The Lancashire side have scored just 27 goals this season, with a lot of them coming from striker Robbie Blake, now at Birmingham, and the recent signing of Ade Akinbiyi from Stoke City (who are even more boring than Burnley) isn't enough for Cotterill.
Howard's contract expires at the end of the season, and he has scored 18 goals this season. However, the big striker hasn't scored since January 3rd at Peterborough, and even Sol Davis and Kevin Foley have scored since then. The last game against Bristol City again saw him miss good chances, but his performance also improved in that game, and he would be a great loss to the Hatters if he was to leave. One reason for Howard wanting to leave could be so that he could play with Jean-Louis Valois again. Valois helped the Hatters to promotion from Division 3 in 2002, and his crossing was one of the main factors in Howard getting the golden boot at the end of that season. However, Howard might want to stay with Luton because we will probably be playing Championship football next season anyway, so why would he want to move to a club who will be in a similar position to Luton next season when he is already settled here? Also, Howard is the equal fifth post-war top goalscorer, and is only 8 goals behind Mick Harford. He has the potential to be a big Luton legend, but he won't achieve it if he leaves this season. My message to Howard is to stay put at Luton - don't risk leaving and ruining your career like Sean Evers and possibly even Matthew Spring did when they left.