Naismith calls for unity after declaring some Luton fans went too far at Barnsley
Hatters captain disappointed by the reaction of some supporters at Oakwell
Luton skipper Kal Naismith issued a rallying cry to Town supporters following their humiliating 5-0 defeat at Barnsley on Saturday, a game in which the captain felt some fans went too far with their criticism of the players.
The Hatters had headed to Oakwell on the back of two terrific away trips to Northampton Town and Stockport County, with the 3-0 victory against the then table-toppers in the latter, seeing the away end in wonderful voice throughout at Edgeley Park, with a number of chants stating boss Jack Wilshere was going to lead the club back to the Championship after just a few games at the helm.
However, those hopes took a massive body blow in South Yorkshire at the weekend, Town rocked by conceding an early goal, and then, as in every game in which they have been breached first, went on to suffer defeat. This time though, it was in desperately embarrassing fashion, 3-0 down at the break, shipping a further two goals in the second period, as it began to become a repeat of the trips to Lincoln City and Stevenage, the near 1,500 travelling supporters letting the players knows just what they thought of their efforts in no uncertain terms both at half time and during the second period, as they were booed off following the full time whistle too.
Although Naismith accepted the players fully deserved most of the reaction that came their way, he felt one or two did go over the top, saying: “It’s tough, Luton supporters are incredible and I’m always honest in how I feel about them. I love them, they are the heartbeat of this club, but we need them, we need them. I’m standing here telling you how together we are in the changing room, through adversity you need to be together.
"We win together, you see at Stockport, we can’t wait to go over to the fans at the end and celebrate with them. We need them when we lose as well. It’s how you lose and I get that. We conceded five goals and trust me, there’s a lot of harsh words said in the changing room after, so I get the fans being upset and voicing it, but some things I’m hearing being shouted at my team-mates, come on man, that’s not us, that is not us, we’re way better than that.
“Show your frustration, I know you want better from us and we want to give you better. Stockport, I loved it, being over there and seeing how happy the fans are and how much it means to them, but listen, through the hard days this season we stick together, through the good days we stick together and then at the end of the season we’ll celebrate together as one. We’ve got a young team, and we need the fans more than ever.”
Despite the nature of the defeat, Naismith was looking forward to seeing just how Luton’s management staff would be looking to put things right when Town host a Huddersfield Town side this evening who were tipped by many to be in the hunt for promotion this term. He continued: “We’ll be in to analyse it, we need to learn from it as well.
"When you’re on the pitch, everything’s moving so fast and it’s happening so quick, but that’s where the staff have been so amazing. Every single game we play, whether we win or lose, we’ve been winning a lot recently, but we always analyse it, what we did well and what we can do better. I’m looking forward to sitting there as a team with the staff to see where as a team we could have done things better to improve and then we bounce back on Tuesday.”
With Town back in action just a few days after that Oakwell debacle, it could be a tense atmosphere at Kenilworth Road to begin with, Luton yet to win under Wilshere in the league on home soil, or even score a goal either. However, Naismith insists the experience from him and the other senior players can and will definitely be of help, adding: “We’re all important, we’ve got loads of leaders in the changing room.
"We all spoke and it’s just about being honest and being together. When I tell you we are together in there, we’ve come from some places already this season, we’ve had some tough days and some tough times, but we’re so together to come back and show the character that we have to bounce back and be five unbeaten. We’ve been so good, I’ve been so proud of the lads. I’m confident we’ll bounce back again and of course we will.”