Nathan Jones made a big impact throughout his time in charge at Luton Town, even from the moment he first took over – James Collins was a big part of that over a certain period.
When the Welshman was appointed in January 2016, the Hatters sat 15th in the League Two table, 11 points clear of the relegation zone.
They were, though, in a worrying run of form, having won just one of their last nine games in all competitions.
Jones, though, was able to quickly engineer a turnaround in form, with Luton winning 11 and drawing three of the 21 league games they played under him at the end of 2015/16.
That allowed the club to secure a comfortable 11th place finish in the final League Two standings at the end of that campaign.
The following campaign then saw Jones take the club into the fourth-tier play-offs, only to miss out on promotion after a dramatic 6-5 aggregate defeat to Blackpool in the semi-finals.
With Luton keen to go one better the following campaign, Jones would bring 11 new players into the squad during the 2017 summer transfer window.
One of those signings who the Hatters boss certainly expected to make an impact at that level, was Collins.
Nathan Jones had high hopes for his new striker
When he arrived at Luton in June 2017, Collins brought with him a big reputation at League Two level.
The striker had already won three promotions from League Two, twice with Shrewsbury Town and once with Northampton Town.
Meanwhile, the season before his move to Kenilworth Road, he had scored 22 goals in 52 appearances in all competitions for a Crawley Town side that had finished 19th in the fourth-tier.
Not surprisingly, Jones was therefore delighted to have secured the services of the Irishman for Luton.
Reacting to the news of this signing, the Hatters boss described Collins as a “proven striker” at the level, while also calling his efforts for Crawley the season before “first-class”.
Jones, therefore, will have been hoping for a big impact from the striker, and Luton would certainly get that from him for a number of years after his arrival at Kenilworth Road.
James Collins was a prolific goalscorer for Luton Town
Having completed that move to his new side, Collins would waste no time at all in making an impact for his new club.
His competitive debut for the Hatters saw the striker net a hat-trick in an 8-2 thrashing of Yeovil Town on the opening day of the 2017/18 campaign.
From there, Collins would hardly look back, scoring 19 goals in 42 league games that season, including winning goals against the likes of Wycombe – in the 98th minute – and Grimsby.
Those contributions would prove vital as Luton did indeed go one better during the 2017/18 season, claiming a second place finish that secured them automatic promotion to League One.
Despite that step-up in level, Collins would seemingly just get better for the Hatters in his second season with the club.
Initially, the striker did take some time to get going in League One, but after netting in a 2-2 draw at Charlton in late September 2018, he again became a somewhat unstoppable force.
That proved to be the first of 25 league goals – including two more hat-tricks – he would score that season, which was enough to earn him the League One Golden Boot award that season.
It also helped ensure that, despite the somewhat controversial departure of Jones to Stoke City in January 2019, Luton would make it back to back promotions by claiming the League One title.
Having added two promotions to his CV in just two years with the Hatters, Collins continued to play a key role, stepping up to the Championship for the first time in his career impressively.
The 2019/20 season – the club’s first in the second-tier since 2007 – the striker again finished as the club’s top scorer, with 14 goals across the course of the campaign.
Among those was a winning penalty in a 3-2 victory over Blackburn Rovers on the final day of the campaign that saw Luton avoid relegation under the returning Jones.
Although the 2020/21 campaign would then prove to be Collins’ final year with the Hatters, he would still go out on something of a high.
The striker again finished as the club’s top scorer with 13 more goals, which helped his side enjoy a much more comfortable year in the Championship with a 12th place finish.
| James Collins Luton Town record (all competitions) – stats from Transfermarkt | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Division | Appearances | Goals | Assists |
| 2017/18 | League Two | 45 | 20 | 10 |
| 2018/19 | League One | 48 | 25 | 5 |
| 2019/20 | Championship | 46 | 14 | 3 |
| 2020/21 | Championship | 44 | 13 | 3 |
So, with those goals having been crucial to helping the Hatters climb up the Football League throughout his four years at Kenilworth Road, Collins unsurprisingly left in 2021 as a club icon.
With all of that in mind, it is hard to argue against any suggestion that the expectations set by Jones when the striker first joined Luton in 2017, were well and truly met, and perhaps even exceeded.
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