New Hatters boss wants to judged purely as a coach from now on

New Luton boss Jack Wilshere has pleaded to be judged as a coach and not as a player after taking his first steps into management with the Hatters this week.

The 33-year-old had enjoyed a stellar career at Arsenal, considered one of the most supremely talented footballers of his generation during his time at the Emirates Stadium, lifting the FA Cup twice and also winning 34 England caps too, going on to feature in the 2014 World Cup. Injury restricted from reaching the very peak of his powers, making just under 200 appearances during his near two decades in north London, as he also had spells with West Ham United and AFC Bournemouth before hanging up his boots after a short stint with Danish team AGF, going on to work at the Gunners academy, leading the U18s to an FA Youth Cup Final, along with a stint on the coaching staff at Norwich City.

In recent years, Wilshere has seen a number of his former Three Lions team-mates go into management where they have enjoyed various degrees of success, finding the scrutiny on them even greater than those who might not have such an impressive time of it during their playing days. However, although he expects his appointment will no doubt bring with it some extra camera bulbs to Kenilworth Road, Wilshere wants it to be understood that he needs to be looked at as a manager now and not as a player, saying: “I think it probably means a few more eyes are watching, but I was clear with my journey.

"Listen I played with Wayne Rooney, I played with Steven Gerrard, I played with Frank Lampard and they've all gone on their different journeys, but what I thought was important for me was actually stepping back and looking at their journeys and how they ended up. I’m sure they’ll go on and have different experiences, but I was clear with my journey that I wanted to be competent and be completely comfortable with everything I need to be in terms of environment, in terms of how I see the game, in terms of how I talk to the players, how I manage the players, and I’m happy with the journey I've been on. People will judge ex-players as probably a little bit of the personality of the player, plus now the coach, but I want to be clear that now I’m a coach and please judge me like that.”

However, having featured at such an elite level for the majority of his career, Wilshere believes he can definitely use elements of that to his advantage when taking over at Kenilworth Road, continuing: “There’s many things as I experienced about coaching that ex-players aren't good at and they have to learn, but one thing I think we naturally do have is empathy.

"I think we can look at a player and probably judge a little bit different to a fan. We can understand and feel that they’re actually feeling and thinking. Every player will go through it in their career and they’ll experience it, where someone will say it looks like he doesn’t care. I’ve never met a player in my life that doesn’t care, of course they do, so it’s about then understanding the player, building a relationship which is also very important, so they trust you and you can understand the person and what they’re feeling.”

In fact it was the times spent in the treatment room during his playing days, far more than Wilshere would have wanted, suffering a stress fracture to his ankle and breaking his fibula to name just two of the injuries he suffered, when the idea of going into management after hanging his boots up popped up in his thought process. Starting out with the youngsters at Arsenal allowed him to help those looking to come through at the Emirates in the way he had done so years before, although he soon realised himself where the improvements were needed on personal level, which saw him sit his pro licence and gain as much knowledge he could from his impressive contacts book.

It all eventually led him back to Kenilworth Road, where he been part of the youth system before heading to Arsenal, almost as a player again in 2021, before heading to the dug-out this week, as the Town chief added: “Unfortunately in my career I had a lot of time when I could sit down and think, too many injuries which create a different way of thinking. You go through probably cycles as a player where I was fit, injured and then you have a real focus, I need to get back, I need to get back. Then you lose a little bit of faith, a little bit of life and then coming here (Luton) and training and realising that I can still do it with the ball, but I couldn’t compete physically.

"Stepping away from that, I signed for Bournemouth after that and probably a similar feeling, then I ended in Denmark, but before that stage I was invited back to train at Arsenal and I watched Mikel (Arteta), who reminded me a lot of Eddie Howe the way that he coached, the way he taught and he had energy to bring players with him and how the players bought into it. Then I was offered the opportunity to take my first step with the U18s and it was something I was very passionate about. It was my journey as well, coming through that academy, so I felt like I can get better at the coaching.

"I understand it and it’s a passion of mine, but I can connect with the players, I can understand what they’re feeling. I know the journey they’ve been on, so I wanted to take that step and then pretty early on I realised that I’m going to have to get better at this and get comfortable in certain situations and that’s what I did. I got my pro licence and went on this amazing journey which then when I left Norwich it felt like it plateaued a bit.

"There’s things that you can do that I’ve been doing since I haven’t been at a club like meeting people, talking to people, watching games, trying to keep yourself up to date with what’s happening in the football world and then always being ready. I got a call from Gary (Sweet, Hatters chief executive) and we met, it went from there, we started to build momentum and we’re here.”