Wilshere insists Luton have made some 'big steps' since he took over

Luton boss Jack Wilshere felt his side made some ‘big steps’ during his first seven months in charge despite falling just short in their bid to reach the League One play-offs last season.

The former England and Arsenal star was appointed as Matt Bloomfield’s successor in October, the ex-Wycombe Wanderers chief relieved of his duties after a series of poor performances that led to furious reactions from supporters, notably the travelling fans at both Lincoln City and Stevenage respectively. Although Wilshere lost his opening game at home to Mansfield, he then went on a run of just one defeat from the next 12, that a 5-0 hammering at Barnsley, also beaten on penalties at League Two side Fleetwood in the FA Cup.

When that sequence was ended at Reading, results were very much hit and miss from then on, as the Hatters went on an 11-match winless run away from home, before, unable to register a victory in six third tier fixtures between February and March, it saw Town’s players booed off after a 1-1 draw with Burton Albion on home soil. A 2-1 success at Wycombe finally stopped the rot, as with their confidence surely but slowly returning, Luton were able to triumph in nine of their last 11 matches.

It meant that the Hatters finished in stunning form, which although wasn’t enough to get into the top six, robbed by a controversial last minute winner for Stevenage, there is now some real optimism that after back-to-back relegations in the previous two seasons, Town, under Wilshere, have turned things around for the 2026-27 campaign.

Speaking to the club’s official website about the season just gone, Wilshere said: “It's important that we do reflect. We had a really good review day with all the staff, all the departments, on what went well, what we need to keep and what we need to change to try and improve the team, but personally I'm proud. I'm proud of what we achieved and this is what I said to the staff. We made big steps, but ultimately we fell short and that's why it's really important that we do reflect and we review everything, because next year we want to improve.

"Improvement next year is really important points-wise as we know our ambitions. So I'm proud of what we achieved, proud of the players because we spoke a lot about the adversity we had to face and we have to have players who can deal with that. It's also very difficult at times when the club’s been on a journey that they have, the players have to take that and try and turn that into performances. The players did that, it was a little bit too little too late, but we’ve got an exciting future ahead of us and we’ve made big steps.”

Having come from a background with the Arsenal U18s and a brief spell in caretaker charge of Norwich City, Wilshere conceded he realised from early on just what kind of job he was walking into when accepting his first post as an official number one. He continued: “When I first came in here, I felt the players were all in from day one. I remember walking into the auditorium and I remember seeing all the players’ eyes really open, really keen to get going.

“Then the first game came and I realised it wasn't going to be as straightforward as coming in and having a few meetings, it was going to take a lot of work. I found a group that just needed some direction, an identity to cling on to, to try and create a new team, a new way of playing and that's why I'm so proud of the players because that wasn't always easy.

"I think about some tough away days early on that we had and some tough games at home that we had, some tough moments within games where you think we've done really well, and then for the last 10 minutes we lose it. My biggest learning from this year and I always thought this going into coaching and into management, is that you have to have a process, you have to have an identity, a way of playing that you keep reflecting to, keep reviewing.

"I'm proud of the players, but I’m also proud of the coaches and the staff as there were some times where it clearly wasn't working, what we were trying to do consistently enough to get the results we needed. Then the decision we have to make as a group, is do we change everything, or do we just adapt a few things that is based around the style we want? And we did that really well.

"Even when I think about the away run we went on and the different things we tried to do and we kept always being adaptable as coaches and that's really important at this level as you come up against so many different styles, so many different ways of playing. You have to understand them and understand what's going to work against them and we did that really well I think.”

With Wilshere turning things round on the pitch, it led to the Hatters reaching Wembley as they took on Stockport County in the Vertu Trophy final. A brace from Nahki Wells and Emilio Lawrence’s strike meant Town added to their trophy cabinet with an excellent 3-1 victory in front of over 30,000 Hatters fans who had made the trip to the home of English football, as they won the competition for the second time in their history.

It was clearly a definite highlight for the Luton boss too, who added: “From a personal point of view, when you go into this world of coaching and management, you have dreams, you want to get to Wembley and you want to win things. You don't get there without dedication, without hard work, without sacrifice, without going through those tough times, suffering a little bit, showing resilience, and again I'm proud of the players for that as there was a time in the season we spoke about confidence and lack of belief at times.

"To build that and then go to the biggest stage in English football and not only win the game, I felt we delivered a really strong performance against a really good team who are in the play-offs. So that was probably the highlight of the season, seeing Kal (Naismith) up there lifting the trophy with the boys, and just seeing them smile, as they weren't always like that this season. I remember coming here on Sundays after tough defeats, asking the players to go again, asking the players to believe in what we're doing.

"You don't get to Wembley if you don't go through that process, so a really good day for the staff, for the players, but also for the club, the fans, the board, and the people that are around the club that make days like that happen. As you went on an amazing journey to the Premier League, which is an unbelievable achievement, but then to be relegated twice is hard, it hits people in different ways. So to give a little bit of success, I feel like probably from that point our performances stepped up again. It gave the players loads of confidence to attack the last few games of the season to try and reach our ambition. We did that really well, so I’m really proud of everyone for that.”