Ian Evatt - An appreciation

[Harry Genshaw]

Apologies but felt this needed a thread of it's own. We can discuss likely successors, his failings etc on other threads but as one of our longer serving managers, with an impressive win record, his best moments deserve one of it's own.

So, fave Evatt moments and memories?

Wembley the first time is my standout. The largest gathering of Wanderers fans since 1978, surrounded by family and friends and witnessing an almost perfect performance in the sunshine. Beautiful.

Ipswich 5-2 away and Sunderland 6-0 at home. Both games where for 5 minutes you could have mistaken us for Real Madrid.

Any others?

[GhostoftheBok]

Wembley with my lad. Easily my best football moment full stop. For him it might as well have been the FA Cup we won that day. Evatt's team that day gave him a love of this football club he will have for the rest of his life. So thanks for that, Ian.

[Worthy4England]

Year 1 for me, in COVID, bizarrely. Was rough and a long way from perfect, with a great all in it togetherness. Comeback at Mansfield with a pearler from King Arthur and a final day "must win" where we did our very best, played to our strengths rather than pivots and spreadsheets everywhere. Great times.

[truewhite15]

Wembley vs Plymouth. A perfect day in the sun.

Sunderland 6-0, Exeter 7-0, back-to-back 5-0 wins vs Peterborough and MK Dons. The Accrington semi-final. When we were good, we were very, very good.

He restored an awful lot of faith and belief. Spoke very well on camera after the Crawley promotion party about wanting kids wearing Bolton shirts around town.

I really wanted it to work out, but even after the last year he still goes with good wishes from me. Thanks Ian, and good luck.

[DJBlu]

Wembley with my nephew. Great trip, great football, great atmosphere, great day all round.

[The_Gun]

Aye, the COVID season was weirdly great. Being able to watch every game, and having nowt much else to do, made me feel very attached to that side.

Wembley was a perfect afternoon that will stay with me forever. As someone who hasn’t lived in the town for a long time, being in London, in the sun, surrounded by so many Boltonians, filled me with immense pride.

We were close to our nadir at the start of Evatt’s tenure, and even if none of the players who’ve played under him will be considered greats of the club, there are plenty who I enjoyed watching. Dapo, Doyle, Kieran Lee, Santos, Trafford, Bradley, Maghoma, Dion, Sheehan all did plenty to make me smile. Evatt played no small part in helping those lads shine.

It’s a shame that his tenure came to an end in this manner, but on the off chance that he’s reading this, thank you, Ian.

[dave the minion]

Predictably, Wembley with the family for me too. Perfect day all round, and having my lad witness service stations the length of the M6 filled with Bolton fans was an absolute pleasure.

For me also was the run of 8(?) clean sheets we strung together. Felt like not even prime City could break our defensive wall...

I know things started to turn a little sour towards the end, but IE leaves Bolton in a FAR FAR better place than he found it. I get why people wanted change, but the way a section of fans turned on him was ridiculous, unbelievable and disgraceful in equal measures. He's built the foundations for a really good team and hopefully someone can take what he's left and turn it round

I hope he has himself and break and a recharge from the game and comes back and finds success at another club (just hopefully one that isn't competing directly with us!!!)

[BWFC_Insane]

League two promotion - I mean it was a hell of a run second half of that season and he found a team that I still think he failed to replace key parts of. Doyle, Sarce, MJ - you could almost argue that in that season those three were better than what came after. Maybe not level wise but it terms of performances.

Wembley of course and at the time I had a nagging feeling after that it would be his peak.

Can’t say I warmed to him nor that I will miss him or care about the future of his career. He did some good things here. Not unlike Phil Neal. We just have to move on.

[TonyDomingos]

Wembley Pt 1 for me too. As I set off from south London, I had a flashback to the Stoke semi and almost turned round to go home. Instead, I persevered and had my best day out in years.

I also very much enjoyed our 1-4 win at Charlton on a very wet Tuesday night.

[Bijou Bob]

Oddly, given I wasn’t there, but watching it at home, that goal away at Morecambe. The abuse that Baptiste had endured, only to sneak that in at the death.

The sheer relief in the play off semi at home against Barnsley - I hadn’t felt that drained, emotional and relieved since the delivery suite 20 odd years before.

[BorsdaneWhite]

Forest Green away: watching in front of the tele, anxious about *everything*, thinking ex-Prem Delf wasn’t good enough, to see him drop it onto Doyle’s magnificent foot for the winner.

And, my god, all the late goals in the second half of the first season up in L1. It was a joke. Never thought we’d lose. Bod and Baka were absolutely lethal.

So much to thank him for. It was right. But so much to thank him for.

[Worthy4England]

Oddly, given I wasn’t there, but watching it at home, that goal away at Morecambe. The abuse that Baptiste had endured, only to sneak that in at the death.

The sheer relief in the play off semi at home against Barnsley - I hadn’t felt that drained, emotional and relieved since the delivery suite 20 odd years before.

I mean, for the most part, you'd have been sat watching that one too!

[TonyDomingos]

Oddly, given I wasn’t there, but watching it at home, that goal away at Morecambe. The abuse that Baptiste had endured, only to sneak that in at the death.

The sheer relief in the play off semi at home against Barnsley - I hadn’t felt that drained, emotional and relieved since the delivery suite 20 odd years before.

I mean, for the most part, you'd have been sat watching that one too!

And it had been a semi nine months earlier that got him to the delivery room ....

[Worthy4England]

Oddly, given I wasn’t there, but watching it at home, that goal away at Morecambe. The abuse that Baptiste had endured, only to sneak that in at the death.

The sheer relief in the play off semi at home against Barnsley - I hadn’t felt that drained, emotional and relieved since the delivery suite 20 odd years before.

I mean, for the most part, you'd have been sat watching that one too!

And it had been a semi nine months earlier that got him to the delivery room ....

[TiredTrotter]

Barnsley at home in playoff semi, was my daughter's first game and the atmosphere was just electric.

After a pretty terrible 12m, I hope this is the start of better times for us and Ian.

[Spartan2]

I really enjoyed his reign right up to the playoff final. I was sure we'd piss the league this season, given every year up to them we had improved. I honestly liked him as a manager, liked the fact that he shot for the stars, tried to play Barcelona football, it just never really worked. I mean we did have some superb performances and some incredible runs but I think a lot of it was just being significantly better than our opposition rather than great tactical outmanoeuvring.

I do wonder how much the players let him down at times, just take last night for example, ducking under a cross and falling over when clear through on goal. There must have been countless times when he was pulling his hair out, players who can't take a throw in ffs! But ultimately it's his own fault. He signed them, he set them up and he was given plenty of time and resources, and it wasn't good enough. He had four goes at it, it's time for someone else's turn. Good luck to him.

Sunderland 6-0

[sonicthewhite]

For me it was when he took the players outside Morecambe's ground after we won there and made them salute the travelling fans.

[Mar]

Style of play was a big plus for me. When it worked it worked really well. When it didn't work, well he needed to get something else going. Inflexibility cost him, but for the most part that was some of the most fluid football we've seen for many a year.

Cup win, promotion, his relationship with Sharon and all the togetherness was a joy to watch. Really felt like a unified club. Whether we attribute that to Evatt or the management in general remains to be seen but it was such a massive difference to what we had previously.

Some of the big wins as well were phenomenal. Number of goals scored were great.

There's a lot of good stuff he brought and i'll remember it fondly. Didn't want his tenure to end the way it has, rather sooner than later, didn't want to tarnish the good stuff.

[HMX]

I loved how, when we were on it and things worked well, we could hammer plenty of teams. The Papa Johns Wembley trip is undoubtedly my favourite moment and I remember fondly the away game at Oxford that finished 3-2 with Baka 5 mins from time.

[chester white]

Evatt took over when my boy was 18 months old, so his time at Bolton has coincided with him growing up, getting into BWFC and now coming to games with me. Watching him wander into school with his Bolton hat and scarf, singing “Super Ian Evatt” whilst surrounded by United, City and Liverpool fans will always fill me with pride and be something I remember.

The football in full flow after what we’d endured on the whole for the previous 5 or so years was a joy. I saw Bolton win at Wembley for the first time live, and it felt like there was a connection between the fans and club.

He goes with my thanks and best wishes, whilst knowing it probably would have been best for all parties if it had been done sooner.