Luton Town comment: John Still has made some corking transfers, but Hatters still need a goalscorer

John Still could have filled his suitcase with duty-free Portuguese booze this week and still not got half the bargains he’s bagged back in Blighty.

Buy one and get nine free is a steal of a deal in anyone’s books and by plumping for a large percentage of proven quality, Luton Town fans will know that their manager has done some corking business in this summer’s transfer market…so far.

Eight of his ten new acquisitions should give his defence and midfield a serious upgrade. Strength, depth and competition for places will all be boosted and, on paper, lessons appear to have been learnt from last term’s injury woes and their March madness.

So spoilt for choice at the back are the Hatters now that the decision last month of right back Michael Harriman to stay at QPR barely raised a whimper of worry.

But there remains a serious question mark at the other end of the field.

Strikers Alex Wall, Ross Lafayette, Ricky Miller and Charlie Walker were all released and presumably, the club laughed all the way to the bank after flogging Mark Cullen to beleaguered Blackpool for £180,000, plus the promise of doubling their money in future sell-on fees.

Yes, he was top scorer last term, but 13 league goals was a poor return and, depending on who you believe, he wanted to leave in January anyway.

His is not a huge hole to fill, which makes Lee Angol’s contract rejection all the more strange. Hopefully there hasn’t been an overestimation of potential as proven talent after his 26 loan goals fired Boreham Wood to the National League last term, because while the Football League would have been an altogether harder task, it seemed he had the juice to cut it in orange.

It’s a brave or stupid player that would pass up the chance to join the John Still striker conveyor belt, that has included the likes of Dwight Gayle, Andre Gray and Craig Mackail-Smith.

Of course, there’s the prospect of the latter reigniting his relationship with the manager that plucked him from non-league Arlesey Town in 2004. The Scottish international forward turned out for Town in a 1-0 friendly win against Portuguese Segunda Liga outfit Farense in midweek, but expectations of a permanent switch will have been doused by last term’s will-he-won’t-he Andy Johnson wild-goose chase.

Even if the 31-year-old free agent features at Lowestoft Town on Sunday, until he or anyone else puts pen to paper, the likelihood is that newbies Jack Marriot and Josh McQuoid will spearhead the Hatters’ attack, with the support of veteran Paul Benson.

McQuoid has some small flashes of pedigree, having enjoyed his best spell in League Two, the first time around with Bournemouth, but he still has something to prove after a string of injuries and a big-money move to Millwall went belly-up.

Like relatively unknown 20-year-old Ipswich Academy graduate Marriot, the 25-year-old fits the Still criteria of a young, hungry player, desperate to make a name for himself.

Who knows, that attacking trio might be enough as there’s certainly goals amongst some of the other new recruits. The YouTube showreel of ‘the Derry Pele’ Paddy McCourt had Luton fans online licking their lips, and Danny Green and Cameron McGeehan – the only player to cost the club some cash this summer – can both chip in with goals, if played in the right areas.

Luton must now focus on integrating the new recruits as well as a clear-out to avoid a second season swamped by a mammoth squad, but hopefully Still can do one last bit of wheeling and dealing at the sharp end. There are at least 180,000 reasons to splash some cash on a goal-getter.

But for now, he can use that duty-free bubbly to toast a sparkling summer of signings.