For a club like Luton Town who have simultaneously showcased the unpredictable nature of the Championship but also the values of strong coaching, team spirit and smart recruitment within tight economic restrictions, losing your Player of the Year at the end of the season on a free transfer is tough to take but also inevitable to a point, given the financial strength of clubs above you in the food chain.
However, losing your Player of the Year to a club who finished 11 places and 20 points behind you in the Championship who you’ve lost to once in the last 13 meetings dating back 20 years must be especially challenging to reconcile with.
Unfortunately for the Hatters, but to the delight of Bristol City, that scenario played out on Friday evening as Kal Naismith’s departure from Kenilworth Road was confirmed, eight days after it had been published he had been offered a new deal in Bedfordshire.
The Robins have pulled off a transfer coup in signing of the Championship’s best centre-backs last season, for absolutely nothing, and almost immediately make, what was their weakest positional department last season, look considerably stronger.
Not only that but, by extension, has weakened a rival and indicated evidence of further eye-catching arrivals in the West Country over the next two months before the 2022/23 season kicks off.
For Luton Town fans there was a mixture of acceptance that the Scot could be moving on, but also disappointment and mild bewilderment at his choice of destination, given what transpired last season.
The reaction also included a joke from author, Edinburgh Fringe award-winning comedian and noted Luton fan Olaf Falafel who helped alleviate some of the misery with a one-liner referencing a certain limescale preventative device (we're trying not to give it away too much).
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