The Managerial Roundabout

[burnden]

Jack Wiltshire next Luton manager

 

[DirtySanchez]

11 minutes ago, burnden said:

Jack Wiltshire next Luton manager

 

He'll get injured in the press conference 

[Johnnyrotten]

If you were a Luton fan you'd be fuming, as much as he's a likeable bloke.  But next to no managerial or even coaching experience, when Luton should be able to take their pick of decent lower division managers or out of work ex-championship managers.

I bet he's not in charge by next summer, obviously that would mean he hasn't got them promoted but I think that's a given now with such an inexperienced manager.

[Zico]

He's still only 33!

[DirtySanchez]

40 minutes ago, Johnnyrotten said:

If you were a Luton fan you'd be fuming, as much as he's a likeable bloke.  But next to no managerial or even coaching experience, when Luton should be able to take their pick of decent lower division managers or out of work ex-championship managers.

I bet he's not in charge by next summer, obviously that would mean he hasn't got them promoted but I think that's a given now with such an inexperienced manager.

Read that despite their season in the prem and the parachute payments, the money is going into building their new ground 

Fans are pissed off with the board doing everything on the cheap and also not investing the money from sales since they first got relegated 

[Leyther_Matt]

9 hours ago, Zico said:

He's still only 33!

Flat out refuse to believe that 

[desperado]

Just been talking about Jack on talk sport.

This will be a tough gig for him.

Expectation will be promotion, which for a young manager with no experience will be tough.

Positives could be relationships with players with him being so young and close in age to them (but could also be a disadvantage) His status in the game will carry some weight and he’s got some of the personality qualities that align with being a good manager.

I could see it going either way.

Everytime @Horwich dips back into the forum with his bold comments they always make me smile, but offers good debate.

His 99% of managers are shit is a good one. 

You could equally say 99% of managers are good (at some point in their professional career, most will have a good spell and achieve something)

But 99% of the time it turns sour for them.

There’s so much that can contribute to a manager being successful, including a massive amount of luck, fortune and timing.

The only thing that is 100% certain, is that there isn’t a magic formula that works for every manager, every season, at any club. 

Even pep, fergie and wenger had their seasons where it didn’t work for them.

Applying this to our current manager it makes me laugh how some are saying just do what you did at Plymouth as if he can just apply everything he did there and make It work magically here. 

There’ll be elements he can (is) doing. And of course there is the “been there done that” factor.  But there will be hundreds of factors that will have to be considered that are different each season and with different clubs.

[Tonge moor green jacket]

If he so chose, he could quite easily have  copied his previous method used at Plymouth. 

He hasn't from what I see, and that is down to his personal preferences. 

No guarantees either way of course, but he certainly isn't going down the functional, effective route, that he adopted previously.

[Dr. Feelgood]

'Our Jack' was a bloody good player but lost his way following injuries & the footballer wrecking yard that is West Ham.

I hadn't noticed he was First Team Coach at Norwich last season.

I wish him well, but severely doubt it'll be a happy story.

Meanwhile Luton will be ploughing all their money into their badly needed new ground which won't open until 2028 at best. 

[Tonge moor green jacket]

We often talk about managers earning their stripes in the lower leagues.

He has gone to a division 3 side.

Like us; giving a largely inexperienced Evatt a go.

Whether it works or not, who knows. 

Lad has to start somewhere. 

[Whitesince63]

8 minutes ago, Tonge moor green jacket said:

We often talk about managers earning their stripes in the lower leagues.

He has gone to a division 3 side.

Like us; giving a largely inexperienced Evatt a go.

Whether it works or not, who knows. 

Lad has to start somewhere. 

To be fair we were in L2 and in dire straits when we have Evatt the job.

[Leyther_Matt]

25 minutes ago, Tonge moor green jacket said:

We often talk about managers earning their stripes in the lower leagues.

He has gone to a division 3 side.

Like us; giving a largely inexperienced Evatt a go.

Whether it works or not, who knows. 

Lad has to start somewhere. 

16 minutes ago, Whitesince63 said:

To be fair we were in L2 and in dire straits when we have Evatt the job.

At least Evatt was already in management at that point 

[Johnnyrotten]

5 clubs currently managed by ex BWFC players or manager:

Wrexham, Northampton, Brentford, Blackpool, Luton

[Cheese]

4 minutes ago, Johnnyrotten said:

5 clubs currently managed by ex BWFC players or manager:

Wrexham, Northampton, Brentford, Blackpool, Luton

Daisy Hill.

[Zico]

1 hour ago, Leyther_Matt said:

At least Evatt was already in management at that point 

with a track record of massively improving a team on zero resources and getting them promoted

 

[Zico]

34 minutes ago, Johnnyrotten said:

5 clubs currently managed by ex BWFC players or manager:

Wrexham, Northampton, Brentford, Blackpool, Luton

Southport

Peterborough Sports

Shelbourne

Iceland

[Johnnyrotten]

56 minutes ago, Cheese said:

Daisy Hill.

Southport

[Johnnyrotten]

Sorry just seen @Zico's more comprehensive list

[Tonge moor green jacket]

1 hour ago, Leyther_Matt said:

At least Evatt was already in management at that point 

He was.

Point still stands.

Younger managers starting lower down the pyramid.

Luton won't be able to afford some big name, as we couldn't.

Nevertheless, they will have spoken to the lad, said their bit and listened to what he had to say. 

Fair play to him. Won't be easy of course, but it may work out for them. 

So far, we've employed two young fellas, with promising, budding careers.

First one started well, and ended badly. Second is still a bit meh.

[gonzo]

Looking like Bloomfield in at Bloomfield.

 

[victor meldrew]

7 hours ago, Dr. Feelgood said:

'Our Jack' was a bloody good player but lost his way following injuries & the footballer wrecking yard that is West Ham.

I hadn't noticed he was First Team Coach at Norwich last season.

I wish him well, but severely doubt it'll be a happy story.

Meanwhile Luton will be ploughing all their money into their badly needed new ground which won't open until 2028 at best. 

One end will be Tommy Robinson stand and the other a mosque 

Edited October 13, 2025 by victor meldrew
Spelling

[RoadRunnerFan]

25 minutes ago, victor meldrew said:

One end will be Tommy Robinson stand and the other a mosque 

Don't forget the Andrew Tate suite

[bolty58]

7 hours ago, RoadRunnerFan said:

Don't forget the Andrew Tate suite

In the Lorraine Chase stand?

 

[Tombwfc]

On 12/10/2025 at 21:55, Johnnyrotten said:

If you were a Luton fan you'd be fuming, as much as he's a likeable bloke.  But next to no managerial or even coaching experience, when Luton should be able to take their pick of decent lower division managers or out of work ex-championship managers.

I bet he's not in charge by next summer, obviously that would mean he hasn't got them promoted but I think that's a given now with such an inexperienced manager.

 

We went for been-there-done-it experience and how's it working out for us?

Without knowing Jack or having spoke to him I've no idea whether I'd give him a job, but apparently he is a promising coach. And as has been said, plenty of coaches have had their first job at a higher or equivalent level to where Luton are now and done alright.

After successive relegations and a bad start to this season my guess is that what Luton need more than anything is good vibes. Not some Richie Wellens type career lower league man coming in to call them all shit (which incidentally is also what SS did here).

[Johnnyrotten]

4 hours ago, Tombwfc said:

 

We went for been-there-done-it experience and how's it working out for us?

Without knowing Jack or having spoke to him I've no idea whether I'd give him a job, but apparently he is a promising coach. And as has been said, plenty of coaches have had their first job at a higher or equivalent level to where Luton are now and done alright.

After successive relegations and a bad start to this season my guess is that what Luton need more than anything is good vibes. Not some Richie Wellens type career lower league man coming in to call them all shit (which incidentally is also what SS did here).

Don't mistake this as I've got a downer on Wilshere or that I don't wish him well or accept he could be the next Kieran McKenna etc.  I'm just saying, Luton fans will be wondering why they're giving him his first job when other (proven) managers are probably available (don't ask me for names!).

The difference between us having a Wilshere and SS is that if Wilshere gets 3 points from 7 away games and loses cumulatively 5-0 at Northampton and Burton, fans would rightly or wrongly be questioning the appointment - because he's got no track record to back him up.  Same as the Huddersfield manager,  Andrews at Brentford, Dodds at Wycombe, fans (and the board?) will have less patience and be quicker to question the appointment.