Home
Ian Evatt doesn’t want to be known as the ‘Tinkerman’ of League One.
The Wanderers boss has regularly shuffled his squad this season but whereas changes to the team during August and September were put down to keeping players fresh – Evatt says recent alterations have been more geared towards rediscovering a regular a winning formula.
Over the last four games in league and cup there have been 16 changes, yet despite the regular rotation, Wanderers have used just 21 different players. Only Derby County (19) have used fewer in League One.
Evatt tried a new-look 4-3-3 against Barnsley in the FA Cup at the weekend, conceding that the system needs more work on the training ground before it can be used again.
But the successful introduction of Amadou Bakayoko and goal-scorer Jon Dadi Bodvarsson in the second half has led to calls for the striker pair to be put into the starting line-up against Cambridge United this weekend.
Evatt says he would be happy to name a settled line-up, especially with the fixture schedule thinning out during November and early December. The lack of players in top form, however, makes the task more difficult.
“Jon was excellent when he came on (against Barnsley) and I thought Baka did well when he came on too,” he said. “But I said to the players after the game that I don’t think anybody around Bolton who supports the team, or even myself, could say what my best XI is at the moment.
“That can be a positive and a negative. The positive is we feel like we’ve got a strong squad of players, but the negative is who is actually saying ‘pick me every week’ and when they start games producing from minute one.
“When they are not in the team, who is training hard enough to make sure when they get the chance, they’re ready to take it? At the moment, I don’t think there’s enough of those, so the ball is in their court.”
Evatt said he had named his team on Saturday based on their performance in training over the previous five days. After exiting the FA Cup at the first-round stage for the third time in three years, he returned to Lostock yesterday morning hoping to see some of his squad force his hand for the upcoming league game at the Abbey Stadium.
“I don’t want to make changes, I’m not Claudio Ranieri or any of these tinker men or whatever you want to call me,” he said. “I am making changes because I don’t feel like I’m getting the consistency of performance from the team that is selected.
“It isn’t necessarily all a bad thing because we are in the top six of this division, but I still think there is a lot more to come from this group of players.”
Source