Towards the middle of last week, as I was doing some research for the latest recording of the Luton Town Supporters’ Trust podcast that evening, a notification flashed up about a video of Town assistant manager Gary Brabin facing the press.
My initial thoughts were that it was a little strange given that we were in the international break, but my intrigue took over, and I gave the video a watch to see what it was all about, and why the former boss was wheeled out in front of the media.
I was interested in his comments from the past. When ‘Brabs’ returned to the club in the summer, it had been the worst kept secret of all time, so I wasn’t surprised when the announcement was made, but I was taken aback slightly by the force of negativity around it, even allowing for the fact that I guessed it may not have been a universally popular decision.
Brabin claimed that us fans had not seen the best of him and that he is determined to prove his doubters wrong, but he has nothing to prove to me.
I’m not going to rewrite history and claim he was something he wasn’t when he was in charge of the Town. He made mistakes, a fair few of them, but he probably had the club at its lowest point, and taking over from a raging lunatic was never going to be an easy job. Despite that, he was the width of the post away from being the man revered for taking us back into the league.
I remember bumping into Brabin in the car park at Tranmere the season we won the Conference. He was working for BBC Three Counties that day and, as we crossed, I stopped for a conversation. It was awkward at first. He had clearly not taken it personally that he wasn’t the man to get us promoted, but expressed his delight that we were to be back where we belong.
When the inevitable end of his tenure came along it was the right decision but the past is the past. There is no point dwelling on it. We’re in a much better place now.
The simple fact is that whatever he was or wasn’t as a manager, Gary Brabin is an extremely respected coach, and from what I hear, is very good at that job. That doesn’t surprise me as you don’t work at clubs like Everton if you’re not.
He knows our club inside out, and through both his friendship with Graeme Jones and his past circumstances he is determined to be successful with the Town. That’s good enough for me.
