Sonny Bradley believes Simon Sluga’s wonder save at Wigan last year might have been the turning point in a Luton career which last night saw the goalkeeper scoop the Player of the Season award.
The Croatian stopper arrived at Kenilworth Road in the summer of 2019 as Town’s most expensive player, costing €1.5million from HNK Rijeka in his homeland.
An error-strewn first six months in England blighted the start of his Hatters career, but that is a distant memory after a superb season in which he’s kept 12 Championship clean sheets and helped the Hatters to a 12th place finish, having just survived relegation on the final day of the previous season.
That Great Escape came later in the season than expected after the coronavirus shutdown of football a year ago, saw domestic football played over the summer.
But, in the last game before the pandemic struck, Sluga pulled off a world-class save to preserve a point at the DW Stadium and he arguably hasn’t looked back since and last night he was honoured with the Player of the Season award at the Luton Town Supporters’ Trust virtual awards.
“That save at Wigan, I remember doing the press after that game, and it might just be a save like that that might be a turning point for him,” said Bradley, adding: “I’m not saying it is definitely that but it might have been one of those fantastic saves that he made.
“It’s hard for foreign players coming over and coming straight into the squad. I think it maybe just took a bit of time for him to settle, which is completely understandable.
“The playing style, if we’d have continued playing the way we did in that first season in the Championship, if we’d have done that this season, we’d have continued to concede a lot of chances. And there was no way we’d have kept the amount of clean sheets that we’ve kept.
“So, I think the style of play and Nathan (Jones, manager) coming in certainly helped Simon. But, Simon’s a really, really good character. He’s got a really good attitude. If you speak to (goalkeeping coach) Kev Dearden ever, he’ll tell you that his work ethic is second to none.
“He’s always looking to improve and when you have that attitude and that character then the only thing that was going to happen was you were going to see improvements.”
Sluga has been a regular squad member with his national side and will be with Croatia in this summer’s delayed European Championships.
Bradley, who’s defensive partner, Tom Lockyer, yesterday got called up for the tournament with Wales, said of his keeper: “He’ll be away on internationals and hopefully he gets a game. He deserves it.
“But let’s hope he just stays fit, comes back strong and with that attitude he’ll go again, look to improve again. He’s had 12 clean sheets this season and there’s no doubt he’ll want more next season.”
