Wilshere urges Luton fans to 'stay with us' after Town are jeered off

Hatters boss Jack Wilshere has urged Town’s fans to ‘stay with us’ after a disappointing 1-0 defeat against Bradford City on Saturday led to his players being jeered off by those inside Kenilworth Road following the full time whistle.

After a first half in which Luton fell behind early on to a poor goal from the hosts’ point of view, pint-sized midfielder Bobby Pointon allowed to rise unchallenged to head over the outstretched arm of recalled goalkeeper James Shea, Town gave a promising performance for the majority, playing some impressive football and going close through Kasey Palmer twice.

It looked like they were more than capable of getting back into the game when coming out after the break, but sadly that never materialised in an extremely poor second period, Town never seriously threatening an equaliser until substitute Gideon Kodua’s shot was saved by Jon McCracken in the 90th minute, while Jordan Clark then fired an ambitious attempt wide from range too.

With the natives getting restless the longer the game went on, as Luton once more didn’t move the ball anywhere near as quickly as they wanted to despite being behind, jeers emanated from the stands when it was played backwards at times, and then also pumped forward to no-one in particular, with those boos intensifying at full time and when the players headed down the tunnel.

A third defeat in five matches saw Town now languishing in 16th place, just two points above the relegation zone, not what was expected at all following a summer of hefty recruitment to the playing squad, and Luton finishing last season on a 12-game unbeaten run, meaning promotion was very much the aim this time around.

Having experienced some similar reactions during that campaign, especially after some poor results at home to Burton Albion and Reading in particular, plus on the road during a period where Town couldn’t buy a win, Wilshere was able to turn things around, meaning the Hatters almost ended up reaching the play-offs as they began to rebuild the connection with fans that had been the bedrock of Luton’s rise up the divisions to reach the Premier League in 2023.

The Luton chief, who wasn’t in the dug-out at the weekend due to a one-game touchline ban for being sent off against Stevenage, now wants to use that experience once more, as asked if he had a message to supporters, Wilshere said: “Stay with us, stay with us. I get it, I’m stuck up in the gantry, a different perspective, a different way of seeing the game and I’m frustrated as well. I’m frustrated that we didn’t quite find something in the first half and then we didn’t doenough in the second half and it’s frustrating.

"I understand, but I’ve got a big belief in this group of players, a big belief in their ability, but probably more importantly in their courage. We worked really hard last year at coming through moments like this, when it’s tough, when it’s not quite going our way, and how we did that was by sticking to a process and we have to keep going like that. Of course I understand the fans' frustration, but the other side of it, is if we do stick to what we’re doing and we really, really commit to it like we did last year, then we know what’s on the other side and stay with us.”

There was some abuse thrown in the direction of the players afterwards as they headed to the dressing room too, with midfielder Kasey Palmer appearing to take exception to something that was said to him by a fan by the tunnel. Although it was something Wilshere didn’t witness, he didn’t mind seeing the passion on display from his players, adding: “I don’t necessarily think that’s a bad thing.

"I think about Leyton Orient last year, where I had a discussion with the fans and listen, fans’ opinion is important as they pay their money and they come and support the boys, watch the boys and they want to see us be successful. We understand that. I think players are different, players react differently, some players are quite emotional, Kasey’s not. Kasey’s a really calm character and maybe he wanted to hear what was being said.”