'Serious conversations' needed about time-wasting, says Evatt

Wanderers boss Ian Evatt believes “serious conversations” about time-wasting need to take place.

The issue has been a major talking point since the 1-0 victory against Cheltenham last weekend, with the ball only in play for around 47 minutes in total.

Evatt felt for both sets of supporters that day and reckons change is needed going forward.

“There was so much wrong with the game,” he told The Bolton News. “It starts with the rules and the officiating.

“We need to be stronger and more stringent with it. There has to be some serious conversations about what is happening.

“It isn’t about us – we got the win, we move on from it. But I do feel sorry for both sets of fans. They spend so much money to come and watch football, in hard times when everything costs a fortune, and they want to be entertained.

“Let’s play football. Let’s give them 60 minutes guaranteed, or whatever they are suggesting, to come and watch their team play.

“There is a wider conversation that needs to take place. But for us, this week has more been about sifting through that debris, seeing what we could and should have done better."

Wanderers have won their last three matches in League One as they aim to keep the pressure on the sides above them.

The Whites have struggled to break sides down at times this season, and Evatt admits it can be challenging when teams look to frustrate.

But the Bolton boss says his side should take it as a compliment heading into the business stage of the campaign.

“I think when the ball goes out of play for us, our goal kick, our throw in, I think speeding up the tempo and playing a bit more un-set will take them out of their comfort zone," he added.

“It is very hard to break down nine or 10 players when they are in the opposition half and it is not about getting the ball forward quicker because that is where all their bodies are.

“You have to draw them out and then penetrate. We tried to do that, it worked eventually, and we had a couple of other decent opportunities.

“We need to take that next step as we evolve as a team, and it’s credit to us that teams feel a need to come to this stadium and do that sort of thing. We should take it as a complement.”

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For once I agree with the manager, time-wasting is slowly killing the sport. I pay for 90 minutes of football, not 47 minutes of football with 43 minutes of blokes rolling around pretending they are injured.

I thought it was finally being addressed at the World Cup with 10 minutes injury time being the norm, but English football refuses to do anything about it. I read a stat that less than 1% of players that go down have to be subbed off.

We absolutely need to cut games to 60 minutes with the clock stopping when the ball goes out of play. Time wasting stopped overnight.