Have Bolton turned the corner?

Three wins, one draw and six defeats. That’s how Barrow begun life in the National League under Ian Evatt last season. They followed that up with seven consecutive wins that set them on their way towards promotion to the football league.

Two wins, three draws and five defeats. That’s how Bolton began life in League Two under new manager Ian Evatt this season. Since then they have gone unbeaten in five games, including four consecutive wins. Could this be the start of another promotion push for the impressive young manager?

Life in Bolton started out rough for Evatt. They lost in the first round of the Carabao Cup which won’t have been high on the list of priorities, but to respond to that with three defeats in their opening three league games without so much as scoring a goal would have been a huge concern.

Starting a new job at a recently relegated club amid a global pandemic is hardly ideal in the first place, but doing so under a transfer embargo rendered matters even more problematic. Bolton had to use free transfers and the loan market to build their squad and prepare for the slog of another 46 game campaign.

They managed to get in some experience in Matt Gilks and Alex Baptiste and they managed a very impressive signing in getting in Antoni Sarcevic who impressed during Plymouth’s promotion campaign last season. It was the signing of Eoin Doyle that really caught the eye however.

Doyle was the top scorer in League Two last season, bagging 26 goals and it was a real coup to get someone with proven goalscoring experience. Eyebrows were raised at giving a 32 year-old a three year deal but a player of his calibre wants certainty at this stage of his career and he’ll return that in spades having already scored six times for the Whites.

Goalkeeper Billy Crellin also came in on a loan move from Fleetwood but he endured a very difficult start to the season. This wasn’t helped by the fact that Evatt decided to criticise him publicly and said that he needed to ‘man up’. This left a sour taste in the mouth of many and it’s really not the way to go about things in the modern game, especially with a struggling young goalkeeper.

Evatt has since taken Crellin out of the firing line and gone with the veteran Gilks. This has been one of the reasons behind the recent upturn in form with Gilks being a commanding figure and instilling much needed confidence in the defence leading to three clean sheets in the last four matches.

It was at this point that I began to wonder if Evatt was under genuine pressure or were the board prepared to be patient and allow him to implement his preferred passing style. I put this to Bolton fan Chris, of Burdenaces.

‘Expectations were always going to be high for Bolton this season and although bookmakers, a portion of the fan base and many outsiders had tipped us to win all 46 games on the way to the title, Ian Evatt was always going to need time after assembling a completely new squad of footballers. What surprised us, however, was just how much time he seemed to need.

We were losing games left, right and centre without even putting up so much of a fight, leaving us hovering just above the relegation zone in our lowest-ever position in the EFL pyramid. Whilst fans had began to question him – and believe me when I say things would have been worse had we been allowed in stadiums – he has started to win them round in recent weeks after totting up the victories.’

Football has a bad habit of short term thinking but it is refreshing to see owners pick a manager, allow him to build a team to play a certain way and have the courage to stick by their man when things are not going well. It now looks as though that faith is being rewarded.

Southend, Scunthorpe and Stevenage won’t be the most difficult trio of games that Bolton will come up against but getting nine points is all that mattered and they now sit 10th in the table.

League Two looks a particularly strong division this season with Newport, Cheltenham, Exeter and Forest Green all making good starts.

Add that to the spending power of Salford City and a Tranmere side who look to have got their act together and automatic promotion would seem a tall order. A play off push is definitely within Bolton’s capabilities though and it’s there where the experience of Gilks, Doyle and Baptiste could see Evatt rising through the ranks once more.

Whether promotion is achieved or not, the owners appear to be committed to Evatt and believe he is right man to lead the Trotters out of League Two and beyond.

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