HARFORD CONSIDERING MOVING TO FOREST WITH KINNEAR

Luton Town’s First-Team Coach and Director of Football Mick Harford is considering leaving the Hatters and taking up a role as assistant manager to Joe Kinnear at First Division Nottingham Forest.

Kinnear, who was appointed as manager at The City Ground during the week, has already begun to bring new people in to the club, having snapped-up Leicester City duo Andy Impey and Alan Rogers on loan in time for them to face Walsall in Kinnear’s first match in charge on Saturday – and now he is after Harford.

Harford is considering the offer and has stated that he will make a decision after Luton Town’s Second Division match at Wycombe Wanderers on Saturday.

However, Hatters manager Mike Newell has said that he will do everything possible to keep Luton legend Harford at Kenilworth Road.

Newell said, “Joe's worked with him in the past and now that he's gone to a big club in Nottingham Forest there's no doubting he wants him there again.

"That's not what we want and not what the people of Luton want, but at the end of the day it's down to Mick and what he wants.

"I'm not one to hide anything from anybody, Joe wants him to go to Forest, but I don't want him to go.

"I don't know what I can do at this present time because we don't have a board of directors and it might not be easy, but I'll do everything I possibly can to keep him."

And the task for the Hatters boss has become all the harder following the Football League’s decision yesterday (Thursday) to request further information regarding the takeover of the club.

Fans had hoped that the Bill Tomlins Sports Management consortium would take over the club, but the Football League wanted more information before giving the go-ahead to the deal.

Newell continued, "I have a good relationship with Mick and Brian (Stein) and it would be a big disappointment if that was broken up.

"But I know that other things are happening also with the players with agents becoming involved and something needs to be done otherwise we will end up losing three or four of our good players who we want to keep.

"If we lose Mick as well it will be a massive blow, but we're going to do what we can.

"That's why it is vital we come out of administration as soon as possible and have some sort of set up or board that I can go to.
"I know the people who are coming in, or are who are hopefully coming in, and they want to go forward."

Meanwhile, Kinnear has said he is hopeful his contract wrangle from his time at Kenilworth Road will be sorted out this week.

Kinnear and then assistant Harford were sacked by letter when a mystery consortium took over Luton Town in June last year.

Speaking during a press conference this week where he was unveiled as the Forest boss, Kinnear said: "I was owed a vast amount of money because I was on a massive bonus to get them promotion, which I did, and I had a year left on my contract.

"I felt bitter, hard done by and aggrieved about it and I decided this was a case I would fight.

"It's all still on-going but will hopefully be tied up this week although, to be quite frank with you, it looks like the settlement will be something like five pence in the pound.

"I'll have to write off £400,000 and at the end of it I'll probably end up with £35,000 but I'm going to take that on the chin and get on with my life."
Story date: Friday, February 13, 2004