Bolton Wanderers: How Huddersfield Town and Reading FC can spell the end for Ian Evatt – View | OneFootball

Ian Evatt has done a good job at Bolton Wanderers but now into his fifth season, things are going from bad to worse as the Trotters face tough sides.

Bolton Wanderers missed out on automatic promotion on the final day of the season after a collapse in the second half of last term before then losing the League One play-off final to Oxford United at Wembley Stadium.

Now the Whites languish in the bottom half of League One a month into the 2024/25 season after winning just one of their opening four matches and failing to score in their last three games.

As we return from the September international break, the Trotters have home games against tough opposition in Huddersfield Town and Reading in back-to-back matches.

There is a fear that things could go from bad to worse for Wanderers and if that were to happen then it could truly spell the end of Ian Evatt’s four-and-a-bit years in charge of the club.

Stubbornness matched with fragility

Evatt has said that Wanderers wanted to recruit to allow for tactical tweaks and flexibility this season but they have ended the summer with seven attacking players, the same as last year, despite having one more starting spot in the team as they switch from a 3-5-2 to a 3-4-3.

That isn’t necessarily a stubbornness of tactics but another summer of immense caution has left Bolton short in key areas, compounded by the sale of Jack Iredale, which means Whites cannot switch to a back four without playing someone out of position at left-back.

Bolton have played the same way, week in and week out, since Evatt came in, albeit he did gain automatic promotion from League Two by switching from a back three to a 4-2-3-1 mid-way through the campaign.

He has remained stubborn since returning to the back three in January 2022 and they have progressed, albeit slowly, ever since then. Even last season saw progression, going from fifth to third, but not enough as the two automatically promoted sides leaped from mid-table to the top two.

The lack of form of key players, such as Ricardo Santos, means there is now a fragility in the Bolton backline that there often hasn’t been during Evatt’s tenure and that, combined with a lack of a so-called ‘Plan B’, despite the supposed desire for one, leaves Wanderers in a precarious position where the abomination of finishing outside of even the top six now feels extremely realistic.

Streakiness of Ian Evatt

Evatt will point out that he has had good runs before and been able to turn things around in an emphatic and impressive manner but the argument that history can repeat itself is often misguided and actually fairly childish – as is pointing out that Bolton started well last season before collapsing so can turn things around.

It is a long season but pointing out your own failures as a way of easing supporter anxiety is also misguided and Evatt’s public utterances have often lacked the professionalism and thorough thought of that of a manager of Bolton Wanderers; no longer a head coach.

Evatt, like managers such as Lee Johnson and Phil Parkinson, can endure long poor runs of form, of which his current one has lasted since New Year’s Day with Wanderers winning 13 matches in 36 across all competitions, but then enjoy positive runs – as was the case in the 2020/21 and 2021/22 seasons.

However, he will also believe he has a higher ceiling than those managers and has been on the record saying he definitely will be a Premier League manager within five years.

Well, that was over two years ago and the fact of the matter is that he is further away from contention than when he said that and collecting zero or one point(s) from these next two home games against tough opposition could mean the end of Evatt.

Such a points total is far from out of the question either. Huddersfield are one of the favourites for promotion this term and have taken nine points from their first four games while Michael Duff will be determined to see a response after their narrow defeat to Rotherham United ahead of the international break.

Despite a frustrating, barren summer with their takeover not yet confirmed, Reading FC have impressed once again under Ruben Selles in 2024/25. They sit a point below the Terriers in eighth and have produced some eye-catching results already – holding third tier juggernaut Birmingham City to a draw on the opening day while beating both Wigan Athletic and Charlton Athletic.

The likelihood is that Football Ventures, who released a statement at the end of last season pointing out a desire to be loyal to Evatt, will stick with him but there may come a point where the choice becomes clear – stick with and accept promotion is not happening this year or twist and try to fulfill the goal of the previous two seasons.

The football is often dull and his press conferences have started to frustrate the fanbase. Things like that can be overlooked when you are winning but they become reasons to beat you when you aren’t – and Bolton haven’t been consistently winning for eight and a half months now.