There's only one Micky Harford....

Last updated : 16 January 2008 By Peter Bulkeley
Harford takes over as caretaker manager with immediate effect after the sacking of Kevin Blackwell, Sam Ellis and John Carver. Although it was known that Blackwell and his staff would be leaving in February, it was a surprise to see them sacked today.

Mick has been an excellent servant to the club, as both a player and a coach. His record as a player speaks for itself - scoring 15 goals in 22 matches in one season, scoring a hat-trick against Watford that won Luton the match, helping Luton to the League Cup triumph of 1988 and scoring the goal in the 1989 League Cup Final in the defeat against Forest. He was then sold to Derby in 1990, which was a blow for Luton, but he still managed to help keep Luton in the top division by scoring an own goal as a Derby player against Luton on the last day of the 1990-91 season. He came back for a second spell, which ended with a sale to Chelsea after relegation for Luton. In total, Harford scored 69 goals in 168 appearances for Luton, and his popularity with the fans made him a Luton legend.

However, Harford would return to Luton with Joe Kinnear as assistant manager. Together, they guided Luton from Division 3 back into Division 2, and he helped transform Howard into a formidable striker. After being inexplicably sacked by John Gurney along with Kinnear, Harford returned as 1st team coach when Newell was appointed as manager. Whilst with Newell, he went on to build the foundations of the League One winning side, and despite leaving the club to join Kinnear's Nottingham Forest before the end of the 2004-05 season, played his part in the success of that season.

Harford returns to Luton as caretaker manager until the end of the season, having had a similar role at QPR earlier in the season. He was popular and reasonably successful in his short spell at QPR, but less so at Nottingham Forest and Rotherham. Let's hope things work out for him at Luton, and that he doesn't become a Ricky Hill-style manager. Good luck Mick, the whole of Luton is behind you.