The club went through a total of three managers following the departure of Lennie Lawrence; firstly Ricky Hill, then Lil Fuccillo, and eventually settling on Irishman Joe Kinnear.

[3] Ovendale struggled to make an impact,[4] which was the story of most of Hill's acquisitions, who included among their number untested foreign players Friedrich Breitenfelder, Petri Helin and Kent Karlsen.

Hill's reign began with a defeat to Notts County and did not improve from there; one win in their first ten league games left Luton in the relegation zone and the fans voicing their displeasure.

[7] Former Wimbledon manager Joe Kinnear was appointed to this role on 8 February, but his first act was to immediately demote Fuccillo to assistant and place himself in charge.

[9] With the season drawing to a close, Kinnear signed striker Steve Howard from nearby Northampton Town for a fee of £50,000, released five players, and transfer listed four others.