Paul Parker: Jack Wilshere may need to go abroad to kick-start his career

Jack Wilshere’s reaction – and sending off – last night in an Under 23s game against Manchester City boils down to frustration. It's all because of the way his career is going, it seems. He’s playing in a match which maybe he doesn’t want to be at, perhaps he thinks he is better than it and is getting worked up.

He’s in the last year of his contract and is not sure if it is going to be renewed. I’ve been there – in my last season at Manchester United. I would never think about lashing out at somebody but he’s angry and grumpy and will now be embarrassed that he got involved in it. Now, wherever he goes, it will be something else for him to be judged on.

He’s an experienced player, is 25, and is shoving a youngster who is trying the earn the right to get where Jack has got to and you have to say Wilshere has to be better than that. It’s like a grown man slapping a 10-year-old over the back of the head.

Matthew Smith will have had respect for Wilshere and wouldn’t have believed his luck knowing that he’s going to be playing against him. Will he have the same respect now after that incident?

He’s just got to get his head right – in his situation there is no-one else to blame but himself. Yes, he’s been injured but he needs to get over these problems – it’s just the way the cookie has crumbled for him. He needs to work as hard as possible, get his body as strong as possible so he can get through it.

His Premier League career is going down the drain at the moment because you have to wonder which top-flight team would gamble on him after seeing him last season at Bournemouth. They were a better team without him. Arsenal suit him because of the way they pass around but the Cherries were looking to get the ball forward a bit quicker. And, because Wilshere is not what you would call a box-to-box player, he couldn’t adapt to that style.

He needs to get away from Arsenal because he won’t get his contract renewed. It would be incredible if he did. He can’t get into that Arsenal squad at the moment.

The next side that takes Wilshere on may not be in the Premier League either. As old pros have found out – it’s never easy to drop down. It’s harder in many ways as you haven’t got the quality around you. He might have to go overseas, go to Italy for example, where they don’t bypass the midfield, to get some games under his belt and his confidence back.