Pompey's Championship rivals make manager decision as League One boss misses training

Pompey's relegation rivals Luton Town look set to make a swift managerial appointment, by naming the manager who defeated them most recently.

The Hatters parted company with Rob Edwards by mutual consent last week, ending a partnership which lasted over two years. During his time Kenilworth Road, he guided them to promotion to the Premier League via the play-offs, but after their relegation, they have struggled.

It appears that Luton won’t be waiting around long to name Edwards’ predecessor. They will be appointing Matt Bloomfield, the manager of Wycombe Wanderers.

Football League World is reporting that Luton are 'closing in' on his appointment, which will only cost them £100,000. Their report adds that Bloomfield didn't take training at Wycombe today and was instead thrashing out terms with Luton.

His potential appointment at Luton comes days after his Wycombe side eliminated Pompey from the FA Cup. Brandon Hanlan and Sonny Bradley were on target at Adams Park last Friday, as Pompey were eliminated by lower league opposition.

Matt Bloomfield at Wycombe

Bloomfield has been the manager of Wycombe since February 2023, having left his post as Colchester United manager. He replaced Gareth Ainsworth who took up the manager's job with QPR.

Since his appointment, he's guided them to ninth and 10th-placed finishes in League One. At the moment, Wycombe are fighting for promotion, and find themselves just two points off of league leaders Birmingham City who have spent big this season.

Friday's win in the FA Cup was the first time as a manager that Bloomfield had beaten Pompey. In his previous three meetings, he played to a 2-2 draw, and then last season suffered 2-1 and 3-1 defeats.

Luton Town’s predicament

At the start of the season, Luton were one of the teams tipped to bounce back from relegation. They find themselves in 20th, just two points above the relegation zone.

It's possible that they could drop in to the bottom three by Wednesday night. Cardiff City are in action against Watford and could move out the bottom three with a win. If Pompey beat Blackburn Rovers then Bloomfield could be taking over a side in the relegation zone prior to his first game.

Luton, despite being without a manager were able to persuade Isaiah Jones to join them from Middlesbrough, so Edwards’ successor will have some new players to work this month.

Pompey don't play Luton until March 1, so whether it's Bloomfield or someone else, the manager will have had his feet firmly under the table by the time the two clash in Bedfordshire.