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Ian Evatt has warned some of his under-performing Wanderers to shape up or ship out.
Despite coming back to snatch a point at Barrow in midweek, the Whites head coach has made it clear to his squad in the build up to this weekend’s game at Cambridge United that standards must improve dramatically or some will fall by the wayside.
A huge turnover of 20 summer signings has thus far struggled to settle – and though there have been some unique factors caused by coronavirus, Evatt says he will be ruthless in the transfer market if he needs to be.
“It’s a bit like when I first took over at Barrow, they had two players and I had to recruit really quickly,” he told The Bolton News.
“I am not saying it will take me a year like it did there. We still had a good finish to that first season and got stronger as it went on but you do figure out who suits properly, and then who you need to get you to the next level. That’s happening in a more condensed, shortened space of time here.
“The players know that. There’s nothing I am saying that I don’t tell them.
“They should be fighting to stay at this club. They are not protected by contract. If you are not producing the goods and where I want you to be you won’t be here very long, that’s the truth.
“You have to fight to be here because I’m fighting to be here. I love it here. I want to make this club a success, I will make it a success, and if you are not on board with it there’s nothing personal, we’ll just shake hands and move on. That’s the harsh reality of football.”
Wanderers’ summer recruitment, overseen by head of football operations Tobias Phoenix, was said at the time to be heavily influenced by a new data-driven approach.
The new methods have proved far from infallible and asked whether some of his new signings have fulfilled what was expected of them, Evatt added: “Some haven’t, some have, but that’s football. Some people have never been away from home, and that’s an issue. They have never been out of a comfort zone.
“They are bringing their families, they have moved away from parents, and it’s tough. It can take time to settle in.
“There’s also the fact that you are pretty much stuck in your house. You can’t go out visiting mates, go out with the lads, it’s challenging.”
Evatt also believes there is a misconception – even among Bolton supporters – on how much has been spent on this season’s squad.
Though the club was able to bring in the likes of Eoin Doyle, Nathan Delfouneso and Antoni Sarcevic in the summer he maintains they have still not come close to hitting the top of their salary cap.
“It’s important to remember we live in League Two now and we are not overspending,” he said. “We are making this club self-sustainable.
“Sharon (Brittan) is doing a tremendous job as chairman. We are not spending £4, 5, 6million as people have done in the past – even in the National League – we are below salary cap level.
“You are not going to get 20 world beaters for that. You are just not.
“So we have to rely on myself and Peter’s coaching ability and we do think we will get the best out of these players and make us a very strong team in this division.
“Obviously we have not had the best start but I know we will improve as we go along.
“We are still making bad mistakes so we need to cut them out and concentrate on making those improvements.”
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Despite coming back to snatch a point at Barrow in midweek, the Whites head coach has made it clear to his squad in the build up to this weekend’s game at Cambridge United that standards must improve dramatically or some will fall by the wayside.
A huge turnover of 20 summer signings has thus far struggled to settle – and though there have been some unique factors caused by coronavirus, Evatt says he will be ruthless in the transfer market if he needs to be.
“It’s a bit like when I first took over at Barrow, they had two players and I had to recruit really quickly,” he told The Bolton News.
“I am not saying it will take me a year like it did there. We still had a good finish to that first season and got stronger as it went on but you do figure out who suits properly, and then who you need to get you to the next level. That’s happening in a more condensed, shortened space of time here.
“The players know that. There’s nothing I am saying that I don’t tell them.
“They should be fighting to stay at this club. They are not protected by contract. If you are not producing the goods and where I want you to be you won’t be here very long, that’s the truth.
“You have to fight to be here because I’m fighting to be here. I love it here. I want to make this club a success, I will make it a success, and if you are not on board with it there’s nothing personal, we’ll just shake hands and move on. That’s the harsh reality of football.”
Wanderers’ summer recruitment, overseen by head of football operations Tobias Phoenix, was said at the time to be heavily influenced by a new data-driven approach.
The new methods have proved far from infallible and asked whether some of his new signings have fulfilled what was expected of them, Evatt added: “Some haven’t, some have, but that’s football. Some people have never been away from home, and that’s an issue. They have never been out of a comfort zone.
“They are bringing their families, they have moved away from parents, and it’s tough. It can take time to settle in.
“There’s also the fact that you are pretty much stuck in your house. You can’t go out visiting mates, go out with the lads, it’s challenging.”
Evatt also believes there is a misconception – even among Bolton supporters – on how much has been spent on this season’s squad.
Though the club was able to bring in the likes of Eoin Doyle, Nathan Delfouneso and Antoni Sarcevic in the summer he maintains they have still not come close to hitting the top of their salary cap.
“It’s important to remember we live in League Two now and we are not overspending,” he said. “We are making this club self-sustainable.
“Sharon (Brittan) is doing a tremendous job as chairman. We are not spending £4, 5, 6million as people have done in the past – even in the National League – we are below salary cap level.
“You are not going to get 20 world beaters for that. You are just not.
“So we have to rely on myself and Peter’s coaching ability and we do think we will get the best out of these players and make us a very strong team in this division.
“Obviously we have not had the best start but I know we will improve as we go along.
“We are still making bad mistakes so we need to cut them out and concentrate on making those improvements.”
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