Kal Naismith has appealed for unity after Luton’s 5-0 League One defeat at Barnsley, insisting the Hatters need supporters and players “as one” as they attempt to recover from their heaviest loss of the season.
Luton’s five-game unbeaten streak collapsed in brutal fashion as they registered just one shot on target against a Tykes side that had kept one clean sheet in 13 previous outings. But it was at the back where old wounds were reopened.
Prior to kick-off, defensive issues had been eased by three clean sheets and a division highest eight in total. But Town went behind after seven minutes, were 3-0 behind by the break and then they slumped to their third five-goal defeat in the space of 12 months.
Boss Jack Wilshere admitted the rout was a “reality check” and there were boos from the away end at Oakwell from some of the travelling Town fans that stayed until the end of the game.
“I hear the fans, I know their disappointment,” Naismith told LTFC+. “But look, we’re a young side. Look at how far we’ve come. We [were] five unbeaten. Please, it’s a young squad. We are going to lose games. This is a tough league.
“Luton fans, we need to be together. We’re all going for the exact same thing and I get the frustrations – you’ve just watched your team concede five. Trust me we are angry in that changing room as well we’re not being nice to each other, put it that way.
“So I get that bit for the fans, but we need to be as one. We need to take the losses on the chin together and then we have days like Stockport together. The first people we go to when we win 3-0 is the fans, because we’re delighted for them because they follow us everywhere.
“So we take the losses together as we do the wins. And then at the end of the season we’re all together. Whatever happens. we will hopefully be celebrating together.
“But don’t be there when we’re winning and then – because it’s a young side – then if we lose and we’re hearing [boos]… just, come on, be with us. We get the boos, the disappointment. But I’m hearing some words, they’re shouting at my team-mates and it’s not Luton fans, man. That’s never been Luton fans.
“Be disappointed, I get it. They’ve been incredible in away games with how much they travel. We come out every time and ‘wow’. We need the fans but let’s make sure we stay together.”
Naismith’s plea for unity came after a performance he admitted was “tough to take” and he repeatedly described the Hatters squad as “young”, though the XI that started at Oakwell had an average age of just below 27 years, while there were three starters in their thirties, including the skipper himself.
But it was the defender’s comments about the fans which have not gone down well with some supporters on social media, including Kevin Harper on the Luton Town Supporters’ Trust Podcast.
“The last thing I needed on the way home [from Barnsley] was to hear Kal Naismith’s interview, which is absolutely downright outrageous, to be quite honest. After you’ve lost 5-0? Absolutely outrageous,” the show’s host said of Naismith’s comments.
Harper said the 33-year-old was at fault for the second and fifth goals from Patrick Kelly and David Keillor-Dunn respectively, and that he won just two of his seven defensive duels, adding: “To put any of that on supporters? I cannot be having that at all.”
Naismith did admit about the Hatters performance in a further interview with the BBC that “Too many [were] off it”, adding “I was off it as well”.
With Huddersfield visiting Kenilworth Road tomorrow night and Bolton making the trip on Saturday, Naismith warned that the response from players must be immediate.
“We’ve got another tough game on Tuesday and Saturday and we go back home and we need the fans,” he said. “Let’s make sure we stay together.”
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