i leaned on steve cooper and his staff at nottingham forest"

Twelve minutes into the playoff final against Coventry, football pretty much went out of the window. Tom Lockyer – our captain, who had got the winner against Sunderland (above), and probably been our best player over the course of the season – went down. His health was the most important thing, and in that moment it was incredibly hard for any of us, in the most important game of our lives, to really concentrate on the job.

Once we knew Locks was okay, although obviously really upset, it was a case of trying to get the lads together, and galvanise them, as quickly as possible. I said to them: “Right, focus, we do it for Tom.” Their response in that first half, in real adversity, was incredible. They showed such resilience and character to perform as they did, and to be honest we probably should have been more than one up at half-time.

We got the lads in and, first and foremost, we let them know that Locks was okay. Then it was a case of speaking about what was coming. We’d heard that Matt Godden might be coming on and they could be going two up front, so we went through what that could mean and some tactical stuff around that. The change gave them a fresh impetus, and their rotations in the adapted midfield three started to pull our midfielders around more. They took a bit more control and their equaliser, through Gustavo Hamer (below), was deserved.

Hamer went down soon after, and the stoppage gave us an opportunity to get the lads together, calm things down and remind them of how we’d come this far by doing what we do. There was a lot of emotion, of course, but we got back to doing what we do well and finished the game strongly.

We had done a lot of research on penalties before the playoffs, and spoken to a lot of people with experience of them. I leaned on Steve Cooper and some of his staff at Nottingham Forest – they’d gone through it in their semi final against Sheffield United the previous season – and we also used the work that Chris Markham and the FA had put into researching shootouts.

If you watch the footage back, you will see that as soon as the final whistle went at the end of extra time, everyone went to their positions. We didn’t want every man and his dog coming on, talking to the lads and getting into their heads. It was just the coaching staff, the players.

"when i knew locks was okay, it hit me – only then did i allow myself to enjoy the moment"

Everyone knew where to go for drinks and gels, it was neat and tidy, and we took up the spot where we wanted to stand – closer to the dugouts, to try and isolate the opponents a little bit. That might sound silly, but penalty shootouts are not just about the penalties. We wanted to get the psychology right too.

We also wanted to make sure our goalkeeper passed the ball to our next taker. Then, we wanted our takers to take their time, breathe, and not put the ball down on the spot until their keeper was on the line. And we told the players to pick their spot and stick to it.

We won the first toss, so got to take them at our end, and then we won the second too – so we elected to go first and look to put them under pressure. A few things went in our favour, but there was a lot of practice, a lot of process, and I thought the lads’ penalties were incredible.

As soon as we’d won, I wanted to go to the opposition staff first. I’ve got a really close relationship with Aled Williams, Coventry’s goalkeeping coach, so I gave him a really long hug and didn’t want to let go! I knew how hard they had worked to get their team to that point, so I felt for Mark Robins and his staff.

Then it was obviously all about how Locks was. There was a lot going on, with the trophy and the celebrations and all of that, and I was doing a live interview when they showed me the post from Tom’s dad. When I knew he was okay, it hit me – only then did I feel like I was allowed to enjoy the moment.

I was incredibly proud, of course. Life is about living, and I keep saying to the players that they should enjoy the moment. It was special for the town, and for a football club that has gone through some really, really dark moments. To play a part in that success was really special.

I’ve had two brilliant years as a manager, and now I’m going to come up against some of my idols – some of the world’s best managers – in the Premier League. Anyone in this game – whether player, coach, physio, analyst, sports scientist, whatever – wants to work at the highest level. This has been an aim of mine for a long, long time.

I wanted to become a manager after experiencing what Ian Holloway did with us at Blackpool in the 2009/10 season. We were fancied to go down that year, and instead he got us promoted to the Premier League through the playoffs. I remember thinking then: “This is what I want to do.” To actually be there and do it exactly the same way with Luton 13 years later felt really special.

The challenge now is to go up against the best, at the highest level, and find a way to stay there.

Author: Tony Hodson

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