The 1-1 draw with Burton Albion yesterday was a flashpoint as much as a result — and Jack Wilshere faced both sides of the emotional reaction in confrontations with the crowd over the performance, expectations and result.
Nahki Wells’ 13th minute opener looked to be enough for victory, but the Hatters succumbed to late pressure from the struggling Brewers when Fabio Tavares earned them a point in injury time.
After two preceding defeats on the road at Cardiff and Wigan, it led to boos and jeers from frustrated fans aimed at players, Wilshere and the board.
But some Luton fans had also made their feelings known early — with a smattering of boos 97 seconds into the game — and Wilshere admitted that knowing the mood made the job harder.
“It’s tough. Tough for the players. For me, I just think about the players because I’m trying to build belief, I’m trying to build confidence,” he said, adding of the boos: “It definitely doesn’t help.”
That emotional tension continued after the final whistle. Wilshere rallied his players together in the centre circle before leading them to acknowledge the crowd, a display designed to build unity, but performed to the backdrop of boos.
The manager said: “My message [to the players] was stick together. I thanked them for their efforts because I can really see that they’re trying and I see it every single day. They’re challenging each other. My message was, ‘right, let’s be together. Let’s go and thank the fans.’
“I know they probably don’t want to hear us thanking them, but we need to try to get them with us. We really do because that’s not an easy environment to play in for anyone, let alone if you’re coming off the back of two defeats where you haven’t been good enough and you’re lacking confidence.”
But the frustration bubbled over into confrontation. Captain Kal Naismith appeared to have an exchange with a fan and had to be pulled back by Wilshere, who spoke strongly about his skipper.
“I’ve said it before about Kal that I love him, and I think he’s a great leader, and I know that’s quite controversial at times, but I can’t quite get my head around that if I was a supporter of this club that I’d want someone like that leading it, because he really cares, he drives standards every single day,” Wilshere said.
“He doesn’t want to accept that we’re in the level we’re at. I know that he came back to the club to try and get the club back. We can have questionable performances, but it still needs to be respectful and Kal was always respectful. Always. But it has to remain that way, and I think probably Kal thought they [fans] crossed the line. I said, ‘Kal, don’t worry, let’s stick together’.”
Moments later, Wilshere found himself on his own confrontation with a supporter the tunnel, a heated exchange that later sparked wide attention on social media.
The Town boss said: “I was just trying to hear what he was saying. I’ve done it before. I think he was questioning the tactics, which is fine. Fans come, they pay their money and they watch and they have an understanding of football. So I was just trying to find out what he didn’t like about the tactics, find out that.
“[It’s] maybe a bad moment, but I also think I want to be respectful to the fans as well because I can see the frustration. We’re trying so much. So much, to turn it around and we’ll keep trying.
“There’s no entitlement to just win games. I know we’re playing against a team that are lower than us, but I said it before, they’re not just going to turn up and give us anything. We have to fight and fight and fight. We did that, but unfortunately we fell a bit short.”
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