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Ian Evatt has called on the Wanderers fans to play their part – but accepts his side need to do more to encourage positive vibes around the Toughsheet Stadium.
The Bolton boss came under fire for comments made at the weekend after the 4-0 home defeat at Huddersfield Town, in which he claimed a “dark cloud” had followed the club from their play-off final defeat at Wembley in May.
Many supporters took umbrage, believing it had been a reference to their following, and pointing out that the backing has generally remained positive despite a slow start to the campaign.
Evatt clarified his comments to The Bolton News on Thursday, stating: “Listen, please, please do not think in any way that I am having a go at our fanbase.
“I am a football fan as well, so I understand how this works.
“All I am saying is ‘yes we have a responsibility to get the fans going and we will do all we can to make sure that happens,’ but with anything in life I think the responsibility needs to be shared.
“We need to play our part, we hope the fans play theirs, and I know they will because there is a majority out there who want Bolton to do well regardless of individuals in charge or players playing, they want their team to win.
“We need to play our part, play aggressive, front-foot, high-tempo, high-intensity football, which is what I want us to do and we have been good at, I know they will be there for us.
“I am not saying it in a way to critique our fans at all, I am saying it in a way that the more they can get behind us doing well, the better it will be for everybody.
“I just think it is really important that I clear that up. I have no interest in criticising any of our fans, it is not what I am about. I care too much about them, the club, what I meant about the black cloud was the feeling we all had after Wembley.
"I don’t think they want to be negative or that they are deliberately doing it, we just haven’t given them anything to get behind yet and everyone still is in a hangover post-Wembley. There is no way I would critique them because they have been too good for me. I hope I have been good for them.
“You are right, as a group, and I am the leader of that group, we have a responsibility to get them off their seats and behind what we are doing again. That should start on Saturday.”
Evatt spoke with members of the Bolton board on Sunday and is understood to have been instructed that results must improve quickly.
Wanderers have high expectations having missed out on the play-offs in the previous two seasons but Evatt is adamant he has the time to turn things around.
“It’s swings and roundabouts because the only reason people have that feeling is because of what we have achieved in the past,” he said. “If we had been mediocre the whole time when why would you expect to be promoted?
“It is because we have been so close, done so well, had so many good performances that everyone has that feeling – right, we need to do it this year. It is OK having that but it only comes off the back of what someone has done.
“Football is an industry that people only remember the here and now, the last five minutes, not last season or the previous four. I am aware of that, I am not naïve.
“But it doesn’t mean we can’t do that (go for promotion) because we have lost three games. We sat here having lost 4-0 at home to Wigan last season and we were 90 minutes away.
“I still think it is achievable but we also know we have to get something going now, the time is now. We have to get rolling but I think everyone has that feeling.
“And the players need supporting, some belief and confidence, and everyone can help with that.”
Wanderers have lost the last three games in the league and have not scored since the opening day of the season at Leyton Orient.
Evatt cut a disconsolate figure after last weekend’s defeat against Huddersfield but he feels confident he can put things right.
“It has been tough,” he said. “We had poor results in the past, difficult moments and challenges, whether I was a player or manager. And I believe I know how to come out of them, I believe I will come out of them. The best thing about this week has been the work with the players and there is a real sense of togetherness. Everyone knows we are under-performing and under-performing and only we can put it right.
“I said on Saturday that I was struggling to find answers but I didn’t mean in general. It is really difficult for managers when it is so emotional for us to come straight out, sit in front of you guys and the rest of the media, it is a really challenging thing.
“I care deeply about this football club, about the players and the ownership group and when we don’t get points and wins that I think we are capable of doing it upsets me and it hurts me. And it hurts me as much as any fan who has supported this club for 60 or 70 years, I can tell you that for a fact.
“I was hurt on Saturday but the response I have had from the players immediately after and the board suggests we are in this together and we are in this together, and that is the way it is going to be.”
Wanderers went into 2024 in second spot but have since slumped to 14th out of 31 clubs who have featured in the division in terms of points per game.
Injuries to the likes of Ricardo Santos, Nathan Baxter and Dion Charles caused serious issues in the New Year but have not stopped fans questioning whether the issues really started at Wembley in May.
“When people ask questions, say things like that and point out things like that, there is always context. There is always context,” he said.
“But at the end of last season we still won games by five here, Oxford was one. Reading was another one. We had some really good performances as well, we shouldn’t just disregard the second half of the season.
“We know it needs to get better and we are working very hard to make it better.”
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