Bolton Wanderers: Ian Evatt makes surprise exit admission | OneFootball

The Wanderers boss was hit hard by failing to win promotion.

Ian Evatt has admitted that he considered leaving Bolton Wanderers following their loss to Oxford United in the League One play-off final.

Two successive seasons have ended in post-season disappointment for Wanderers. 2023: they were knocked out in the semi-finals by Barnsley. A tough pill to swallow, but there's nothing like being on the losing end at Wembley.

It was a lacklustre performance, to say the least, that was described by now former Bolton forward Jon Dadi Bodvarsson as: "Too much on the day for the lads, pressure-wise," as per the Bolton News.

Two goals from Josh Murphy sealed the fate of Evatt and his side, binding them to another season of League One football.

He understands the pressure that is on him, especially with the budget that he has to work with this time round - not to say he's been feeding off scraps since he arrived from Barrow in 2020.

Ian Evatts' self-doubt admission

The 42-year-old has admitted that he wasn't sure whether he would be returning to the Toughsheet Community Stadium for the start of the 2024/25 campaign.

He told the Bolton News: "Did I look myself in the mirror and think: ‘Have I taken this as far as it can go? The honest answer is I had those thoughts, but every time I came back to the fact that I love being manager of this football club, I love working with the people I work with. Sharon and the board are incredible people.

"The fans, the majority of them, have always been very supportive of me. And I am not a quitter. I don’t quit. I haven’t finished the job I set out to do.

"We have to get better, we have to improve, and after those initial thoughts there is only one place I want to be and that is here.

"Now isn’t the time for more words, it’s actions. There is a lot of work to do now before we achieve what we want to achieve.

"We will have the conversations about Wembley. After that, we move forward. It is my job to pick the players, the fans, everybody up. That is where my mindset is now."

Evatt said he's going to use the pain of the loss to Oxford as the fuel that drives him this season. "After the initial two or three weeks, post-Wembley, I was finding it harder to move on," continued the Bolton boss.

"I am a strong character, I have belief in this team and this club, and I have to use that now to motivate me. How the others choose to use it is down to them. Some will choose to forget and move on, some will definitely use it as motivation.

"One thing is for sure, whenever we have been knocked down we have managed to find a way to stand back up. I think that is what we will do.

"The players have come back in really good shape, the mood was more positive than I envisaged it to be. I think we understand now the challenge we have ahead of us and what we need to do to get better."

Bolton fans can understandably have doubts over Ian Evatt

Evatt has given the club a lot of brilliant memories, but there's also been a lot of bitter disappointment with him at the helm. They've been the bridesmaid over the past two years, watching on as others celebrate one of the best days of their life as they look on thinking 'That should have been me'.

His record as boss certainly suggests that he should still be the boss of Bolton.

Is there cause for concern though? Absolutely.

Fans would be well within their rights to feel like nothing in the season matters now unless they get promotion. That is all they may judge him on.

He's had two good opportunities to achieve that and fallen short twice. Third time may be a charm, but some supporters may be wondering if this is starting to become a theme.