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Wanderers are starting to look more at home at the UniBol – but Ian Evatt won’t be letting them put their feet up.
Seven games unbeaten on their own patch, Bolton entertain Walsall on Saturday afternoon as one of the country’s in-form teams, and one unrecognisable from the habitual under-performers who limped into 2021.
Evatt had voiced his own concerns earlier in the campaign that the plush surroundings that once housed Premier League football were too welcoming to visitors in League Two.
Now, with a combination of subtle tweaks behind the scenes and some more obvious changes on the pitch, the Wanderers boss – like the rest of us – has found a way of working from home successfully.
“The way we are playing, the tweak in the system, the way we are dominating possession and controlling games certainly suits playing at home now,” Evatt told The Bolton News.
“We’re getting the benefits of playing on that big pitch, one of the better ones in the league, and it hasn’t always felt like that. We’d struggled at one stage. Now we have found a system that really suits us, the personnel that fit into the system well, and we’re reaping the rewards. Our away record has been generally good for most of the season but we look forward to playing here now.”
Some of the changes Evatt made to the matchday routine at the UniBol were scoffed at earlier in the season – most notably his switch of dugout to the position traditionally occupied by the away manager.
Other alterations have been easier to hear and spot. From the change of walk-on music – now Indie-rockers Kasabian and not the traditional 633 Squadron – to the fact the opposition has been shifted to a socially-distanced temporary dressing room on the opposite side of the stadium.
Passed off as trivialities by most onlookers at the time, Evatt feels the small things are now starting to count in Bolton’s favour.
“One per cent gains make a big difference when they start stacking up,” he said.
“You can’t underestimate what those slight changes and tweaks have done.
“Early on in the season teams were comfortable being here.
“I thought the ground in general has been set up wrong. The opposition dugout is closer to the linesman and they can give them stick for 90 minutes, be in their ear about decisions, and maybe then talk them into giving one against us.
“I thought that needed to happen.
“The opposition team being in our away dressing room and having that comfort has also been taken away. They are at the hotel because of the Covid measures and it unsettles them because it isn’t the norm.
“Those little things alongside the fact we had a really good January and players are now playing with confidence in a system that has settled down. I don’t think you can look to one thing that has changed – but those one per cents do add up.”
Wanderers’ dramatic entrance from the top of the away end in last Saturday’s game at Port Vale was one of the more extreme examples of how opposing teams have sought to make life tougher at smaller grounds around the country.
“At Port Vale we had to wait for the taxi to pick us up and get to the pitch in time for kick-off,” Evatt joked. “Again, these teams are using the Covid protocols to really change what the opposition do, to upset them, and it’s natural for every team we have visited.
“It was only normal at our stadium and we needed to change that. We have done and since then the results have improved.”
Midweek results have given Wanderers a real shot at closing the gap on the automatic promotion places, bringing with it a different type of pressure ahead of the Walsall game.
“We’d much rather be in this position than the one we were in a few months back,” Evatt said. “We are just going to embrace it, keep working hard, enjoy our work, enjoy our football and hopefully get results we need.”
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Seven games unbeaten on their own patch, Bolton entertain Walsall on Saturday afternoon as one of the country’s in-form teams, and one unrecognisable from the habitual under-performers who limped into 2021.
Evatt had voiced his own concerns earlier in the campaign that the plush surroundings that once housed Premier League football were too welcoming to visitors in League Two.
Now, with a combination of subtle tweaks behind the scenes and some more obvious changes on the pitch, the Wanderers boss – like the rest of us – has found a way of working from home successfully.
“The way we are playing, the tweak in the system, the way we are dominating possession and controlling games certainly suits playing at home now,” Evatt told The Bolton News.
“We’re getting the benefits of playing on that big pitch, one of the better ones in the league, and it hasn’t always felt like that. We’d struggled at one stage. Now we have found a system that really suits us, the personnel that fit into the system well, and we’re reaping the rewards. Our away record has been generally good for most of the season but we look forward to playing here now.”
Some of the changes Evatt made to the matchday routine at the UniBol were scoffed at earlier in the season – most notably his switch of dugout to the position traditionally occupied by the away manager.
Other alterations have been easier to hear and spot. From the change of walk-on music – now Indie-rockers Kasabian and not the traditional 633 Squadron – to the fact the opposition has been shifted to a socially-distanced temporary dressing room on the opposite side of the stadium.
Passed off as trivialities by most onlookers at the time, Evatt feels the small things are now starting to count in Bolton’s favour.
“One per cent gains make a big difference when they start stacking up,” he said.
“You can’t underestimate what those slight changes and tweaks have done.
“Early on in the season teams were comfortable being here.
“I thought the ground in general has been set up wrong. The opposition dugout is closer to the linesman and they can give them stick for 90 minutes, be in their ear about decisions, and maybe then talk them into giving one against us.
“I thought that needed to happen.
“The opposition team being in our away dressing room and having that comfort has also been taken away. They are at the hotel because of the Covid measures and it unsettles them because it isn’t the norm.
“Those little things alongside the fact we had a really good January and players are now playing with confidence in a system that has settled down. I don’t think you can look to one thing that has changed – but those one per cents do add up.”
Wanderers’ dramatic entrance from the top of the away end in last Saturday’s game at Port Vale was one of the more extreme examples of how opposing teams have sought to make life tougher at smaller grounds around the country.
“At Port Vale we had to wait for the taxi to pick us up and get to the pitch in time for kick-off,” Evatt joked. “Again, these teams are using the Covid protocols to really change what the opposition do, to upset them, and it’s natural for every team we have visited.
“It was only normal at our stadium and we needed to change that. We have done and since then the results have improved.”
Midweek results have given Wanderers a real shot at closing the gap on the automatic promotion places, bringing with it a different type of pressure ahead of the Walsall game.
“We’d much rather be in this position than the one we were in a few months back,” Evatt said. “We are just going to embrace it, keep working hard, enjoy our work, enjoy our football and hopefully get results we need.”
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