Frustration Rising: The Need for Transparency at LTFC
Call for Better Communication & Fans Grow Weary of This Season
I've been thinking about the situation all day and watching the emotions pour out on social media. It's clear that frustration is nearly boiling over for a large part of the fanbase.
After watching us get trounced at home on the opening day of the season, it’s hard not to get caught up in the negativity. It's understandable why people are feeling this way.
We have no kits available for purchase at the start of the season, with no legitimate commercial reason for this. We've brought in around £10 million in transfer fees but haven’t spent a penny, the last two windows have been poor, and the club's communication until this past week has been virtually nonexistent.
The open Q&A from BBC Three Counties and the update from Gary Sweet last night seemed rushed and poorly timed. This is my biggest gripe: communication from the club is crucial in shaping how the fanbase reacts to situations. We’ve had two poor transfer windows so far. Although we've built up plenty of credit for our recruitment over the years, the changing landscape has brought new challenges. We're now trying to recruit a different calibre of player to improve the squad. We have a structured approach to recruitment and are determined not to be taken advantage of on transfer fees.
I understand that, for a large part of the fanbase, this isn’t acceptable. They want to see progress, and we’re used to progressing. No one wants to see that grind to a halt. It’s a nervous time—plenty of clubs before us have made bad decisions and become stagnant in the Championship or worse.
Cards on the table: I’m not worried. Maybe I should be, but I’m not. We’re facing a challenge, no doubt, and whether it’s avoidable is debatable, with arguments on both sides. However, we’re a club that’s learning, with ownership learning how to grow in two of the best divisions in the world. Not everything will go smoothly, and we’re hitting a bit of turbulence now. But as someone once said, "If you’re not winning, you’re learning." Hopefully, most of that learning will happen off the pitch.
Gary and the board will no doubt have things in check; like us, they just want what’s best for the football club. However, they need to realize that the club is only as strong as its supporters. Right now, there’s a huge lack of transparency between the club and the fanbase, and that’s a quick win. I know there are those who will cling to Gary’s every word and dismiss any concerns, especially about communication. But it’s important, and we’re so poor as a club in that regard.
We’ve got time left to add players and we’ve kept a large chunk from last season, new final plans for the circa 25,000-capacity stadium with us in the next month, cling to the positives and have faith in the rest — crying isn’t gonna fix it, they’ll know the issues. Just fucking talk more Gary!
That’s me. It’s off my chest. If you want to continue to vent—go ahead!
Ian
100% agree. So many organisations get this deceptively straightforward matter of corporate communications badly wrong and most don’t get it right. I know, I consult on this stuff with far more complex organisations than LTFC. It’s how I’ve made my living for years. And at the moment - whatever the rights and wrongs of transfers, the lack yet again of football strips and the poor commercial approach - Luton Town’s communications is poorly thought through, devised and executed. In fact, I’m not even sure there’s a strategy. And it needn’t be this way. There is so much love for 2020. Thing about trust is that it can be quickly eroded. We’re not there, nowhere near, but the football club need to start talking!
Weary from uncertainty? A call for growth? Transparency?
What uncertainty, that for the last 10+ years we have been improving and have been doing it on sound financial structure. Through my life supporting the club we have been lurching from fiscal crisis to fiscal crisis. We have a new ground on the way and we are trying to improve every area of the football club, so what uncertainty is there.
We have gone from conference to Premiership, how much more growth do you want?
Transparency, I think the club is as transparent as they can be. What do you feel they are keeping from you?
Your article had no real points except that I read you think we should be spending serious money on transfers. That is not what this board is about, they are not going to risk the future of the club by buying expensive players that come with huge salaries.