Even early in the season when Bolton struggled for points, Ian Evatt was always certain that his hard work and tactics would at some point come to fruition.
Nine winners and two draws from their last 11 games show that all the pieces are falling into place. His side have topped the League Two table and automatic promotion is well tuned for the cards.
It may seem immediate that sixth place at this stage is nothing too impressive for a club that started the campaign as a title choice, but Bolton had fallen a long way and needed to be redesigned and rebuilt. Success does not come to any club overnight.
“Bolton is a big club, but it was a club that was in decline,” says Evatt, 39. Sky Sports, after winning the second Sky Bet Month Manager of the season in February.
“It really was a lot more work than I thought it would be at first. We have to start again after the scenes with the structure of the club and the players. there were a lot of registered players in the summer, so we had to hire an almost entirely new team in the midst of a pandemic, and those things will take time.
“We also introduced a bit in January in some posts that we needed to strengthen, and we have made great progress as the season has progressed. Luckily for us we are hitting on form at the right time, but there ‘s still a quarter of a season to go, and we need to keep getting this club back to where it needs to be. “
This is Evatt’s first season ruling in the Football League, last year having led Barrow to promotion from the National League, and there have been ups and downs.
We finally spoke after he won this award in November, when it appeared as if things were turning behind four winners just that month, but only one more win came in the nine games ahead. As early as February they were 19 in the list.
Evatt, therefore, is extremely grateful to Bolton chairman Sharon Brittan and the board for their belief in allowing the time – in an industry where patience is often lacking – to put its vision and plan into action. in action, even changing his career at the club late Last year.
“I came in as head coach but now I’m the manager, so I’m kind of really making my own decisions,” he says. “Recruitment is falling me, and that’s how I’d like to be. If you are going to die on your sword it must be like your sword.
“The club and board have trusted me even in the darkest times this season. They have trusted the process and put the structure in place to make us sustainable, and have given us a foundation to succeed in the future.
“I know if we go higher we may get to the point where the manager can’t do everything, it’s impossible. But for where we are now in League Two, for me the manager has to make as many decisions as he can, within reason, but that’s okay because I live and breathe football, it’s 24 hours a day , seven days a week for me.
“As we go along things have gotten better, but it was always going to take time. People need to understand that, as the old saying that Rome was not You just have to be more discriminating with the help you render toward other people. You just have to be more discriminating with the help you render toward other people.
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A selection of the Sky Bet Two League match between Port Vale and Bolton
Evatt was always defiant in his view that the results would eventually come, and he never embraced a philosophy he applied to Barrow that proved to Bolton’s owners that he was the right man. for the job.
“I know football is a game where results judge you, and I know that’s important, but for me it’s about achievements,” he says. “I believe that if you perform well and apply what we do in training, the last two will align anyway. Our achievements have improved as the season has progressed, and results have come with that.
“I want us as a football team to take a property-based attack. I believe that’s how the game should be played. Of course everyone has a different opinion. , and that ‘s what makes football so good.But I believe if we keep that brand and identity, then that will help us through the stages.
“Of course, we always had to change shapes and tweak a bit to get over certain situations, but overall my philosophy won’t change. That’s where we were from day one, we’re just better at it now And that is what comes from practice, repetition and hard work on the training ground.
“Everyone knows that Bolton should not be in League Two, we should at least be in the Championship. But if we reach that level it is what will bring the Our best chance at sustainable success is based on offensive team ownership. “
Evatt, the owners and the club have also put a lot of effort into rebuilding bridges with a fan base that had lost trust in the club.
Work has also been done to restructure the academy, and there are plans to bring some form of reserved team football back from next season. Bolton Wanderers is undergoing overhaul.
“A lot of work has been done behind the scenes,” says Evatt. “One of the reasons I came here was because it was almost a blank canvas, and we were able to create something of our own to be proud of. The club can take me where I want to be. to go, and hope that I can take Bolton with me where they want to go.There is a alignment of the outlook for the future that made me very happy.
“But we also know that we and the board are just keepers, because Bolton belongs to the fans. The most important thing we can do is make sure the club doesn’t -ever at risk as it was financially again And if we do, it will give us the best chance of moving forward.
“I think we did really well this year [to regain the trust of the fans], and that goes down to Sharon and the board. The faith and trust of the city and the community back in the club depends on them and how they have behaved. It has been a breath of fresh air.
“Now that the club is doing well on the pitch again the fans are happier, and I’m sure they are as happy to get back to the stadium as we are to get them. “
It is easy to forget for some that this was a club that was never in the Premier League from 2001 to 2012, and even a season or two in Europe in the middle of that.
Everything Evatt and the club are up to is now about laying the foundations to try and get back to a place close to that level again.
“I think the club should be in the Premier League,” he says. “It’s easy to sit here saying that as the manager of Bolton Wanderers, but we have everything we want to have. that level – the fan base, the stadium, the training facilities.
“But we are a long way from that, and we need to remember where we are, respect where we are, and work really hard to get ourselves back.
“As a manager you should always have short-term perspectives and long-term vision, and know the steps you need to take to implement your long-term vision.”
The short-term first step to success is to seal a promotion in May. It’s something that the cards haven’t looked at lately, but it’s really possible now. And Evatt feels confident.
“I think we can,” he says. “It has to be [our aim] and we know we have a lot of hard work ahead of us, but we have put ourselves in a good position.
“We have a chance, but for now that’s just it. To make it happen we have to keep going.”
Whether they manage it this season or not, you can’t help but be sure that Bolton Wanderers Football Club is in good hands now. And that’s the most important thing for the team and the city.