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George Thomason has earned an unfair reputation this season with League One’s referees.
That’s the view of Wanderers’ boss Ian Evatt, who came to his midfielder’s defence after he picked up an 18th yellow card of the campaign in the 2-2 draw at Barnsley on Tuesday night.
Thomason – who was also issued with a straight red card at Northampton Town last month – has consequently set a new club disciplinary record which had previously been held by El-Hadji Diouf.
The 23-year-old had been given 13 yellow and one red card in his previous 71 games for Bolton, but this season Evatt believes he has been given some harsh treatment by officials, as evidenced with his first challenge at Oakwell.
“Every time the kid makes a tackle he seems to get booked – and that was never a yellow card,” said the Bolton manager.
“Or if that is the tolerance level which is set, how many tackles which were just as bad, or worse, happened elsewhere in the game and weren’t punished?
“I actually think he has gained a reputation he doesn’t deserve. And if we go through all the yellow cards there will be some that are just, of course, but some which are way out of line. I feel sorry for him.”
Thomason was implicated in Barnsley’s first goal in what proved to be a first half to forget – but he was also one of the catalysts for improvement in the final half an hour of the game, as the Whites recovered to take a point which moved them into second spot in the table.
Evatt believes his second-half display spoke volumes.
“He is a brilliant kid,” he told The Bolton News. “He is improving all the time, he cares about what he does, cares about this football club immensely. And for a young kid to get booked like that with his first challenge because of the reputation he has gathered – which is the complete opposite to his actual characteristics, I think you know that – then to make an error for the goal, it took real strength of character to regather himself and play the way he did.
“He is amazing and we think the world of him.”
Wanderers go to Exeter City on Saturday buoyed by their comeback in South Yorkshire and with a few selection decisions to make.
Josh Dacres-Cogley suffered a foot injury in the second half, which could mean a reshuffle at the back, and top scorer Dion Charles has an outside shot of being involved after stepping up his return from a knee injury.
Evatt was pleased with the role all four of his strikers played at Barnsley as they helped to swing the game back in the Whites’ favour.
“We gathered momentum, got the belief, I thought there were some really good performances,” he said. “Aaron Collins was excellent, he really showed everyone what he is going to do for us. He’s getting better, used to how we play. He got tired at the end, so did Victor (Adeboyejo), and I thought they both did really well.
“When the other two lads came on and we went slightly more direct, we caused them problems.
“I wish that would have gone in for Jon (Dadi Bodvarsson) because he deserved it, but they kept going, kept probing, and eventually we got our rewards.”
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