Can Wanderers reclaim hearts and minds?
by Liam Hatton
Let me set the scene - You are Bolton Wanderers, coming off the back of a big derby win over Blackpool at the weekend. You lead away at Cambridge United 1-0 in the closing stages - 10 man Cambridge United that is - before you concede, and the game finishes 1-1.
Following the game, which let’s not lie was an embarrassing and disappointing day (or night) at the office, Bolton manager Ian Evatt said, and I quote: “We allowed the crowd to wobble us, we allowed the atmosphere to make us make poor decisions.”
Can you see what is wrong with this picture? Wanderers, criticised constantly for their ability to see out games or to simply show up when it matters, did not do so again.
I can’t count how many times in these weekly articles I have beat the same drum, talking about how this season in particular has been a case of one step forward, two or three steps backwards. Or as Al Pacino once famously said, “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.”
Except our ability to keep getting pulled back in, to believe in Ian Evatt and what he is trying to do, has either faded or is vastly dissipating amongst the fanbase. But again, that is what we have spoken about before and I would just be repeating myself at this point.
You know my thoughts, and I am sure as night follows day that whoever is reading this is very likely to want a change also. Will it happen? Probably not.
Former Liverpool boss Jürgen Klopp once labelled his team “mentality monsters” after their FA Cup final win over Chelsea in 2022. That term can be open to interpretation, and this is by no means comparing Evatt to Klopp in any way, shape or form, but football is large and part a very psychological game.
Klopp at one point hired a dedicated sports psychologist to work with his team, but at a certain point the manager needs to adopt his managerial style to ensure his squad of players can handle the pressure and to see out games.
Bolton are months removed from a traumatic defeat at Wembley in which they did not show up whatsoever. The questions has constantly been posed as to how they will respond from that, but it forever seems like the moment they face adversity - whether they go behind or struggle to hold on to a lead, is becoming a recurring theme.
The desire is there at times, as shown with late wins over Peterborough and Blackpool, but it is not enough. This squad currently find themselves 11 points behind league leaders Wycombe Wanderers, again, it is not good enough.
Can the mentality be changed? Can Bolton shake this cloud over their heads in which confidence is at an all-time low? Well, theoretically they can, but the thought of one of the big spenders in League One aiming for promotion, who were shaken by 5,500 Cambridge fans is tough for me to get my head around.
Whatever happened to a good old thrashing?
by Becca Ashworth.
Last week, I was scrolling back through my social media, trying to find a photo I had lost.
I didn’t find that photo; instead, I stumbled across a repost from January 2022. The repost in question was the score line from our match against promotion contending Sunderland, where we’d beaten them 6-0.
The next season, back-to-back 5-0 results (to Peterborough and MK Dons respectively) complimented our 4-0 victory against Argyle at Wembley.
Last season, our 7-0 victory against Exeter was a high point, as was the 6-0 victory against Oxford (regardless of what followed). I’m not expecting score lines like this weekly, but over the last few seasons, they have been part of our DNA. This year they have been lacking.
Back in 2022, we’d likely ruled out any chance of beating Sunderland to promotion. Despite a distant glimmer of hope that we might have made play-offs, promotion seemed largely off the table.
We were the outsiders and yet we didn’t relent. SO why now, as promotion favourites, are we giving in? Going into this season, promotion seemed like it shouldn’t only be on the table but spread out in front of us – an all you can eat buffet of potential victories. I at least expected to be indulged by a couple of 3-0 victories, if not quite the 7-0 success we’ve tasted before.
Instead, the larger goal differences this season have mostly come at our expense, not least our recent 5-0 defeat against Stockport. Our goal difference, previously an area where we’ve been strong, is like a bad grade on a report card.
In an otherwise decent (if not sufficient) run of form, the goal difference is a glaring blemish that reveals an important problem to address: our recent inability to put games to bed.
Our draw against Cambridge drew only more attention to this. One-nil should never be treated like the end of the game. Against Cambridge, we should be confident.
Indeed, we’ve got something to be confident about going up against all the teams in the league. We have a striking force capable of creating these incredible goal differences, and yet, for whatever reason, we don’t seem to be going after them.
Somehow, we need to draw upon our previous tenacity – the drive to not only win, but to score goals.
I want to see games where we strive for the highest score line we can again. I want to see the goal difference creeping up, because right now, it isn’t good enough. In a league this tight, we simply can’t risk it.
Caught in the middle,
By James Scott.
Having watched Wanderers scramble an injury time winner against Blackpool before then lose two points in a flash as Cambridge equalised late on Tuesday night, it’s so difficult to express any other emotion than disappointment.
Every single week I seem to circle back to the same paradox – how much I want Ian Evatt to succeed at Bolton, but how much further can he take Bolton? This week’s column will try and break down both sides of that debate.
On one side, seeing videos on social media of Evatt and Santos celebrating Aaron Collins’s last minute winner against local foes Blackpool fills me with a huge amount of pride and joy. Evatt quite clearly throws his heart and soul into Bolton Wanderers. I had not seen a reaction of such raw emotion since Collins’s stunner in the playoff semi-final against Barnsley, and it is quite clear that Wanderers’ boss will fight until the very end.
However, the performance on Tuesday night was nothing short of abject. Bolton spent the majority of the first half passing the ball around the back, and when their opponents were reduced to 10 men, eventually capitalised to break the deadlock. What then followed was farcical.
Bolton sought to protect their slender lead instead of pressing to kill the game off in its entirety. Clean sheets have been hard to come by this season, and so the confidence in keeping lowly Cambridge United, who average less than a singular goal scored per game, out was low. Unfortunately, the lack of confidence I had was not without reason. Former Wanderer Elias Kachunga nearly made Bolton pay, before Sullay Kaikai did.
The 10 men of Cambridge nearly grabbed a winner deep into stoppage time. Wanderers looked shellshocked playing a team deep in the relegation zone who had had a player sent off. That is a problem.
The worrying thing is that Cambridge was not an isolated incident. Too often do Wanderers switch off, give away sloppy goals, and let points slip away. After 16 games, Bolton find themselves 11 points off the top, with themselves to blame for naivety, poor game management and playing generally average and boring football.
It feels important to take the emotion out of the situation. I have enjoyed a huge amount about Ian Evatt’s time in charge of Bolton, from the promotion in 2021 to the joy of the EFL Trophy domination in 2023. And yet the confidence has been sapped out of the fans, and the players look devoid of ideas.
Wanderers have won just 23 of 53 competitive games in 2024. The standard simply isn’t good enough.
I don’t envy those who have to make the decisions, but it feels like with every passing day more confidence drains away, and more creative sparks are extinguished. I suspect Tuesday night’s rollercoaster ride against Mansfield will provide even more undulation.
Learning from mistakes,
By Lee Sidebotham.
Whether you’re for or against the management currently in charge, I think we can all agree we should have beaten 10-man Cambridge.
The U’s were scrappy and played how we expected. But I thought we did well to counter their game plan, and it showed when we eventually found the target. But the decision was then made to take Thomason and Collins off, something I still can’t understand.
They were the two best players on the pitch by a country mile and it looked as though Collins was going to grab another. We had picked up so much momentum, but after taking them off things started to change.
Our downfall yet again was the decision to hold onto a tight lead rather than try to go for more. Even against 10 men, playing that way away from home is a dangerous game and we found that out the hard way.
The insistence to grind out results is something that has cost us repeatedly during Evatt’s tenure. That Shrewsbury game in December 2022 instantly comes to mind. No matter how many times we fall victim to our own mistakes, it just doesn’t seem like we learn.
I don’t understand why that always must be the gameplan, especially when we have so many talented attacking players at our disposal. You don’t see teams like Wrexham and Birmingham trying to grind out games in this division.
Don’t get me wrong, around the 85th minute I can understand why we might look to start looking at holding up play and seeing the game out. But with 20 minutes plus added time still to be played, taking off our best assets was a categorical mistake which cost us three points. It feels like a loss, and we should consider this a loss.
The decision may be blamed on Thomason’s recent injury and fitness, but we have no game this Saturday and he’s banned against Mansfield on Tuesday anyway. I’m not blaming the subs, but that game did not suit a box-to-box midfielder like Matete, and I think it was a mistake bringing him on. Unfortunately, management don’t do themselves any favours when decisions like this are made.
It would be dangerous to attempt the same thing against Mansfield on Tuesday if we find ourselves ahead. Then there’s Wigan in a few weeks where we need to be as ruthless as possible no matter the score. We’ve seen what happens when we’re not. I don’t think it can be underestimated how big that game is.
I’ve made my feelings clear on what I believe is a lot of unfair stick towards management. I still believe Evatt is the right man for the job. But we need to start learning from our mistakes, now more than ever. It has cost us way too much, especially over the last year.
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