WHATEVER your view on Ian Evatt’s punishment from the Football Association – their decision draconian, fair, or lenient – the serious ramifications of his red card against Shrewsbury Town won’t be known for a few weeks yet.
Wanderers marked the fact their manager had been hit in the pocket by a £3,400 fine and banned from the touchline for the next three games with a short club statement yesterday, which wasn’t even flagged up on social media.
Given the improvement in league form of late, the whole affair can best be described as a distraction the Whites could do without as they approach a defining run of games before the next international break.
Evatt will not be allowed on the touchline when his team face Burton Albion on Saturday afternoon, nor will he be able to communicate directly with his players until half time. It will be the same protocol for the trip to Birmingham City next Tuesday, and then again for the home meeting with Peterborough United on October 26.
The suspended manager will, quite literally, have a grandstand view of the next three games as his assistants, Pete Atherton and Stephen Crainey, take over the role of issuing direct instruction from the sidelines. According to FA directives: “The individual cannot position themselves in or behind the area of the dugout, or any barrier adjacent to the touchline or goal line.”
And by the time he once again prowls the technical area at Stevenage, the league table could make very different reading.
By Evatt’s own reckoning, his absence on the touchline will mean a different dynamic for his players. Very occasionally, he has chosen to watch cup games from a gantry, similar to the vantage point once preferred in the first half of games by one of his predecessors, Sam Allardyce. But for the most part, his vocal cajoling from the side-lines has been a standard feature of the last four years.
“I am an emotional and passionate guy, and I like to demand things from my team from the side-line, and I think my team connects and reacts to that,” he told The Bolton News recently. “I think we go into battle together.”
But a suspension does not mean he cannot pass on information to his staff, which can be relayed to the players via the bench.
The FA rules state: “It is not permissible for the participant to shout instructions to the occupants of the technical area or players on the field of play.
“The participant may use a communication device to give instructions to the occupants of the technical area.”
New EFL rules mean that when a manager is sent off, he is unable to speak with the media after the game. Those duties were fulfilled by Pete Atherton after the Shrewsbury game. But Evatt will be allowed to do pre and post-match press conferences for the upcoming three matches.
Former Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp said his own touchline suspension in 2023 was “super-helpful” as it gave him a different perspective on the game, and also allowed him to re-watch incidents on an iPad. As Evatt found out to his cost last season against Fleetwood, that can be problematic when it is done in the technical area.
The Bolton boss became the first manager ever to be given a red card for the “mis-use of technology” when he relayed the findings of a replay of Dion Charles’s sending off a few moments earlier to the fourth official.
That indiscretion cost him £1,000 but the FA decided against a ban.
A study from the BBC in 2018 found that there was a minimal difference in the number of points taken by teams whose manager is suspended. In a sample taken over two years from the top four divisions, the average points total differed slightly from 1.08 or 1.27.
So, one might reasonably ask: Does a touchline ban really matter? The answer to that question may lie in the mentality of those left behind.
Firstly, Evatt’s assistants, Atherton and Crainey, will have to take a more hands-on role conveying messaging on to the pitch than they normally would do. And if there are points raised by Evatt from the directors’ box, they will naturally take longer to be relayed, which in a fast-moving sport like football may be impactful.
Secondly, the issue may be a psychological one. What effect does Evatt’s presence have on individual players? Is it more talismanic, or do they genuinely need his input during the match?
There is also a school of thought that the manager may learn something of himself during his time in temporary exile. He has talked about “learning” from the experience, and it has been widely debated whether his often-emotive personality will ever allow him to truly escape this sort of flashpoint.
But in the current climate – Bolton’s league position still some way from being considered acceptable – any deterioration during Evatt’s suspension is likely to come down heavier on his shoulders.
The manager has stabilised form and performances, and the automatic promotion spots are still within six points, with the luxury of games in hand on the teams above. But he will need no reminder that the tank of goodwill has emptied, and the last thing he will want is a fan’s view of another poor run.
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