Jack Wilshere says he always knew that taking charge of Luton Town would mean fronting up to a frustrated fanbase and trying to rebuild a connection that has been strained by two relegations and an inconsistent League One campaign.
The manager, just eight weeks into his first permanent senior managerial role, spoke frankly about the weight of expectation that comes with leading a club still feeling those aftershocks as well as perceived problems in recruitment since the winter transfer window in the Premier League two years ago.
Wilshere confronted that sentiment head on at Leyton Orient on Tuesday when he stepped into the away end to speak with angry supporters after the last-gasp 1-1 draw. His experiences so far have underlined why communication matters as he tries to steady the club and push it back towards the Championship.
“I understand it. I also understand that when I took the job, that was part of it,” he said of addressing fans’ feeling. “Part of it was sort of rebuilding our connection with them and that will take a while. They’re not happy that we’re in League One and, ultimately, that’s the problem.
“We’re trying all we can to fix that situation and get back to the Championship, and probably some of the fans won’t be happy until we do that. So, I understand it.
“That’s partly why I wanted to have a conversation with a few of them after the game, just to let them know that we’re trying, and I hear it, and you can be frustrated, that’s fine. As much as that is fine, we also need some support, especially at home.”
Wilshere said he can already picture moments against bottom-of-the-league side Port Vale tomorrow where the Kenilworth Road crowd will need patience, warning that Luton cannot expect a comfortable afternoon, despite the visitors being without a League One win since September 27.
“I can picture the game tomorrow and it’s not going to be an easy game, it’s not going to be a game that we’re just going to turn up and win,” he said. “They’re going to be in a block. It’s going to be difficult. There’ll be some moments probably where it feels like we’re a little bit frustrated and we’re keeping the ball and we’re looking for the right moment to attack, and we need them in those moments.”
The manager believes the team has shown more purpose during his short tenure – with just one normal time defeat in their last 11 games in all competitions – but admits they are still striving for the right balance in attack, as the Orient game highlighted when Town didn’t have a single shot on target until Gideon Kodua’s 96th minute leveller.
“I understand their [fans] frustration. We need to attack and we need to have purpose, which I think we’ve improved as a team since I’ve been here,” Wilshere said. “I think we have more threat, I think we look to get behind teams a little bit more. We always have to do that.
“I’ve spoken about it so many times about having variation in an attack and being a little bit unpredictable for teams and, yeah, sometimes playing short, but sometimes playing a little bit longer.
“We probably haven’t got that balance completely right yet and we’re still looking for the right moments to get behind teams because, in my opinion, if teams come in and just sit in a block, it’s really hard to get behind them. So you have to attract them out, you have to draw them out and then get the right moment to get in behind.
“And we probably haven’t done that well enough at times or at least consistent enough. And I feel like that then creates a feeling with the fans, which I understand. And it can be frustrating, but as much as they can, we need them.”
Luton have previously struggled at home against the low block of Rotherham, where Town could not break down the Millers and had to settle for a frustrating stalemate draw in Wilshere’s second league match in charge at Kenilworth Road.
The manager said it is difficult to predict whether Port Vale will sit deep or press, because they do have an attacking threats, particularly in the shape of Devante Cole – the son of one of the Premier League’s greatest ever marksmen, Andrew Cole – but believes Luton’s structure will dictate Vale’s approach.
“It’s hard to predict, right? Because I’ve seen them press, I’ve seen them be in a low block,” Wilshere said of the Valiants who are the lowest scorers in the division with 11 in 18 games.
“I think if we get our initial build up right, I think they’ll be forced to go into a block. We need to pick our moments where we have a slow build up or we need to pick our moments when we attack fast when they start to press us and we need to recognise those moments. I think we’ve got better at that.
“I don’t know where we are now, but when I first came we were 24th in the league for transitions against. So, that for me is not really a mentality thing, it’s more of an understanding and everyone being connected to [thinking] we’re going to play short here or we’re going to play long, because you can’t get caught in between both.”
“When you think of the Rotherham game, they were literally just in a low block and when they got the ball back tried to play long. I think Port Vale are a little bit different. They try to play, not necessarily in their own third, but they’ll try and play a little bit longer, but then if they land on seconds, they’ll try and play and create chances and they have done.
“So we need to make sure that when we’re attacking we’re doing it good and we’re trying to get behind them in the right spaces, but also when they have the ball that we’re focused and we’re doing everything we can to try and stop them creating chances.”
For Luton fans, it will be about their team creating far more than they managed in midweek.
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