Ryan Lowe responds to fans’ criticism on Paul Mullin and his players after Wigan lose to Luton

Ryan Lowe responds to fans’ criticism on Paul Mullin and his players after Wigan lose 1-0 to Luton in midweek.

Paul Mullin, on loan from Wrexham to the Latics for the 2025/26 season, scored his first competitive goal after 196 days in a Carabao Cup win over Notts County, earning initial praise from fans as a “new player.”

However, after a defeat to Luton Town on August 19th, some Wigan fans quickly changed their opinion of him. Manager Ryan Lowe has since defended his players, urging fans via Wigan Today to show “pride and consideration” for their efforts.

Josh Keeley doing Josh Keeley things. pic.twitter.com/aUIHOexOGi

— Luton Town FC (@LutonTown) August 20, 2025

Lowe did say he wanted a reaction from his players this weekend, saying: “I don’t like losing two on the bounce’.

“We’ll address that on the way home, we’ll start doing the prep for Rotherham United tonight.

“Again, every fixture is going to be difficult, isn’t it? At home, we have hopefully got that sorted at the moment, but you’ve got to go away from home and get points on the board.

“I don’t like losing two on the bounce, and I’ve stressed that to the boys, and we’ll make sure we get a reaction out of us.

“They (Rotherham) haven’t had a game tonight, so they’ll maybe be fresher, but we’ve got a few lads that will hopefully come back to full fitness at the weekend.

“We’ll monitor the Rotherham game tonight, tomorrow and Friday, and we’ll put a gameplan together for Saturday, but as for now, we’re disappointed with the result, but definitely not with the performance.”

On the Wigan fans at Luton: “Brilliant. I went over to one of the fans and said, ‘give the lads a little bit of credit, they’ve done everything for you’. The lads were clapping them off the pitch, and they’re with us there, we know that, and we want them to be with us all the time.

“I know one or two will maybe moan over team selections or personnel or whatever, that’s fine, it’s their club, they’ve got a right to do that, but do have a bit of pride and consideration for the boys because they’ve worked their socks off.

“Overall, I’m pleased with them, the fans have been excellent and long may that continue, they ran us on through and on another day, maybe that falls through to Dara (Costelloe) or Christian (Saydee) or Maleace (Asamoah Jr) and the ball rolls into the back of the net instead of the goalkeeper, so I’m pleased with the way the fans have been excellent.”

This was the Twitter reaction as Ryan Lowe responds to fans’ criticism on Paul Mullin and his players after Wigan lose to Luton…

@emwafc_27: Mullin is fucking pony btw. No confidence and runs like he’s pulling a fridge freezer #wafc

@JamesSaintLatic: I said this when he signed, Mullin isn’t a good signing. Hes 4th choice striker at best and he’s started tonight. The mind boggles.

@bobWAFC: crying out for saydee or asamoah, mullin’s not got the pace or strength needed to keep that ball moving when he’s through #wafc

@WigansDannyB: I’ve watched “Welcome To Wrexham” and I was under the impression that Mullin was actually good?

@WiganValeting: I’m really struggling to get used to Mullin, I don’t think he’s good enough at all 🥴 #wafc

@NFletch46: Paul Mullin out of his depth in this league #WAFC #WrexhamAFC Another 1v1 missed, good grafter but just doesn’t have the skill level required

@ShirtyMorris: Mullin just doesn’t bring anything if he’s not scoring goals, doesn’t hold it up, isn’t quick and atm just 0 confidence to score, get him off… Adeeko looks like he’s playing his first game too btw 😂 rusty #wafc

@tomprescott94: Send mullin back at half time. Waste of space #wafc

@joeh50: We’ve got some kind of hidden clause with Wrexham stating Mullin has to get sky sports screen time, only explanation

@jack_hollinrake: Can we stop the Mullin experiment now?

@OliWAFC: send mullin back to wrexham

@wxmpaz: From the game I saw last night mulls may benefit from dropping back into a attack midfield role as some of the balls he played were great however he seems to have lost it In front of goal the chances he had last night 90% of strikers would have taken

@ShirtyMorris: Mullin just doesn’t bring anything if he’s not scoring goals, doesn’t hold it up, isn’t quick and atm just 0 confidence to score, get him off… Adeeko looks like he’s playing his first game too btw 😂 rusty #wafc

@ltfcat: Waiting to hit it long to your striker so he can hold it up is a decent gameplan But when that striker is Paul Mullin, what are you doing 😭

@WrexhamFan3: Feel sad about this because we all know what he can do. It’s in there. Maybe he has some other worries on his mind.

@stu_wafc: First half team cost us , second half was closed off ! Mullin is a pub player end of. Did a better job as deadpool than a CF #wafc

@NFletch46: Looks like Lowe’s team selection was meant for Notts County in the EFL cup, not potentially the best team in the league. Good game in fairness. Draw would have been a fair outcome. Shame that Mullin can’t finish, had the potential to score a few. Just not clinical as always.

@nicholas_rowe1: I don’t think it’s helping that he’s coming off the bench for a few minutes here and there. Hardly time to make any sort of impact. The less he’s playing, the less confidence he’s building up and it’s all just a bit of a mess.

@wafc2023: Make mullin walk home. Could do wi the exercise

@Ryan_LTFC: Made some very good saves, but because Paul Mullin is fucking shite. Keeley didn’t have to do anything apart from make his goal look small because Mullin hit it straight at him 🤣

@tomtitchwfc: Looks like Paul Mullin has had a nightmare start at Wigan. He needs games to get his form back, but looks like the fans are getting on his back already. Shame really.

@MattG824824: That’s not good. 2 appearances, 0 goals. But the numbers never tell the full story. I wonder if he has just been looking out of sorts or slow or something