IAN Evatt became the fifth-longest serving manager in the whole Football League on Thursday morning as he prepared for yet another day of judgement.
After Mark Robins was sacked by Championship club Coventry City, only Simon Weaver (Harrogate), Pep Guardiola (Manchester City), Thomas Frank (Brentford) and Mikel Arteta (Arsenal) can boast more longevity in his profession at the top level.
He should probably be quite used to the feeling, then, that what happens on Saturday is going to go a long way to shaping the mood and narrative for the weeks to come.
Bolton’s rehabilitation since they slumped to 21st place in League One with a 4-0 home defeat against Huddersfield Town has been a slow burner. Evatt and his players may justly feel that in a run of six victories and just one defeat in their last eight games, they have not quite been given the credit they deserve.
Much of the pessimism which bled into the current campaign stems, of course, from what happened in the play-off final at Wembley in May. And the manager has learned enough in his four years and 128 days in charge to know there is only one way he can clear the so-called “dark clouds” which have lingered ever since.
Rising to sixth with the win against Peterborough United in their last league game, the revival took a knock in the FA Cup at Walsall last weekend. The 2-1 defeat against a League Two side would have ordinarily created more of a kerfuffle, had Evatt not outlined in no uncertain terms that he would be channelling all his efforts into the league, and not the knockout competitions.
If the manager got any criticism post-Bescot Stadium, it centred on the fact that he didn’t go far enough in resting key players with Stockport County in mind.
Gone are the days where the 22 bus used to connect Stockport and Bolton – with a myriad of destinations in between – but the two towns are only separated by 22 miles. It would be a stretch to brand Saturday’s game a ‘derby’ but there is certainly enough local pride at stake to ensure that any defeat would be magnified in its significance.
Evatt has found out how hard-hitting a poor result can be against a near neighbour and won’t want any reminder of the televised FA Cup exit at Edgeley Park in 2021, when the Hatters were still in the National League.
Subsequent defeats against Wigan and Blackpool have perpetuated the belief that Bolton have wilted on the big occasion. It is a trope disputed in the camp, despised by the manager himself, but one that will only truly disperse with results in games like this one.
Stockport’s decline from their 1990s and early 2000s heyday, where games against Wanderers were commonplace, is well-documented. They are now a well-funded club on the up, winning two promotions in the last three seasons.
The fact they are managed by Dave Challinor – a pantomime villain from his Tranmere days for those who might remember them – only adds another touch of retro spice.
Though Evatt is confident league form will not be affected by their last outing at Walsall, Challinor will hope the 5-0 hammering they took at home to Wycombe on Tuesday night will bring a positive reaction from his team. A strong start to the season has dissipated somewhat, and the stats show they have won two of their last 11 league games, drawing six times.
Wanderers are still carrying injuries but having taken preventative measures last weekend by resting Ricardo Santos and giving limited game time to the likes of Aaron Collins and John McAtee, Evatt will feel his team are as prepared as they can be.
Bolton did win on their last visit to Stockport, ending the hosts' long unbeaten run with a professional performance last November in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy. The chief tormentor that day, Jon Dadi Bodvarsson, has since moved on to pastures Welsh.
A similar result would take the Whites fourth by Saturday evening, which would be indisputable evidence of their recovery. Should they fail to take anything against the Hatters, however, and miss out on the manager’s own target of 10 points from the current ‘block’ of five games before the international break, then those familiar questions will be asked again as the days tick by before Blackpool at home on November 23.
Some 1,590 days and 244 games and 122 wins into his tenure, Evatt is slowly closing in on Phil Neal’s 351 matches in charge, simultaneously looking to avoid his predecessor’s fate.
Wanderers’ quest for validation continues. Next stop, Stockport.
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