New Luton boss Matt Bloomfield won’t indulge in public transfer talk about his former Wycombe players, out of respect for the club, as Wanderers hotshot Richard Kone continues to draw attention.
The striker, who was playing in step five of the football pyramid in Essex until a year ago, has fired 14 goals already this season, including one on Saturday as they began their post-Bloomfield era with a 2-1 victory over Mansfield.
That kept the Chairboys in the hunt for automatic promotion from League One, where they are currently second beyond Birmingham City.
When he was unveiled as Luton boss last week, Bloomfield said, “It’s not something I’ve discussed or we’ve discussed”, when asked about plundering Wycombe during this month’s transfer window.
But with two weeks left of the window, and Town drawing a blank for the fourth time six matches, in Bloomfield’s debut in the Kenilworth Road dugout on Saturday in a stalemate against Preston, some of the focus of the 40-year-old’s focus is now on getting his Hatters team scoring again.
Asked if there are any clauses in the deal that saw him move from Buckinghamshire to Bedfordshire, which would restrict him from making bids for his former charges, Bloomfield said: “I don’t know about contractually. I look at football as a whole. What do we need to get better? My focus is on Luton Town. My focus is on doing the best I can for this football club.
“I’ll reiterate what I said last week, I’m really privileged and honoured to be here as manager, and I’ll do the best job I possibly can. And if that means focusing on the team right now, next day, focusing on recruitment, trying to align all those bits throughout the day and being busy, then I love this job and and I’ll do it the best I possibly can. My focus is on Luton and doing what’s best for the football.”
Wycombe’s Kone, 21, has been attracting attention due to his goalscoring exploits this term, with some reports over Christmas linking Luton to the striker.
Bloomfield said: “I’ve made a comment a couple of weeks ago about other managers talking about my players then, and asking them not to, because I feel like it’s disrespectful. So I think, for respect, I shouldn’t talk about Wycombe’s players. I don’t think it’s right.
“That’s for others to talk about. I don’t think it’s right to comment on other people’s players. We’re going to do the best we possibly can. That’s probably what I should probably say. I’m not going to start talking about their players, because I don’t think it’s respectful to them as a club.”
Town are still aiming to add some more new recruits before the window shuts on February 3, with chief executive Gary Sweet saying the club will aim to be as “aggressive as we can” and they added Isiah Jones from Middlesbrough in the managerless period between Rob Edwards’ departure and Bloomfield’s appointment.
That was, in part, down to Luton’s recruitment team and asked if he has come to Kenilworth Road with his own transfer targets in mind or if that arrangement would continue, Bloomfield said: “A bit of both I would suggest. I think that obviously there’s a recruitment team that have already been working in the days, weeks and months before I came, they were obviously doing their background work.
“When you’re involved in football like I am, you always have players and people in mind who might help in different areas of the pitch. It’s about working together, having conversations, building lists. They’ve already got lists and seeing which one of those players are available and seeing which positions we need and how much we can put to that position.
“I think we’ve got an idea of where we where we need to add, but also assessing and giving everybody an opportunity to go and play. So getting that balance right is really crucial.
“There’s already plans in place behind the scenes of what the guys have been working towards already, which I really respect as well. With recruitment, there’s a lot of things that go in the melting po,tt. Then you have to understand or try to analyse are they available, are they willing to come, what’s the cost involved?
“There’s so many boxes that need to be ticked, it’s a long process, but in a time of the year, like now, you have to try and go through those processes as quickly and as swiftly as you possibly can.”
Luton have already parted ways with defender Erik Pieters, who arrived on a short, one-month deal last month, so the Netherlands international’s departure frees up space in the squad. Asked if any more Hatters will follow the defender out the exit door in the next fortnight, Bloomfield said: “It depends how many we look to really go after. There’s obviously not many places available right now. I think it’s continual conversation with the football club and, alignment with Gary (Sweet) and the recruitment staff to make sure we do what’s right for the club in the next over the next few months.”
But Bloomfield did confirm that they’ll keep Teden Mengi’s squad space for the defender, who is expected to return towards the end of the season, after having surgery on a knee problem.
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