Hatters boss Wilshere vows to keep the 'tradition of Luton' alive
Town chief believes his indentity is starting to come through in performances
Town boss Jack Wilshere has vowed to keep the ‘tradition of Luton’ alive and deliver the kind of performances that Hatters fans want to see during his time in the hotseat at Kenilworth Road.
The former Arsenal and England star has been in charge of the club for just over three months now, as his league record reads six wins four draws and four defeats from his first 14 games at the helm. Last weekend saw Town make it three successive home victories when beating Stevenage 2-1, as after a insipid first half, they delivered the kind of performance that bore a number of the hallmarks of their rise up the leagues in recent years and has been sadly lacking since.
Trailing 1-0 to a goal early in the second half that came after referee Simon Mather failed to spot a clear handball in the build-up, it riled the crowd, as they instantly made the atmosphere into a far more volatile one than at any stage of Wilshere’s reign so far for the visiting players and officials. It saw the players, geed up by the noise emanating from the terraces, responded accordingly, Jordan Clark and Gideon Kodua on target to secure a comeback triumph, the first time Luton had done so after conceding the first goal on home soil since December 2024.
Praising the home supporters for generating the type of din that he had associated with games in Bedfordshire before being appointed, Wilshere also noted he was was well aware it was just the kind of performance that Hatters fans want to witness from their side on a more regular basis, challenging his players to now recreate that as often as they can, saying: “When you win a game that way and it was against a local rival, you go one down and it kind of feels like there were a few decisions from the ref and I think that helped as well.
"The fans really felt like they had to get behind us to help us. We scored at a really good time after they scored which got the fans on the edge of the seat and they probably felt like we could go on and win this game. Everything after that, how we attacked, how we kept the pressure on when we’re attacking, if they cleared the ball, we headed it straight back down and kept them under pressure, and that is us, that’s who we want to be.
"Historically that is probably Luton as well. I said that a lot of times when I came here, yes I have a way of playing and I have an idea, but we have to keep the tradition of Luton, that aggressiveness, that ability to attack and sustain attacks, keep attacking and keep teams under pressure, especially at Kenilworth Road while we’ve got that. That is in my opinion a big asset for us, how close the fans are, how intimidating it can be and that was definitely the case on Saturday.
"That was one of the things that we wanted to do when we came in, me, the coaching staff and the players, try to build an identity, while still remembering who we are and we’re getting there with that. I think we can be more consistent, definitely, but I would say we’re starting to see how I want the team to be, how I want the team to play. The challenge is for everyone, the players, the coaches, how can we be more consistent with that.”
Town can now try and win a fourth straight game for the first time on home soil since the latter stages of the 2022-23 campaign when they host second-placed Lincoln City this afternoon. It’s something that Wilshere knows can be done with the aid of the home supporters, as he hopes they bring their second half racket from the very first whistle today.
He added: “We’ve got momentum at home, we want to keep that going. I said after the game against Stevenage, I really, really felt like the fans got us over the line and we want to keep that energy in the stadium. We know what the fans want to see, so we want to start the game with that intent and we want to win the game.”