If you asked every League One fan who the surprise package is so far this season, 9 fans out of 10 would say Luton Town.

They find themselves in this division after finishing 2nd in League Two on 88 points last season, 6 behind Accrington Stanley, scoring an astonishing 94 goals along the way. Following that success, many had tipped them for a second successive promotion – a feat not seen too often in the top four divisions of English football, but if anyone could do it, more than likely it would be Nathan Jones’ Luton Town side, who played fast, attacking and exciting football that was a great advert for the third and fourth division, but was also an absolute joy to watch.

LEAGUE ONE TOP SIX

Fast forward to 9th January 2019, and Luton sit 2nd in League One, just five points behind frontrunners Portsmouth, and one in front of, Black Cats, Sunderland.

Even with the early excitement surrounding Luton’s potential, that is a massively impressive position to be in over halfway through the season.

Though it can be said that this Luton team are overachieving slightly, having just been promoted from League Two, it is hard to be surprised by their success. Jones has clearly had a plan from day one, and listening to the fantastic D3D4 podcast with the man himself, you could sense the level of comradery, tenacity and drive that encompassed Luton Town.

He says himself in that podcast that the plan is “never to consolidate”. Upon gaining promotion from League Two, the plan was always to go for a second successive promotion the year after, and if they had got promoted to the Championship, I’m confident Jones and Luton would have aimed for the best yet again, as that is all Jones would allow himself to expect.

I say ‘if’ he had got them promoted, because today, all of Luton fans’ worst nightmares came true, as Stoke City announced that they had appointed Jones as their successor to Gary Rowett.

I’m sure this came as a massive shock to the Luton faithful, as the rumours of Jones’ departure only surfaced yesterday, and they were met with derision, not only from Luton fans, but also Stoke fans, who deemed it highly unlikely that Jones would leave the project he had been building for over three years. Nevertheless, he did, and Luton fans are left scratching their heads, wondering exactly how superficial all the touchline chest-pounding from their ex-manager had really been.

It’s not only the departure that shocks me, it’s the time at which it came. Sure, chances to guide a Championship team with players such as Bojan, Ashley Williams and Joe Allen at your disposal don’t come around often, but why now? Luton are in the League One automatic promotion places, they sit above teams such as Sunderland, Charlton, Barnsley and Peterborough, they have an outstanding home record and face one of their biggest fixtures thus far this season away at Sunderland in just three days. If they win that game they would be four points above the Mackems at a vital stage of the season. It was all set up to be a landmark campaign for the Hatters.

Not only that, but Jones has said many a time that he wouldn’t be tempted away from Kenilworth road by any side, even claiming that the only side who could tempt him away would be Barcelona – a line which now seems all the more painful to Luton fans, given that sunny Barcelona is a long, long way away from Stoke-Upon-Trent. He has been building a project since he got the job back in early 2016, and one that would surely see Luton in the Premier League one day, and with a new stadium possibly on the way, the sky was the limit for Luton Town and their Welsh wizard.

It is baffling to me that Jones would abandon such a prospect in favour of trying to get Stoke a late play-off push, even more so when it happens three days before the biggest game of Luton’s season. I’m sure Luton fans will be even more bemused than I am, and I don’t doubt they’ll be fearful of whether or not they can keep this promotion push going without Jones. I certainly fear for them, as while I think there’s a lot of quality in the squad, losing a manager that has had such a massive impact on the club is surely going to be a shock to the system, and while I don’t think they’ll fall away immediately, their chances of promotion have taken a big hit today.

Any Stoke fans who may be reading and have seen the reaction from Luton Town fans to Jones’ departure must be rubbing their hands together. Though I’m not entirely sure why he’s done so, the fact that Jones has picked Stoke means that their fortunes may be about to change. I don’t see promotion happening this season, not only because of how far from the playoffs they are, but also because Jones took a little while to get his playing style working and philosophy implemented, but next season has massive potential for the Potters.

Jones averaged 1.82 points per game in his time at Kenilworth Road – the best in the club’s history, and also had the best Football League win ratio in the club’s history – 1.51. He plays exciting football, his teams score lots of goals and he can work wonders for a club’s spirit, dedication and integrity. If he is given time to work, then the future is bright for Stoke.

Potters fans, you have one hell of a manager on your hands.

words Alex Gardner, D3D4 Sunderland correspondent and writer.