Bolton Wanderers boss Ian Evatt wants united front for Derby

Tuesday night’s Carabao Cup defeat against Middlesbrough was Evatt’s 172nd in charge, equalling the number of games in which the legendary Bruce Rioch sat in the Bolton dugout between 1992 and 1995.

Not only was there some irony that is happened against the Teessiders – the only other club that can possibly rival Bolton for Rioch’s affections – but also that Evatt should surpass his predecessor’s total in this weekend’s game against Derby County, a club which held great memories for them both during their respective playing careers.

Evatt’s win percentage of 48.84 puts him above any post-war manager, a statistic he volunteered when discussing a tricky 10 days in the aftermath of a 4-0 home defeat against neighbours Wigan Athletic.

Bruce Rioch and Ian Evatt have been in charge for exactly the same number of games (Image: NQNW)

Sections of Bolton’s support readily sang the manager’s name in the first half of the Middlesbrough game, this on the day that chairman, Sharon Brittan, saw it necessary to issue a statement on the official website asking a minoroty of fans to refrain from “aggressive” and “vitriolic” abuse, which had been reported towards the manager and CEO, Neil Hart, during the 1-1 draw at Burton.

Wanderers remain third and with 10 points from five games remain on the two-point-per-match target Evatt often refers to when discussing promotion form.

Some of the more inflammatory responses to both the Wigan and Burton results were clearly still on the manager’s mind when he spoke to The Bolton News ahead of this weekend’s game – but Evatt hopes a united front can be quickly restored.

“When we talk about recent results, it gives me the hump,” he said. “Yes, we drew away at Burton, yes, we apologise for the Wigan performance, but let’s not get carried away here. We are third in the table with two points per game and we have done a lot right.

“A week ago, everyone was saying we were going to walk the league and all that nonsense.

“Nobody hurts more than me and the players when we don’t get results but, unfortunately, we are in League One and that is going to happen. How we respond is really going to define who we are.

“One thing is for certain, it should never become personal, it should never step over the mark. I am all for constructive criticism, but it is not easy being manager of this football club – I absolutely love it and work my socks off to get the best results we can. Without blowing my own trumpet I believe I have the best win percentage of anyone post-war. It shows we are doing things correctly, but we will have rough spells. How we stick together and come out the other side will define who we are and what we are.

“I love this football club. I love working for this football club. The players do too. We will work tirelessly to get success this season, but we are not going to win every game, I promise we’ll lose some even though we don’t want to. But we need to stick together, be positive and go again Saturday.”

Can Wanderers circle the waggons and get back to winning ways against Derby? (Image: Camerasport)

The Wigan result will no doubt stick in the throat for some time, or at least until the return visit to the DW Stadium, currently pencilled in for January 6.

Evatt seems keen to avoid it becoming a major flashpoint so early in the campaign, however, and knows his own team can help themselves greatly this weekend in a meeting of two teams that are expected to lead from the front in League One.

“For me, it is about focussing on our role of improving and working hard with the players and trying to be better,” he said. “You are going to lose, you are going to win. If you don’t lose games, you don’t appreciate winning them.

“I said in pre-season that what will define our season will be how we manage the tough moments, and we had a tough moment against Wigan. I thought we should have won the game, especially in the second half, on Saturday. But we can be better still.

“As a club we need to come together in the tougher moments. We don’t need to be pointing fingers and saying we have become a horrendous team.

“We have to stick together, be as one, have firm belief in the process and what we are trying to do. And we are working hard to improve.

“Nobody was hurting more than us after that Wigan game. I guarantee that.

“I know supporters were hurting but I can assure you we have been hurting ever since.

“We want and need to put that right. But the answer to whether we accomplish that is in May, not now. Let’s just everyone calm down, trust the process, believe in what we are doing, keep things constructive and not destructive – because there is a little bit of that which came in.

“We will march on together and Saturday becomes a huge game that we really want to win.”