Exclusive: Luton Town's 3-man shortlist to succeed Matt Bloomfield revealed - ft Jack Wilshere | OneFootball

Jack Wilshere is one of three candidates on Luton Town's managerial shortlist, FLW understands.

Richie Wellens, Luke Williams and Jack Wilshere are the three managerial candidates to replace Matt Bloomfield at Luton Town, Football League World has exclusively been informed.

The Hatters have rolled the dugout dice in an attempt to get their League One promotion push back on track.

Following their fifth loss of the season away at Stevenage last weekend, Town made the decision to axe Bloomfield after nine months in charge, with the former Wycombe Wanderers boss arriving at Kenilworth Road back in January to replace Rob Edwards.

The club find themselves firmly in mid-table ahead of this weekend's round of third tier fixtures, and given their back-to-back relegations from the Premier League and the Championship, everyone connected with Luton is desperate to see the club starting to climb the pyramid once again.

Luton Town finalise three-man shortlist of Richie Wellens, Luke Williams and Jack Wilshere for Kenilworth Road vacancy

Football League World has exclusively been informed that Luton Town have drawn up a three-man shortlist of candidates to replace Bloomfield as Hatters boss.

We understand that those three coaches are: Leyton Orient manager Richie Wellens, former Swansea City, Notts County and Swindon Town boss Luke Williams, and ex-Norwich City caretaker manager, Jack Wilshere.

Journalist Alan Nixon has also reported that Luton are indeed keen on Wellens, with the 45-year-old having performed an excellent job with the O's since taking over in March 2022.

However, Nixon also claims that Orient wouldn't be willing to surrender their boss to them without a fight, and could demand a compensation fee of around £1m given he signed a new contract until the summer of 2028 back in June.

Williams has been out of work since February, after being sacked as Swans boss after just over a year in charge following a run of seven defeats in nine games.

Prior to that, the 43-year-old did lead Notts County promotion from the National League in 2022/23, despite having to do it via the play-offs after finishing second to Wrexham having still amassed 107 points.

Wilshere, meanwhile, has been out of a job since the end of last season, having stood in as caretaker manager of Norwich City following the sacking of Johannes Hoff Thorup in late April.

Prior to joining the Canaries' coaching staff in October 2024, the former England international worked as the head coach of Arsenal's Under-18 side, and led them to the final of the 2022/23 FA Youth Cup in his first season in charge.

Luton Town are seemingly sticking with younger manager strategy given Wellens, Williams and Wilshere shortlist

Luton Town have been largely going for younger and more up-and-coming coaches to lead the club in recent times.

Nathan Jones certainly matched that profile upon his first Hatters appointment back in January 2016, having only briefly spent time as an assistant manager and first-team coach with Brighton & Hove Albion prior to landing his first full-time head coaching job with Luton.

Then came the likes of Graeme Jones, Nathan Jones again, Rob Edwards and then most recently, Bloomfield.

And for the most part, this strategy has largely brought about great success too, with the club climbing all the way up from the depths of the EFL to the Premier League, before the subsequent fall they've endured in recent times.

However, they evidently look to be sticking to their guns in this regard given this shortlist of Wellens (45), Williams (43) and Wilshere (33) respectively, with the former of that trio being the most experienced of the bunch in terms of the number of clubs managed.

Even so, Wellens only began his managerial career with Oldham Athletic in the summer of 2017, whilst Williams began his in December 2015 with Swindon Town but has only managed three clubs in his career, and Wilshere is yet to be handed his first full-time managerial role.

A fascinating decision awaits for Luton Town: do they potentially push the financial boat out to acquire Wellens from their League One rivals, or do they go the cheaper but potentially riskier route with either one of Williams or Wilshere?