Wilshere insists it's the 'best feeling' to hear his name sung by Luton fans

Luton boss Jack Wilshere insisted it was the ‘best feeling’ to have his name sung by Town’s supporters during their 3-0 success at leaders Stockport County last weekend.

The former England and Arsenal star has been well received since he was appointed as Matt Bloomfield’s successor just over a month ago, earning a spine-tingling ovation when he was first announced to the Kenilworth Road crowd ahead of his opening game against Mansfield Town. However, Town fell to a disappointing 2-0 loss on that day, before recovering to earn Wilshere a maiden triumph when beating Northampton Town 1-0 at Sixfields, a game that showed signs of the bond between Luton’s fans and their players, that had become increasingly fractured following successive relegations, beginning to return.

Two home wins followed, although they were in front of not even half full stadiums, as Town beat Brighton & Hove Albion U21s in the Vertu Trophy and then National League outfit Forest Green Rovers 4-3 in the FA Cup first round, before Wilshere’s popularity really hit home last weekend, when the Hatters delivered a statement victory at the League One table-toppers.

During the second half, a packed away end, who were relishing their side’s efforts, began belting out the Herman’s Hermits ‘I’m Into Something Good’ song, that was reserved for former boss Nathan Jones during his time in charge of the club, replacing the ex-manager’s maiden name with the current chief’s surname. It continued long after the full time whistle as well, as asked just what it was like to hear those chants, Wilshere said: “It’s the best.

"I said it when I got the job, it was honestly the proudest moment of my career because when I played, I don’t like saying it, but it was easy at times because I was good at it. I knew I was good at it and from a young age, of course I had to go through tough times and of course the journey wasn’t always like that (upwards curve), I had to endure injuries and stuff, but I was really, really confident when I was playing because I had a lot of faith in my ability.

"I do as a coach now, but also this is my first experience of being a first team coach, first team manager and whereas I have faith in my ability and I believe a lot in what I’m doing, you never actually know until you’re that guy and you’re sat there and you’re making decisions. So to have the fans sing my name as a coach is honestly one of the best feelings.”

With Town’s supporters now having a sense of genuine enthusiasm about their side, that came through at Edgeley Park, as they delivered the kind of atmosphere that was a regular during Luton’s rise up the leagues in the not too distant past, eventually reaching the Premier League during the summer of 2023.

Wilshere insists that kind of noise can only help the players in their bid to make an instant return to the Championship this term too, as he continued: “It was amazing. I was so in the game watching it and then out of the corner of your eye you look and they’re still singing, they’re still celebrating, not only the players, it gives the staff energy as well. It’s outstanding to see and it’s the players, only the players, their energy, their effort, their commitment.

"We spoke about that at the start when I came in, understanding what the fans want to see. Of course there’s going to be times where fans are frustrated because they might feel like we’re over-playing or we’re trying to do something, I was saying to the players to have courage in those moments as we know what we want to do, we understand what we’re trying to do.

"But to see Teds (Teden Mengi) celebrate, that’s football. Football is about energy and people transmit energy between each other, and there’s no better way then the fans giving the players energy, the players then giving it back. We need to keep building that, we understand at times it won’t always be like that, but if we can get that as much as possible, that will help us.”

Despite still being in the infancy of his managerial career with the Hatters, having led Town to four straight victories in all competitions, then Wilshere believes it has already led to the mood improving around Kenilworth Road, adding: “For sure, and I said that at the start, that we’ll do some things and we’ll try and build belief, build confidence, but winning games for the players is what they want.

"So I feel like they’re in a better place and they understand now what we’re trying to do and how we’re going to win games of football. We’re not there consistently enough yet, but the mood is better. People seem to be enjoying training, smiling, which I said at the start, if you can put sessions on that are enjoyable, naturally players will start to compete more and take it personally a little bit more and we’re happy with that.

“We’re trying to build something and we’ve been in for five weeks, you can’t build something in that amount of time. It will take some time to get exactly what we want and sometimes coaches never get exactly what they want, so we have to continue to find a way in what we’re trying to build, find a way to win games while we’re still trying to build.

"We’re trying to build everything and confidence is one of those things, belief is one of those things, but also what you see on the pitch. We’re starting to play and different patterns we’re looking at, but we still need to remain competitive and make sure we’re in every game, we’re fighting, we’re still trying to win our duels, which we’ve been really good at.

“We just need to carry on the way we’re going. Of course we want to carry on winning, but it’s more about performance, it’s more about behaviours, more about the process of us actually being in games and trying to compete in games. Looking at the things that probably let us down a little bit earlier in the season, correcting them and things take time, they do, but we have to continue this way of working and hopefully results stay the same.”