Plymouth Argyle urged to be open to Ian Evatt appointment as "stubborn" concern is raised | OneFootball

It has been reported that Ian Evatt is a contender for the vacant managerial role at Plymouth Argyle job and FLW's Fan Pundit has given his view.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Following their relegation from the Championship last season, Plymouth Argyle have experienced something of a turbulent month that has disrupted their pre-season preparations.

The club have been outspoken in their frustration over the way in which manager Miron Muslic forced a move away from Home Park, with the Bosnia-Herzegovina-born coach departing for Schalke in the German second-tier.

Following Muslic’s departure, it has been reported that former Bolton Wanderers boss Ian Evatt is a contender for the job with the Pilgrims’ Head of Football Operations, David Fox, a former teammate of Evatt at Blackpool.

Green Army would get behind Evatt

Evatt left Bolton in January after a poor 12 months or so, which saw the Trotters miss out on automatic promotion on the final day of the 2023/24 season before an insipid performance in the League One play-off final a few weeks later, losing 2-0 to Oxford United.

Heading into the 2024/25 campaign, Wanderers remained one of the pre-season title favourites but he eventually left the club with them sliding towards the middle of the League One table.

FLW’s Plymouth Argyle Fan Pundit, Luke Hodge, believes Evatt would get the backing of Plymouth supporters but has his reservations, albeit ensuring the appointment is a swift one is a priority.

Luke said: “Ian Evatt wouldn’t be top of my list but I also wouldn’t be against the appointment.

“I don’t know a hell of a lot about him but what I do know is that he did a reasonably good job at Bolton, and was in the play-offs a couple of times, and obviously stuffed us 4-0 at Wembley a couple of years back.

“He likes a possession-based style, attacking philosophy, which is everything that Argyle’s about.

“He can be quite a stubborn manager and has struggled to adapt at times, and if ‘Plan A’ isn’t working then he struggles to find a ‘Plan B’, which is interesting.

“However, the players that we currently have in our squad are more suited to his style of football, ironically more than what would have been Miron’s [Muslic]

“So, if it is to be him then I’m pretty sure the Green Army would get behind him.

“However, I think it’s imperative that we get the next manager in the door as soon as possible because it such an important part of the season where we need to make sure our best players stay, and also we need to recruit well and the loan market, free transfers, get people inside the door as soon as possible so we can get a promotion challenge going next year.”

The Evatt era at Bolton

On the whole, Evatt’s managerial career has been a good one, winning the National League title with Barrow before then leading Bolton to automatic promotion from League Two at the first time of asking, as the club sought to rebuild after nearly being expelled by the EFL in August 2019.

Evatt then oversaw three-and-a-half seasons in League One with the Whites, winning the EFL Trophy with a 4-0 hammering of Plymouth in the final, whilst also finishing ninth, fifth and then third in successive campaigns.

Supporters grew frustrated with the lack of adaptability within Evatt’s philosophy, as well as the way in which Evatt often handled the media and avoided taking responsibility for repeated failings in big moments and matches.

If Evatt was to take charge at Home Park then he would be expected to challenge for promotion alongside his former club, who are now under the management of Steven Schumacher – who was the manager of Plymouth in that EFL Trophy final, in the same season whereby Schumacher led Plymouth to the third-tier title with over 100 points.