Evatt out?

I'm not undecided anymore, he needs to go and go now!

The arrogance of his interview after the game, blaming the fans for the negative attitude when we have been still turning up in big numbers is enough to get rid of him. He's lost the fanbase after that.

Just read a BN article where Evatt says he finds the criticism aimed at him slightly disrespectful! Spouting on about his win ratio, well what has it been since Christmas then Evatt? 

A mate of mine says that you can see from his year on year results that there has been an improvement every season and that all this criticism of Evatt is too much and he disagrees he should leave.

He’s staying and being rewarded for a 0-4 defeat at home where the keeper passed to the opposition to let them score. 

Financial decision clearly.

The gossip seems to be that Matt Cradock, the Coach they appointed in November (before the horrific run from last Christmas to now occurred) is going to be the scapegoat...




Another rumour is that Santos will no longer be the captain - if true about fecking time - I've said he's not captain material from the time he was first appointed.

Sacking Craddock won't be enough, he's not the manager and he will only do what he been asked to do by Evatt. The atmosphere was toxic on Saturday with our own fans singing you're getting sacked in the morning to Evatt. Can't see a way back from that really.

I’ve never had a major issue with Evatt tbh accepting that he clearly has his limitations but he needs to address his comments at the weekend very quickly if he wants to stay. Slagging off fans for your own failings is terminal IMO.

Sluffy wrote:The gossip seems to be that Matt Cradock, the Coach they appointed in November (before the horrific run from last Christmas to now occurred) is going to be the scapegoat...

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Another rumour is that Santos will no longer be the captain - if true about fecking time - I've said he's not captain material from the time he was first appointed.

Marc Iles has now mentioned this in the BN just now.

Link to article is [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Evatt has been great over all but the last 9 months have not been good enough. My main issue with him is his stubbornness to admit his system or way of playing isn't working. 

Its been obvious for months now that teams know how to play against us but he just keeps doing the same thing over and over again.

 He can't even change the system to a flat back 4 as we have no real full backs, just a load of wing backs who are better going forward. Jones if he's fit could play right back but what about left back? Neither Williams or Schon can play as a proper full back.

Norpig wrote:Sacking Craddock won't be enough, he's not the manager and he will only do what he been asked to do by Evatt. The atmosphere was toxic on Saturday with our own fans singing you're getting sacked in the morning to Evatt. Can't see a way back from that really.

At the end of the day only Sharon has the power to sack him and she seems to have this credo about standing by people through thick and thin - never force anyone out - sort of thing.

I suspect if and when he goes he will resign rather than have been sacked.

I also suspect the idea is to give him one last chance, maybe the plan is to bring in a 'proper' number two for him rather than the cheapskate appointment of promoting Craddock from within?

It's blindingly obvious to me that Tippy Tappy Mark II doesn't work BUT Tippy Tappy the original got us to 90 minutes from the Championship - so he needs to revert back to that at least for now - what else can he do?

This is what he said to Derek Clarke (match commentator after the game on Saturday (you can listen to it on Iles The Last Word podcast which I find really, really good...

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

“How can we change when we have got no physicality at the top end of the pitch? We have recruited to be technical and to build (from the back) and that requires confidence. But if you are going to tell us to start going direct and being risk free we haven’t got the physicality in there to do it."

“We tried in the second half with Victor but aerially that isn’t his game. His hold-up play is really good but he’s not like a Kiefer Moore, Peter Crouch, that big number nine, the guys they brought on. You could see the physical difference between the two teams and it showed on the pitch.”


I find his words extremely concerning as he clearly admits to not having any other alternative the Plan A 'tippy tappy'.

If Evatt left right this minute any new manager would need to find one with the players he inherits and I'm sure they would (Christ I'm sure even I could) but Evatt seems to have given up???

Just play 3-5-2, stop suicide plays at the back, stop Santos standing on the ball, play with Charles and Collins up front, and stop trying to pass the ball through the eye of a needle in midfield and play the ball into space behind their wingbacks/full backs, to force them back all the time - in fact don't overly concern ourselves about possession football (like we do) but focus on safety first at the back and getting the ball forward fast when we have it by mixing it up a bit, such as longer balls for runners, which can be over the top of the opposition as well always passing through them on the ground.

We do have skilful players who are comfortable with the ball at their feet, we just seem to have been put in a straightjacket mentality of Evatt-ball where they are only allowed to play it the one way all the time.

We've got to play to the strengths of the players we have - no point crying that we have no Peter Crouch to knock it long to, we (HE) or the next new manager needs to find some other alternatives because we we have now does not work.

So always play safe at the back, go over the top as well as on the ground in order to move the ball forward at speed, and play with two up front.

How hard is that to do?

If you forget Arsenal we have a run of “easy” games coming up. 

Clearly they don’t want to pay him off so looking at the fixture list they’ll fancy he can grind out some results against the leagues chuff and hopefully get the fans back on side.

I can't remember when we last scored from a corner.

I can't remember when we scored from a set piece situation.

What the fcuk do they do in training, just pass it sideways like a bunch of crabs.

Probably comes from EVANS training on the beach during his time at Blackpool.

It's been fun watching the first massive social media meltdown immediately after the drubbing with folk screaming for Evatt's head and then settling down into speculating who the new manager should be, immediately followed by the second social media meltdown when it was decided that he should stay for now.
The board are not stupid. They will have looked at the options and picked the best one.
Factors in that will have included cost of replacement, availability of replacement, time that needed to be bought to source a replacement, Evatt's proposal to turn it around, knowledge of and relationship with the players and a whole bunch of other stuff that we know nothing about.
What was said between them will remain a secret but they won't have taken the decision lightly, will have done a full analysis and it wouldn't surprise me if there was a timeframe in which to achieve targets.

Obviously don't know what happened in the meeting but it could be that they put an arm round him and told him they have confidence in him and not to worry about the negative comments and/or that with the benefit of hindsight he realised himself that he could actually find a solution and that he does know what to do - a "road to Damascus" moment.

All the speculation about what Evatt and the Board are thinking is just that - speculation. Likewise, his relationships with the staff and players and what was actually happening behind the scenes - pure guesswork being used as justification for his immediate removal. He's always taken responsibility for shit performances - even when the players have let him down as they did on Saturday.

But he is a stubborn f***** when it comes to playing his way and unfortunately in trying to target "technical players" on the cheap, we (Markham and the "analysis team"?) have recruited a squad of lightweights who are easily bullied, so radical change is difficult with this squad - whoever the manager is. (We did try to recruit Cooper, McCowan and Ladapo which would have changed everything TBF)

But, I think the vulnerability he showed after the game is a measure of how much he cares about the club, how disappointed he was and how much he wants us to start playing better again. And maybe in the cold light of day he's learnt a lesson and will come up with a different approach.

We'll find out on Saturday how much the Huddersfield experience has affected his willingness to change his dogma and also how capable the squad is of adapting to change.

Should be interesting - and personally, if big changes are made, I wouldn't expect us to win first time out but I would be happy enough with an improved performance and enough evidence to give hope for the future.

But if we turn up with the same old system and playing style I will be very, very pissed off because it was worked out by the opposition in January and now they all do it against us.

Over to you Mr Evatt.....

I think you completely over estimate the workings of the 'board'.

Who is on the board for a start?

I suspect that it is just Sharon, Luckock and Mike James, with perhaps Luckock's brother representing the Swiss (although I would suspect Luckock would do that himself as they invest via Luckock's company)?

Maybe Hart was party to the meetings at times although I would have thought he'd be excluded if they were discussing private matters such as sacking the manager.

If Hart was not party to such discussions then who within the Reebok would be drawing up all these contingencies and analysis's?

And how could they prevent leaks?

Such preparation (to my mind) is more likely to be done outside the organisation by consultants - and following the decision for Evatt to continue as manager in the summer and back him with a few million (that the business doesn't generate from within - the money has come from someone's pocket), then I very much doubt any contingency plans were in place for Evatt be sacked just few league games into the season.

It's more likely to my mind that the 'board' decided themselves what to do after Saturday's debacle and that was to stick by Evatt - in reality Sharon is the largest share holder, seems to work closely with Luckock (even prior to them becoming the clubs owners) (they even both live in the same village as neighbours) - my point being that the call is almost certainly Sharon's to make - no one else could out vote her.

I don't believe a formal board meeting was even held, maybe a bit of a ring round at best perhaps.

I'm of the mind that Evatt will quit when the time comes rather than Sharon sacks him.

Evatt certainly has not had a Road to Damascus moment, he will carry on more or less has he has - if for no other reason that the squad is not there to do much different - in his own words he does not have a Peter Crouch to play the longball option.

He will have to change something though and maybe he will revert to a back four or play 5-3-2 or 5-4-1 but it will still be tippy tappy football.

Fwiw I would revert back to the 3-5-2 he played last season with the caveat that we don't dick about in defence and that we aim to get the ball up the field much quicker by playing it over the top into space occasionally, for players to run on to, rather than short, sharp passes to feet, and playing 'through' the opposition, all the time.

I also don't really go along with the popular idea that we've been 'found out' since Christmas.

Yes I know what the stats say but the loss of Baxter unsettled the side, and Charles and Dempsey's injury's compounded the situation.

We dropped points to teams we otherwise would not have done.

We have quality players in our side still and they are more than good enough to play last season's style football (not tippy tappy Mark II) and win against most teams - even the ones that try to bully us or try to shut Sheehan down.

The league is stronger this year and we still have the built in weaknesses that have been there all through Evatt's reign but we need to stop giving goals away by pissing around at the back and we need to get the ball forward quickly rather than playing statues at the back.

I don't know why Craddock has gone but if I was Sharon I would want a strong character who has been around the block a bit, to be brought in as assistant manager to Evatt who can read the game better than he does and influence it with tactics and changes during the game as it is pretty clear to me that Evatt can't.

And one further thing I would do if I could and that would be to keep Evatt away from the press.

He doesn't help himself by saying we are the best team in the division - like he did last season - and his 'tears' after Oxford and now Huddersfield has unsettled the whole of the Bolton fan base - "I don't know what to do"!!!

Fuck me!

We need someone with a cool head answering questions after defeats and someone who isn't a big head when we are winning.  

Just be humble in victory and gracious in defeat - it's really not hard to do.

Some good points there Sluffy, especially about not pissing around at the back and hopefully getting the ball forward.

Why can't he see this?

Why do we never get anything from a corner or a set play?

I know he isn't going to be dismissed and frankly I think sluffy may be right in his belief that Sharon has all the power on a day to day basis. My question is does she want to keep him or is there no choice because it's not financially viable to do anything else?

My own position here is clear but in case you missed it yes I'd sack Evatt in a heartbeat. I don't believe he's the leader we need either now or in the future and it's his lack of leadership when it really matters that has seen us surrender in not one but two playoffs on the trot. 

But would the "BRING BACK SAM" Brigade please shut up? It's not going to happen and I for one am extremely relieved by that. It's not time to look backwards, it's time to look at the reality of where we are now, what we have now and what we can do to improve the future of this football club.

Ian Evatt's departure would be (in my opinion) a good first step but it's only a step. For real, sustainable long term improvement we obviously need more money and stronger, longer lasting revenue streams that will allow Sharon and whatever board there is to actually make plans that are proactive rather then reactive. 

I don't know how that can be accomplished yet but I am giving it some serious thought and will (try not to groan too much) present my opinion, backed by what research I can find in the next week or so. One thing is clear though, no supporters group whether it be a trust or a club owned association is going to make a club successful. It needs someone with a pretty fat wallet and more importantly genuine business knowledge to take any club up towards even the Championship much less the Premier League.

His little meltdowns to the press are a bit odd aren’t they. 

I know managers rant all the time but this is the second time he’s basically quit in front of the cameras. There’s only so many times you can make a total prat of yourself. 

It’s not even a sigma style rant like Conte at spurs. More of a cuck rant if anything.

After the embarrassment of Saturday, anyone still think he should be in the job?

He has to go for me, his complete stubbornness about only playing one way is just ridiculous. As i said on the match thread even Keith Hill was pointing out how pointless it was continuing to play tippy tappy football even when we went down by 4 and 5.

Yes, he’s still got to go for me and that hasn’t changed. Whilst he got to results since Santos had his captaincy taken off him, Evatt bought himself some breathing space which got the fans off his back but after the 5 nil drubbing away at Stockport last Saturday I don’t know why anyone would still want him as manager.

This tippy tappy bollocks is simply that and has been pointed out that we are not Man City. God knows why he can’t see it or perhaps he is too stubborn?

After Coventry city sacking Mark Robins which imo was the wrong thing of them to do as I couldn’t really find much fault with the results the team got should become our next manager imo and would welcome him with open arms.

I don’t think that Aunty Sharron has the guts or the funds perhaps to get rid of him but we are now in our 5th year out of our 3rd year of getting promotion to the championship.

The club need to wake the fuck up and get robins in before he gets snapped up!!!