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There is an unfamiliar sensation in the pit of my stomach as I pen this column, and I do not think it has anything to do with the strength of the coffee I have been drinking.
If I did not know better, I would say I was optimistic about the new season ahead, excited even.
And though it will be sad to see the UniBol virtually empty when Ian Evatt makes his first walk to the dugout this afternoon, I think I am looking forward to the referee blowing his whistle and some football being played.
Such giddiness has hardly been the norm covering Bolton. Gut feelings have normally been those of panic or concern, mixed with frequent bouts of serious ennui.
There is always some hope at this stage of the summer, even last year when all signs pointed to a season of struggle and inevitable relegation. But having been starved of regular football since March and confined to a kitchen table, tapping away at the scraps of footballing info to surface in a much darker situation, you’ll forgive me if a Carabao Cup first round match against Bradford City feels a bit like going to Wembley Stadium.
Wanderers and Ian Evatt have been first-class through the summer, giving me a chance to watch a team evolve in their pre-season friendlies so that I can try to convey that story to you, the fans.
Evidently, you like what you have read.
For more than 7,000 people to have already put their hand in the pocket in such difficult economic times is a testament to how much this football club means to the town, and that the division they are playing in is fairly incidental.
Due credit to Evatt for the way he has communicated his plan thus far. As I tweeted the other day, if a fragment of his positivity is absorbed by players in the dressing room this season, we could be in for a great season.
He has been in the game long enough to know, though, that however well you come across in interviews, it is the business out on the pitch that will decide whether you are a prince or a pauper in the fans’ eyes.
It is plain daft to expect Bolton to go out against Bradford today and look like Barcelona. Eight weeks is hardly any time to build a team from scratch.
But until that tactical plan is properly embedded it is encouraging to know there is some genuine quality at the top end of the pitch and that with Eoin Doyle, Nathan Delfouneso, Antoni Sarcevic, Ali Crawford and Co, there are enough match-winners to keep the points ticking over, even as Wanderers still learn the way Evatt wants to play.
If the head coach is proved right, and his position-specific recruitment helps to fast-track the tactical transition, then this could be a very entertaining year indeed.
As someone who was there for the fall-out after Big Sam, the disaster of Little Sam, the confrontational Gary Megson, the sharp rise and sharper fall of Owen Coyle, the drudgery of Dougie Freedman, the spectacular implosion under Neil Lennon, the pragmatism of Parky and Keith Hill’s hell, I can say with hand on heart that no set of fans deserve some time in the sun quite like Bolton.
Evatt has made it abundantly clear that he wants to press a reset button, and that baggage from the club’s recent past should not be carried into this season. Counting in his favour on that front is that the supporters seem more than willing to let go.
So while I do not expect to report on this season without the odd hiccup, I do – for the first time in a good while – feel comfortable that the club is stable enough on and off the pitch to sustain a period of success. I even made the unprecedented move of tipping Bolton to win the title on the Lion of Vienna podcast last week, so fully expect that clip to be aired again in May when Antoni Sarcevic is lifting the trophy.
We have all missed football as the pandemic took over. But it has been a much longer wait for Bolton’s fans since they had a club they could follow without doubt, concern or trepidation.
With a fair wind, that time might be now.
Source
If I did not know better, I would say I was optimistic about the new season ahead, excited even.
And though it will be sad to see the UniBol virtually empty when Ian Evatt makes his first walk to the dugout this afternoon, I think I am looking forward to the referee blowing his whistle and some football being played.
Such giddiness has hardly been the norm covering Bolton. Gut feelings have normally been those of panic or concern, mixed with frequent bouts of serious ennui.
There is always some hope at this stage of the summer, even last year when all signs pointed to a season of struggle and inevitable relegation. But having been starved of regular football since March and confined to a kitchen table, tapping away at the scraps of footballing info to surface in a much darker situation, you’ll forgive me if a Carabao Cup first round match against Bradford City feels a bit like going to Wembley Stadium.
Wanderers and Ian Evatt have been first-class through the summer, giving me a chance to watch a team evolve in their pre-season friendlies so that I can try to convey that story to you, the fans.
Evidently, you like what you have read.
For more than 7,000 people to have already put their hand in the pocket in such difficult economic times is a testament to how much this football club means to the town, and that the division they are playing in is fairly incidental.
Due credit to Evatt for the way he has communicated his plan thus far. As I tweeted the other day, if a fragment of his positivity is absorbed by players in the dressing room this season, we could be in for a great season.
He has been in the game long enough to know, though, that however well you come across in interviews, it is the business out on the pitch that will decide whether you are a prince or a pauper in the fans’ eyes.
It is plain daft to expect Bolton to go out against Bradford today and look like Barcelona. Eight weeks is hardly any time to build a team from scratch.
But until that tactical plan is properly embedded it is encouraging to know there is some genuine quality at the top end of the pitch and that with Eoin Doyle, Nathan Delfouneso, Antoni Sarcevic, Ali Crawford and Co, there are enough match-winners to keep the points ticking over, even as Wanderers still learn the way Evatt wants to play.
If the head coach is proved right, and his position-specific recruitment helps to fast-track the tactical transition, then this could be a very entertaining year indeed.
As someone who was there for the fall-out after Big Sam, the disaster of Little Sam, the confrontational Gary Megson, the sharp rise and sharper fall of Owen Coyle, the drudgery of Dougie Freedman, the spectacular implosion under Neil Lennon, the pragmatism of Parky and Keith Hill’s hell, I can say with hand on heart that no set of fans deserve some time in the sun quite like Bolton.
Evatt has made it abundantly clear that he wants to press a reset button, and that baggage from the club’s recent past should not be carried into this season. Counting in his favour on that front is that the supporters seem more than willing to let go.
So while I do not expect to report on this season without the odd hiccup, I do – for the first time in a good while – feel comfortable that the club is stable enough on and off the pitch to sustain a period of success. I even made the unprecedented move of tipping Bolton to win the title on the Lion of Vienna podcast last week, so fully expect that clip to be aired again in May when Antoni Sarcevic is lifting the trophy.
We have all missed football as the pandemic took over. But it has been a much longer wait for Bolton’s fans since they had a club they could follow without doubt, concern or trepidation.
With a fair wind, that time might be now.
Source