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Expectation levels will be even higher among the Wanderers supporters next season after their near-miss in the play-off final, warned former manager Colin Todd.
Already billed as one of the favourites for promotion next term, Bolton will face stiff competitions from a stronger-looking League One this season including the likes of Birmingham City, Rotherham United, Huddersfield Town and Wrexham.
Todd is confident the manager, his players and the fanbase can shake-off the disappointment of Wembley in the coming weeks. But having gone so close to securing Championship football, he is also well aware that a backward step would be viewed dimly.
“I think so long as you have got your squad together for pre-season you can go out, get a few good results, get a bit of confidence going again, and then have people looking forward to the new season,” he told The Bolton News.
“But I am sure Ian will know that expectation levels will be up a notch again, and that the supporters will want to see success.
“Fans need to be patient sometimes, and I think they have done at Bolton because it has been difficult. They have had to rebuild, and it doesn’t happen overnight.
“After getting so close in the play-offs, I am sure the club know that fans will expect them to go one better next time and everyone has to cope with that.”
Wanderers are yet to show their hand in the transfer market but Todd, who took the club into the Premier League in 1997 and to the play-off final two years later, urged Evatt not to underestimate the importance of experience in his squad.
“Having a few older heads in those key areas is very important,” he said. “If you can get it through the middle of your team – at the back, in the middle of the park, up front, it can really help.
“We had players like Gudni Bergsson, Scott Sellars, Gerry Taggart, Nathan Blake, great players in a great team which had been so unlucky to go down the previous season.
“We got the backing from the chairman and from the people who ran the club to keep those players and to give it a real go. I think they will be the conversations taking place right now for Ian and the people at Bolton, are they going to give him the backing?
“It looks from where I am standing that they have been fair to Ian since he has been in charge, and I’d expect them to continue to be fair.”
Wanderers’ two most experienced players, Cameron Jerome and Jon Dadi Bodvarsson, are to be released this summer, alongside Welsh wing-back Declan John.
Todd anticipates further comings and goings as Evatt freshens up the squad which finished third in the table with 87 points, only to miss out in the play-off final.
“As a manager you are in a very strong position with players who come out of contract,” he said. “But it can work the other way as well. If there aren’t so many coming out of contract as you want to make changes, it can be harder.
“I am sure that we will have thought about the two leagues they could play in, who would suit for one, who would suit for the other, and which ones he might want to let go completely.
“I am sure that 24 hours after the final he would have been sitting down with his staff and planning for next season. There will be changes, I am sure there will be changes, and I hope he gets the backing to make them.”
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