When you sign up to life as a Luton Town fan you expect ups and downs. The rollercoaster ride is part of the excitement of supporting the club, but even by our standards it hasn’t been the best week of all time.
The 7-0 defeat was one thing, it wasn’t nice and we all hope it never happens again, but it was even harder to take with the news that Izzy Brown will miss the next 10 weeks of the campaign.
Our fight for survival was going to be difficult with him throughout the season, and gets even harder when he is going to miss half of the remainder of it, but sport is all about waiting for your chance and taking it when it comes, and that is what someone has to do now.
I would be surprised if we continue with the 4-3-3 formation that we have been able to utilise when Brown was around, and would expect us to revert back to something resembling the diamond we saw at the beginning of the season.
For me, the man to step up and be counted is Callum McManaman. He looked useful at the beginning of the season, and like the man he could replace, he has the ability to go past defenders, whip quality balls into the box, and as we’ve seen on a couple of occasions already, he knows where the goal is.
The former FA Cup winner has undoubted quality at his disposal. You don’t get to where he got to in the game without it, and while he has had his fair share of fitness issues, hopefully a prolonged run in the side will see something close to his best materialise.
McManaman shouldn’t lack for motivation against Wigan on Saturday that’s for sure. I read a couple of months ago how their manager Paul Cook didn’t seem to trust him, and how he was pleased to get away and reboot his career, so he has the ideal chance to show what he can do against that very team.
In that piece, I remember him suggesting that with a run in the side he would prove his quality, and that is something that could well be afforded to him over the next couple of months.
The Town needs someone to really step up and deliver the goods while Brown is recovering from his injury. I’ll back the 28-year-old McManaman to be the man to do just that.
