Matt Bloomfield says he will “keep fighting” as Luton Town look to recover from their bruising 3-1 defeat at Lincoln City, insisting the result has only strengthened his resolve to turn the season around.
The Hatters boss, who faced boos from travelling fans at Sincil Bank, is under growing scrutiny from supporters but retains the backing of chief executive Gary Sweet, who this week said he wants the manager to succeed, while warning results must improve.
The setback was one of the most challenging moments of Bloomfield’s tenure in a season where they’ve lost as many as they’ve won, yet he believes the only way forward is to respond with character and intensity when Doncaster Rovers visit Kenilworth Road tomorrow.
“It’s been a very challenging week, but the only way to bounce back is to get up and fight. So we’ve been planning, we’ve been preparing, and we expect an entirely different performance tomorrow against Doncaster,” Bloomfield said.
He added of his team’s performance: “Tomorrow, my expectation is it represents me. And I expect the boys to go out there and run and scrap and fight and represent our football club and I expect the football to represent what we’ve been working on this week. And we have to concentrate on that.
“The bigger picture and everyone’s perception, the perception of the situation, the reality of the situation is that we’re a 50 per cent win rate and we have to keep fighting and we keep working forward and try and improve our performances because last week wasn’t enough.”
Asked how he handles the emotional swings of management, Bloomfield said: “I think I’m someone who’s in touch with their emotions, I understand that the emotions of the games. This game takes you to highs and lows, but as a manager, it’s really important to keep those in check.
“So, I’m learning all the time in this job and I understand that I have to stay as level as I possibly can. But you also have to feel the disappointment when it’s right to, because we’re not robots. So when it’s right, you have to understand the disappointment of your supporters, of our supporters, [the] disappointment of myself.
“No one feels the disappointment as deeply as I do. I can guarantee you with that. I take great pride in my job, and when it’s not right, it hurts. So we have to correct that.”
Despite the reaction from the away end, the manager is adamant he and his players will respond against second placed Doncaster tomorrow.
He said: “I don’t give up, I don’t give in, I keep fighting, and I intend to keep doing that. We’ve had a couple of blows in the last two weeks, particularly last Saturday, but we won’t give up, we’ll come back fighting, and we expect a different performance tomorrow.”
Sweet’s public backing has provided further encouragement and he said in response: “It feels fantastic. I’ve had nothing but support since I’ve come to the football club in January. I care deeply about my job, I care deeply about producing the best performances and results I can for our supporters.
“When I’m at a football club, I entrench myself in that club and it means the world to me to perform and promote the football club the best I possibly can and I absolutely feel it here and I want to do the best job I possibly can.”
“Gary’s words, I’ve listened to it, [they’re] entirely fair. Any football club you work for and any football club I ever work for will be exactly the same. And in any job, you perform well, you keep your job if you don’t, you don’t. That’s just the nature of the job that I and the career that I wanted to go into. So I felt like it was entirely fair.”
Bloomfield stressed that he measures himself against his own standards first.
“I don’t need any extra pressure on me. I work the best I possibly can every minute of every day. I live and breathe this job 24/7. It’s my life. The only thing more important than this job is my kids and my wife, and they’re seeing me very little at the minute because my focus is on this job.
“So, I understand the sentiment and I agree with the sentiment. But with the pressure I put on myself to do the best I can, that’s ultimately what I have to look in the mirror every night — [asking] am I doing that, the best job I possibly can?”
Jordan Clark said of the Lincoln defeat that it didn’t feel like the match meant enough to his team-mates but Bloomfield said the players have been left in no doubt about the standards required.
“They want to work, they want to get on, they want to learn, they want to be better,” he said, adding: “They know they’ve been left in no uncertain terms that last week wasn’t good enough. So they have to respond as much as I’ve had to respond, the players have to respond and together, we have to be a unit, we have to stick together, you find out about people in tough times, not in [the] good. So I found out a few things this week and we have to stand shoulder to shoulder and fight together.”
But Bloomfield is clear that accountability starts with him and he said: “Last week wasn’t good enough, and I take responsibility. I’m the football manager of this football club and my results and performances aren’t good enough, it’s my responsibility. So I take the responsibility for that. But as a group, we have to be better. And I will never come away from that because the minute you allow one thing to slide, whether it’s does it stop?”
Despite the setback, Bloomfield’s message to supporters is unwavering: “I have a deep desire for us a supporter to love their team and love the team that I am putting out for them. They will not love that team last Saturday and there’s no expectation to. That was not a team that reflects me. That was not a team that reflects our football club.”
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