Luton defender Sonny Bradley has hit out at the “embarrassing” minority of supporters who jeer their own players off the pitch or send abuse on social media.
The skipper and his centre back partner Matty Pearson were speaking on the latest Luton Town Supporters’ Trust Podcast about the improvements that goalkeeper Simon Sluga has made of late, with midfielder Ryan Tunnicliffe also put forward as a Hatter that has stepped up in recent weeks.
However, the latter came in for some stick from a small section of the Kenilworth Road crowd that cheered when he was substituted in a 1-0 Championship defeat to Cardiff a month ago.
There were even a small number of cheers when Izzy Brown was substituted last weekend against Stoke.
Captain Bradley, who also praised the 99 per cent of the Hatters fans, leapt to the defence of his team-mate, saying: “For me, Ryan doesn’t get enough credit. He doesn’t get the credit he deserves, in my opinion.
“Social media, some of the people on there, it’s a minority I think, but it’s embarrassing.
“I go on there and I see some of the stuff they say, not just about Ryan, but about other players as well. I get it.
“I’ve got an open account and I don’t mind having conversations with people. I’m quite open to it. But, now and again you’ll get the odd person, the odd character, the odd fan – and I say that very loosely – who will come on and want to give you a bit of stick and a bit of abuse.
“I’ve seen it this season, I’ve seen it about Ryan, and people are quick to judge him.
“I don’t mind being judged and I don’t think any of the boys mind being judged. The fans come, they pay their money, they love the club, and they can have their opinion on players, but when they cross that line of having an opinion or giving abuse, that’s when we can’t accept it. A lot of times this season, that’s happened.
“If he (Tunnicliffe) gets jeered off or people give him stick on Twitter, you should come down to the training ground and see the work that he puts in, in the week.”
Pearson added: “The lads literally go out there, give 100 per cent. A lad giving 100 per cent, to get jeered off, I just think it’s poor.
“I’ve played football from academy level since I was nine years old. I’ve worked all my life, to do this, to get to this point, to give 100 per cent on the weekend.
“Then, to get jeered off, or whatever, how downhearted is that, do you know what I mean?
“I doesn’t really affect me. I’m pretty passive with it. I know, deep down, I’m doing everything I can, everything possible for the club, for Luton Town.
“If people have opinions, they can have their opinions, but some people, it may affect them.
“I don’t think people sometimes realise that, when they might make that comment. Lads are here giving everything they’ve got for that to happen.”
Bradley said: “I think 99 per cent of our fans are top class. I haven’t seen much better, home and away. We need them for the rest of the season. Without them, I don’t think we’d do it (beat relegation).”
Town travel to Wigan this afternoon for a basement battle six-pointer against a Latics side starting to pull away from the drop zone, leaving Luton bottom and five points adrift of safety, two months after the Hatters claimed a late 2-1 victory that had left the Lancashire side rooted to the foot of the table.
Bradley has missed the last three games and was last week on commentary duties for the 1-1 draw at home to Stoke.
Speaking about his availability for the Wigan game, boss Graeme Jones, said: “Sonny’s getting there, slowly, he’s been working with the sports scientists, so we’ll just keep trying to progress him.
“Same as Kaz (LuaLua), keep trying to progress them day on day, but we’ve got a three game week not far away, so we don’t really want to take any chances.
“Luke’s (Berry) a bit better, again he’s trained with the sports scientists today, so we’re just assessing him day on day.
“Let’s see if he’s better again tomorrow and hopefully he can contribute at the weekend.”
You can hear all the build-up to the Wigan game and the rest of Town’s fixtures in March in the Luton Town Supporters’ Trust Podcast, where voice of the Hatters, commentator Simon Pitts is the guest.
The episode also covers VAR, after Jones said he’s like it introduced into the Championship, the current situation with Town’s ambitions for a world-class domed training facility, after Luton Council gave planning permission for an Aldi supermarket.
And there are discussions on Sluga, Tunnicliffe, 2020’s approach to the season and, of course, the rest of that exclusive interview with Bradley and Pearson, with the skipper also discussing his pride at wearing the armband and his stunner against Middlesbrough. The pair also discuss the relegation battle.
