UNPREDICTABLE, emotional, constantly treading the precarious line between hero and villain… and that’s just the 11 players on the pitch; then we come to the manager.

After tempting us with the vaguest hint of consistency in the last few weeks, Wanderers lurched back towards the erratic with a 97-minute see-saw ride that left some relieved, some nauseous and some just plain annoyed.

Submissive for much of the first half, rampant for most of the second, it was almost as if the club’s media team had pieced together the best and the worst bits of September and October and compiled them into a Big Brother montage.

Indeed, for the opening 45 minutes Bolton could easily have been a bunch of fame-hungry twentysomething strangers thrown into a house in the hope they do something entertaining.

Already without injured number one Nathan Baxter, replacement Luke Southwood twice had to pick the ball out of his net after poorly defended corners.

Some credit is due for the way they trampled the Shrews in the quarter of an hour after the restart, the words of an irate Ian Evatt evidently still ringing in their ears. Both Kyle Dempsey and Szabi Schon deserved their goals as the two best Bolton players on the pitch. But with ample time to find a third and the sedate crowd now awake and well onside, the whole team then lost the necessary composure to take anything other than a point.

On any ordinary day those transformations would have been sufficient talking points for a debate on whether Wanderers have the right mentality to go one better than last season. But events after the final whistle added another layer of complexity to it all, with the man responsible for guiding this team losing his rag in ungainly fashion and earning himself a straight red card which could now be costly in more ways than one.

Shrewsbury’s timewasting tactics were crass but understandable in their predicament, as was Evatt’s frustration that referee Declan Bourne had not played the eight allotted minutes of added time, let alone anything he wished to add himself.

The Nottinghamshire official had flashed the odd yellow card but seldom looked like someone who wanted to stamp out the gamesmanship for good. So, with Wanderers surging forward in the hope they could get a third goal, the decision to end play early was as bold as it was unjust.

Evatt set off from the dugout with the reactions of an Olympic sprinter, a snarling expression and his face, and a pertinent question on his lips. Somewhere in the centre circle muddle, Shrews skipper Morgan Feeney said something to exacerbate the situation, and the red mist really descended, the Bolton boss pushing his forehead into the defender and bearing his teeth in a display of seething anger.

Referee Bourne booked Feeney but gave Evatt, the aggressor of the piece, a straight red. And, realistically, the ramifications for the manager could extend beyond the obligatory fine and one-game ban, putting into question his involvement at Birmingham and even the home game against Peterborough at the end of the month.

Passion is one thing, rage is another. All signs point to Evatt having said nothing to the official which could have landed him in hot water but the contact, or confrontation with a player is something that is rarely looked upon favourably by the Football Association’s disciplinary committee, especially as this won’t be the manager’s first conference call with the folk from Lancaster Gate.

Had Bolton found a winner, they would have had just one point fewer than they did after 10 games last season, something of an achievement considering the rollercoaster ride we seem to have enjoyed since August.

And in isolation a point against Shrewsbury having been so poor in the first half is not the worst thing in the world. Yes, Paul Hurst’s side had won just once in their previous 15 games, yes, Bolton somehow managed to concede an identical goal to Jordan Shipley as they did in April’s 2-2 draw, and, yes, if Evatt could have hand-picked an opponent to see his side off for the international break, he could have done a lot worse.

But defensive frailties aside, there have been some positive signs of late, Evatt has made some good calls, and the whole season has been pulled back from the cliff is threatened to fall over just a few weeks ago.

Win, lose or draw, the manager would still have his critics. It just feels as though his actions after the final whistle have played directly into the hands of those who still feel he is not the right person to lead this club forward. Even his supporters – and there are still plenty – would find it hard to support what happened.

If Evatt and the club choose to fight whatever charge is produced by the FA then they could run the risk of a longer ban if the case against him is upheld. One game – in this case Burton Albion – would be the standard issue punishment, along with a fine, but one suspect they may look for something more in this instance.

Wanderers need stability right now. The post-Huddersfield inquest saw the board back Evatt and the reaction since has shown he has the support of his players, the last thing anyone needs now is another dose of uncertainty to throw form off again.

There is a welcome distraction in the form of Aston Villa Under-21s in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy – a small event in the grander scheme but one where Evatt can bring back some players returning from injury and try to calm the waters of his own situation once more.

It’s a well-worn joke around Bolton that life here is never dull. One wonders if what it would be like without the chaos and drama, and whether this consistently inconsistent club could do with a spell away from the white-knuckle ride?