Luton Town set to appoint Matt Bloomfield successor - Leyton Orient fans will be relieved | OneFootball

Jack Wilshere is set to take over from Matt Bloomfield as the new Luton Town manager.

Luton Town are close to naming Jack Wilshere as Matt Bloomfield’s successor at Kenilworth Road, in what will be his first permanent role as a head coach.

The Hatters suffered relegation to League One under Bloomfield after his appointment during the previous campaign, and their results have continued to stutter in the third tier.

A 2-0 defeat at Stevenage last time out prompted the board to sack Bloomfield, and there has been plenty of speculation over the past few days as to who would take over.

Jack Wilshere set to be appointed Luton Town manager - Leyton Orient fans will be delighted

Football League World exclusively revealed on Friday that Wilshere, Leyton Orient boss Richie Wellens and ex-Swansea City manager Luke Williams were on Luton’s final three-man shortlist to succeed Bloomfield at Kenilworth Road.

And, in a fresh development on Saturday afternoon, Football Insider has stated that Wilshere is now set to take the top job at Luton.

They claim that a ‘full agreement' is on the verge of being agreed between the League One outfit and the 33-year-old, in what will be seen as a bold move by the Hatters hierarchy.

Since retiring from the game in 2022, Wilshere has quickly transitioned to coaching, having initially worked with former club Arsenal as their Under-18 coach, where he earned plenty of plaudits and even took them to the final of the 2022/23 FA Youth Cup.

The former England international then moved to Norwich as part of Johannes Hoff Thorup’s backroom team in October last year, and he actually took over as caretaker manager for the final few games of last season after the Dane was sacked.

But he was overlooked for the job on a permanent basis this summer, with former Bristol City boss Liam Manning being named as the new man in charge at Carrow Road.

This news of Wilshere's imminent appointment at Kenilworth Road will see Leyton Orient fans everywhere breath a huge sigh of relief, as it had looked as though their much-loved manager, Wellens, was a prime candidate to take the job.

Journalist Alan Nixon had, however, revealed that any club wishing to appoint Wellens would have to have compensated Orient with a fee of around £1m, which for a League One side, is a lot of money.

The 45-year-old has performed an outstanding job with the O's since taking over in March 2022, having taken them from mid-table obscurity in League Two upon his arrival, to just 90 minutes away from Championship promotion last season, before falling to Charlton Athletic in the League One play-off final.

Jack Wilshere would be a risky but exciting appointment for Luton Town

There are obvious risks to this appointment, as Wilshere does lack experience having never been handed a full-time managerial role in senior football.

And you would understand if some fans wanted a proven boss to take over, as promotion is the aim for Luton this season after back-to-back relegations from the Premier League and Championship.

Nevertheless, Wilshere is highly-rated as a coach, and his profile makes this a very exciting appointment, so the hierarchy at Kenilworth Road deserve credit for giving him an opportunity.

Wilshere will be desperate to prove himself as the main man, and he will bring fresh ideas to what is a talented Luton squad for this level.

So, it will be interesting to see how Wilshere adapts to his new role, should he indeed be handed it, and whether he can implement the style of play that he wants.