In his final Premier League press conference of 2023-24, Rob Edwards looked back on the season as his (currently 18th-placed) side drop down to the Championship.
Luton's boss spoke of his desire to bring the Hatters back into the top-tier, and addressed the squad's status for the final match against Fulham at Kenilworth Road.
There were also thoughts on the likes of Ross Barkley - as the summer transfer rumours begin to swirl.
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Team News pre-Fulham
Before getting into the more broader end-of-season chatter, here's who Edwards revealed Luton will be missing against Fulham.
“Burkey and Ross will both be out unfortunately. Burkey’s achilles is too sore, so we’ll take him out of it now. He’s been playing for us in pain. Ross will be out for a number of weeks.”
“We’ll try and pick the team that we feel is best suited to win the game.”
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Club in a healthy position despite relegation
Unless the Bedfordshire club can somehow get around a 12-goal swing that also sees Nottingham Forest defeated, Luton will be playing Championship football next term. However, despite being on the cusp of relegation, Rob Edwards provided a cool outlook that was backed by the assertion that the Kenilworth Road residents had made a good impression in the Premier League.
“The club’s in a really healthy position. We’ve been saying since we arrived, the club’s only going one way. The fact that we then got promoted - we can build on that. We know what the Premier League can give you. We’ve seen that in the terms of finances and what that’s able to help us do. Progress the stadium, progress the training ground, (give us) a stronger playing squad, there’s no doubt about that.
"We’re only looking forward, the club’s in a great position and I’m really proud of the work that we’ve done in the last 18 months. To achieve what we did was incredible.”
About the club's efforts, he continued shortly after:
“In the main, we’ve given everything. We’ve given a good account of ourselves, we’ve shown Luton to the rest of the world in a really good light. And that’s supporters, that’s players, staff, everybody. So I’m really proud of this football club.”
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Next season's aspirations
After Luton's first season in the Premier League franchise era, it's safe to say that Edwards has the taste for competing at the top level. He spoke of the newly promoted teams as a source of inspiration.
“I’ve seen Ipswich and Leicester celebrating and I’ve been thinking ‘I want that to be us next year’, so that’s got to be our goal. That’s really difficult, but the fire’s still burning.”
Of course, a big part of that bouncebackability will be keeping the core together. However, with some eye-catching displays despite Luton's lowly finish, that could be a hard thing to do.
“We’ll certainly try to keep as much of this group of players together as possible because we’ve been building something. I like a lot of what we’ve done and how the team's evolved and grown. I think that’s the best way for us to go, so first for us to be able to attack the league and try to come back. Again, we know how difficult that is. We’re not just assuming that’s going to happen, but keeping the majority of the group together is certainly our aim.”
“We’re in a good position. We’re in control of a lot of things, a lot of the lads are still under contract, so we do have some control in that. We always have to work out what the best thing is for the football club, and there’s a human side to everything as well. We’ll be in a really good position going into next season.”
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Barkley on the move?
One of the players heavily linked with a move away is the resurgent Ross Barkley. After an impressive season where the creative midfielder dropped to a deep-lying position, Barkley has been chief string-puller and a vital cog in a lot of important Hatters' goals.
Edwards addressed the number six's situation, and spoke of potential departure after he notched five goals and four assists in 32 Premier League games.
“We’ve had a good chat. We want to be open and honest with each other. Ross is an ambitious person. We all are, we all want to be at the top and compete at the top. But at the same time, he recognises what this club has done for him, and what we’ve been able to do for each other. He’s loved this season and he loves the club, so to speak openly and frankly, nothing really is off the table.
"We’re really hopeful that he’ll stay but we’re also realistic in this day and age of what could happen. Not just him, there might be one or two others, but that doesn’t mean that him and one or two others will move. We’re in control of these things as well. It will be an interesting few months. All I can say is we’re really committed to being as strong as possible going into next season.”
