One night does not a long term policy break – that is something to keep in mind if former Luton Academy product Tyreeq Bakinson comes back to haunt the Hatters this evening.
The Hatters let him leave for Bristol City three years ago and despite his promise and fledgling talent, it was the right decision then and it will be right call this evening, regardless of the headlines after the final whistle at Kenilworth Road.
It will be interesting to see his development, if such comparisons can be made, as he only made six appearances for the Hatters.
And, given the low attendances that understandably treated the Checkatrade Trophy with contempt – in which he played five times – few fans will have seen him do his stuff enough for a useful gauge, particularly three years on.
But, suffice to say, he looked decent in that cup competition, considering the level, and there was hope he’d be another one off the Hatters’ youth conveyor belt to break into the first team. Eventually.
Manager Nathan Jones gave him and many others, including James Justin, their senior Luton debut. But, by the time of Bakinson’s departure in 2017, he wasn’t deemed at the same level as first-teamers Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu, Olly Lee and Alan McCormack.
The youngster wasn’t minded to bide his time, so he pushed to leave. These things happen. The fact that he could line up against Luton this evening – having moved ahead of Joe Morrell in City’s pecking order, instigating the Welsh international’s £200,000 switch to Kenilworth Road in the summer transfer window – may make the midfielder and Bristol feel like his instincts were right. In this context they absolutely were…but so were Luton’s.
I spoke to Jones in October about Luton’s youth policy, as the club were given permission for a new domed facility on Cutenhoe Road. This will afford the club Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP) Category 2 status, and entry into the Premier League’s under-23 development games programme. It will help them develop their youth set-up and, long term, it should provide a more even footing to compete against Championship big spenders.
When the conversation turned to Bakinson, who initially left to join Bristol’s Under-23s, the manager said: “Given time, we knew that Tyreeq would end up in a first team and we wanted him to end up in our first team. The trouble is, he saw a pathway that was just delayed.
“If he’d have stayed with Luton, who’s to say – and we let him go three years ago – if he had actually stayed with us then maybe he’d have got in our first team.
“At the time, there was a discussion between us, his family and him and he felt it better that he would develop elsewhere. That wasn’t a problem for us, so we said, ‘OK’.
“We could’ve kept him against his will. Akin [Famewo] was exactly the same. We felt that these could have ended up in our first team if they were patient and followed the process. They didn’t. James Justin did. So that’s all it was.
“We wish them all the best because we don’t let them go thinking they’re not going to be any good. We thought they were good players. We believed in them and we wanted to develop them, it’s just that they lacked patience at the time to trust our process, to get them into a first team.
“How right that has been? Tyreeq is now in Bristol City’s first team three years later. We wish them all the best. Akin’s now in Charlton’s first team, on loan from Norwich and he’s been on loan at St Johnstone.
“So, it’s that process. You can trust it or not. If not, we move on.”
Arguably, Bakinson’s departure along with a sizeable list of other starlets, particularly during the non-league years, could be one of the factors why Town are now investing in their Under-23s, among many more contemporaneously positive reasons, not least a sensible model for club sustainability.
The town just needs the council to pull their finger out on that front, but that’s a different subject on its own.
For this evening, however, it’s a shame a midfield tussle between Bakinson and Morrell looks unlikely, with the Hatter a doubt due to a hamstring problem, and the fact the Wales ace is not yet a nailed-on starter.
There could still be interesting comparisons to be had, however, if Pelly starts, despite the Town stalwart’s below par showing at Reading on Boxing Day.
Bakinson, of course, made his professional debut on the final day of the 2016/16 League Two season as a 76th minute substitute for former West Ham United youth, in a 4-1 win over Exeter City.
But even if the apprentice beats the master, so to speak, Luton’s off-the-pitch decisions remain commendable and the two players may be a useful case in point.
Bakinson did not want to be at Luton and he left. Whereas, Pelly has built upon the status that put him ahead of the City ace, breaking club records and being described by Jones as “one of the best humans and players” he knows.
That quote wasn’t in comparison to the Bristol player, by the way, and this is not a rumination on him as a person. I know very little about him, and the little I know is likely outdated. After all, you’re rarely the same person at 19 years of age – when he left Luton – as your are at 22. I wish him well (just not tonight) because the history books will always show that Bakinson got his professional break with the Hatters, and that’s a feather in the cap for the club.
But, as you will have heard many times this term and last, Town cannot compete with the likes of Bristol City on budgets, so they are forced to do things differently. Or, to put it less modestly – correctly. Especially if you’re from the school of thought that football clubs should live within their means.
For Luton, that means a significant focus has be on not only developing the right players, but also developing the right characters. This is another often repeated mantra from the Kenilworth Road corridors, along with Jones’ assertion that his team have to be “at it” to match teams in this division. That, in football as in life, requires unity. You won’t come close to achieving that with players that do not want to be at the club.
As Jones said back in October about players that stay and players that go: “Let’s talk about the positives. The ones that have got into our first team. The James Justins and the ones we’ve brought in and done fantastically well.
“That’s what I’d prefer to talk about, not the ones that are doing OK now. Fair play to them, but that’s not because we didn’t think we’ve made mistakes on them, it’s just there wasn’t the patience there.”
And so, while it will be fascinating to see how Bakinson has developed, regardless of what happens tonight in the final game of 2020, for the benefit of Luton Town Football Club and it’s hard-earned ethos it was right to let him leave.
