WILL this be the final act of the Ian Evatt era at Bolton Wanderers? A spectacular self-combustion of a team disappearing under the weight of its own footballing philosophies and expectations?

There was an end-of-days feeling about a gutless second half at the Toughsheet, during which the steady exit of home fans was more damning than any adjective we could conjure for what was happening on the pitch.

Trailing 1-0 at half time in a game of little quality, the Whites found new levels of abjectness when they returned. Three more goals were leaked, the last of which was like a poisoned pen letter to Brand Evatt, leaving the embattled and suited manager stood motionless on the edge of his technical area, hands in pockets, facing the full stream of sarcasm from a joyous away end and the bilious barbs from those home supporters who had elected to stay.

Evatt has ridden out rough storms before, even been through longer winless runs. He has stood front and centre, belief in his style of football utterly unwavering, despite results since the turn of the year suggesting opposition managers have found a way to negate the qualities that once counted as Bolton’s strengths.

But by his own admission, his team are fuelled by confidence. And whether it be the disappointment of missing out on automatic promotion at the end of last season, the pain of the play-off final, or the fractured preparations for the new campaign, the forward momentum has now stopped completely, and Evatt’s vehicle came to a spluttering halt on Saturday afternoon with 20,000-plus people watching on.

Forget the echo chambers of social media, the show of no confidence was there in thousands of seats vacated way before the final whistle sounded. Even if conversations with Sharon Brittan and the board result in him staying in post, there is a very real chance that too much damage has now been done to get things moving in a positive direction again.

Every soul in modern football has a finite shelf life, be it player or manager. Only the luckiest ones get to move on by their own volition. And if this is farewell then it should be put on record that Evatt has given Bolton Wanderers some fantastic times.

It has become abundantly clear, however, that the sweeping changes needed to avoid the disappointment of Wembley bleeding into the current season have not been made. They have followed like a morbid shadow and rendered a team which once looked Championship ready into one which looks directionless and unmotivated.

Evatt had considered his own future in May but elected after talks with the ownership to take on the challenge one more time. In truth, a scrappy opening day win at Leyton Orient is one of only a few things that have gone right in the months since.

Would the chance of some separation in international break bring a change of fortune? Sadly not. Huddersfield are precisely the sort of powerful, direct opposition which have been Bolton’s undoing so often, and once they Josh Koroma had nodded them ahead just before the break, the Whites were plunged into a downward spiral.

Dion Charles was subbed at half time for Victor Adeboyejo in an attempt to jump start the listless football of the first 45 minutes and for a brief period he looked the brightest player on the pitch.

All hope was extinguished, though, when referee Chris Chilowicz gave a penalty against Chris Forino for a tangle of legs with Koroma. The centre-half found himself regularly swamped down Huddersfield’s left, which proved some comedown from his idyllic international stint with St Lucia the weekend before.

Koroma scored from the spot and the Terriers smelled blood. Nine minutes later Ben Wiles slotted in the third after Bolton failed to clear a corner, prompting a mass walk-out from three sides of the stadium.

The fourth goal was a tragedy that Shakespear himself would have struggled to script.

Evatt has been completely unapologetic about his desire to see his defenders play out from the back, to draw teams in and break forward with pace and precision. Or at least that is how is sounds in theory.

In reality, Bolton have not played with the necessarily vigour to make that approach work for some time. And as Huddersfield’s hungry front line chased down the ball forcing Szabi Schon, Eoin Toal and Josh Sheehan backwards, there was a sense of inevitability that it would end in trouble. Sure enough, Sheehan’s panicked ball back to Nathan Baxter should have been punted clear, but instead the keeper chose to try and pick a pass to Jay Matete which was snapped up by Antony Evans and despatched into the goal with glee.

Aside from the crestfallen Baxter, face down in disappointment on the turf, the resigned look on Wanderers faces as they ambled back towards the centre circle said it all. A team beaten, and not just on the day.

Wanderers fans made their feelings known, and they had every right to do so. They have backed the team and the manager to the hilt, had sang his name before kick-off, and the atmosphere had turned sour only when the game was completely beyond recovery.

While Evatt has always had his critics, public flashpoints had been few and far between, certainly in comparison to predecessors like Dougie Freedman, Gary Megson or going back even further, Phil Neal. And there is still a sizeable chunk of the fanbase hoping he can turn it around, albeit they are now drowned out by the more dissenting voices.

After the match, it was difficult to assess whether the man himself really felt he was up to the challenge. Just like at Wembley, he was speaking on instinct, shell-shocked into a confession that the “black cloud” of the play-off final was still hanging around.

He said he would seek talks with the ownership about what happens next, and football logic would suggest those in charge will also want answers.

Five games into the new season, anything is still possible, but perhaps not now without major intervention. Whether that comes from the board room, or from Evatt himself, we should find out very soon.