Ian Evatt at Bolton: The journey so far and what’s next?

EFL pundit Gab Sutton has taken an in-depth look at the journey of Ian Evatt at Bolton over the last few seasons, before asking the question: what's next?

Tough Beginnings

When Ian Evatt first came in at Bolton, the club was starting completely from scratch.

Years of build-up of financial troubles were compounded in the mid-late-2010s through Ken Anderson’s mismanagement of the club, which led to them coming very close to going out of business, before the welcomed Football Ventures takeover in 2019.

The changeover happened too late to alter the course of an ill-fated 2019/20 campaign, in which the side started out with their youth team and suffered three consecutive 5-0 drubbings in August, and had 12 points deducted – even with eight players arriving on Deadline Day, it was a losing battle.

As such, after an inevitable second relegation, 2020 was a rebuilding summer during which 20 players came in, and 19 departed, so establishing a synergy and togetherness from the get-go was tough.

Bolton began with three straight defeats, in an opening run of one win in eight, and seven in the first 24, which left the team languishing in 20th at a stage as advanced as late-January.

At any point, the new owners could have changed their mind on Ian Evatt, who had won the National League title on a low budget with Barrow the year before, but wasn’t proven in League Two – but they stuck with him through some dark times.

The Resurgence

Evatt had come into Bolton intent on playing the 3-4-1-2 system that won him his success at Barrow, but it wasn’t quite working at that time, and after a poor first half of the season, he compromised with a pragmatic switch to 4-2-3-1.

The January signings of Declan John, Kieran Lee, MJ Williams and Dapo Afolayan all made an impact, as Wanderers won 16 of their final 22 games, shooting from 10 points off the Play-Offs and 13 off the automatic spots, to achieving a top three berth.

It helped that League Two was a wide open division, in which 79 points was enough for automatic promotion, but Bolton had got the Evatt era alive-and-kicking – from here, the only way was up.

The Outspoken Gaffer

Evatt hasn’t always had a huge filtering system between what he thinks and what he says, which can be a double-edged sword.

Great for building trust, and real connections with people, not-so great when things need to be handled more tactfully.

If he’d publicly told goalkeeper Billy Crellin to “man up” as a Premier League or even a Championship manager, it would’ve caused a national media storm, but it’s probably benefited him having the space to make some of those mistakes at a lower profile.

One of those mistakes was publicly saying Bolton are the “best team in the league”, with his side eighth after a 1-0 loss at Sheffield Wednesday.

What followed was a 4-0 thumping by rivals Wigan, in a run of nine defeats in 13 that saw his side slump to 18th, and they became the butt of a lot of jokes around that time.

It’s one thing to have that thought internally, but again, the lesson is pick and choose the bits you share.

Nonetheless, the Trotters did find excellent form in the second half of that season thanks to the inspired loan additions of goalkeeper James Trafford from Manchester City, and right wing-back Marlon Fossey from Fulham, as a ninth-placed finish was secured.

Replacing Key Men

Trafford returned to enjoy a spectacular 2021/22 campaign, but the big concern was how Fossey could be replaced – the answer was with Conor Bradley.

The Liverpool loanee had no senior experience at the time of his loan, but he’d already achieved eight caps for Northern Ireland and showed why he’s rated so highly at Anfield.

Bradley managed nine direct goal involvements, and could have had more than five assists had striker Dion Charles kept his shooting boots.

Extremely consistent for one so young, Bradley carried a youthful fearlessness, knowing he’ll win his individual tussles before he walks onto the pitch.

Speedy and forward thinking, the 19-year-old got himself very high on the right flank, either by getting in behind an opposing left-sider with his runs off the ball, or by dribbling himself, and linking up with Kyle Dempsey.

Bradley’s pace allows him to recover his defensive position and stop counter-attacks, while his heart and desire made him a fan favourite.

Crucially, what allowed Bolton to attract that level of quality in the loan market was the style of play, which is something that has carried over into this campaign.

Appealing Style

Evatt has made a subtle tweak from his 3-4-1-2 this season, and gone for more of a 3-1-4-2, with Josh Sheehan sitting at the base midfield, sandwiched by Aaron Morley and Kyle Dempsey.

Sheehan sits, collects and conducts, Morley is another playmaker but picks at times wider areas – typically the right - from which to pull the strings with his exquisite technical prowess, while Dempsey is the athletic, dynamic type who loves his penetrative runs.

The three combine, rotate and interchange seamlessly: sometimes Morley will take on Sheehan’s position, and Dempsey, Morley’s – which makes them such a tough trio to pin down.

Perhaps even more so than last season, Bolton look extremely possession-heavy and have shown the ability, in their first two games, to control things right the way through, and never really give the opposition a sniff.

With top Premier League teams keen to dominate the ball in the same way, Wanderers could have a huge advantage in the loan market in the closing stages of the window.

The Physical Dimension

While Bolton do their best work fundamentally on the ball, they also have a balance of physicality that enables them to earn the right to play.

Centre-back Ricardo Santos is a genuine unit, striker Victor Adeboyejo is short at 5’10” but is devilishly hard to outmuscle, and right wing-back Josh Cogley is a fantastic athlete – so, to an extent, is Dempsey.

When the pretty football isn’t flowing for the Lancashire outfit, they have the means to keep themselves competitive in games, and maybe ride out those tough spells.

It’s common for a lot of good footballing sides to have that vulnerability, the propensity to be bullied on occasion – Bolton won’t.

A Cogley in the Wheel

As you can gather from the above, Bradley left huge boots to fill at right wing-back, and the task of replacing him looks even harder for Cogley than it would’ve been for his predecessor to replace Fossey.

Cogley has had a great start.

The former Birmingham academy graduate’s pace, strength and stamina had been in evidence at Tranmere, where he was one of the best right-backs in League Two, but that was in a very different system.

The question would be whether he’d prove technically refined enough to adjust to a more possession-heavy setup and grasp the tactical nuances of the system, whilst stepping up a league in the process – but it’s been a great start.

“He’s embraced it, he’s learnt and he’s a sponge is Josh” said Evatt of Cogley, after he starred in the opening day 3-0 win over Lincoln.

“His attitude to learning is fantastic, and he’s taken it all on board. We’re constantly analysing his performances, his clips, what we want from him and what we think he should’ve done, what he’s done really well.

“Within that system we play, there’s a lot of flexibility, a lot of rotation and it’s just getting used to the timings, and the relationship between passer and receiver, and that’s something he’s picking up all the time.”

Vic and Dion Double-Act

Dion Charles was comfortably Bolton’s top goalscorer last season with 16 league goals – nobody else got so much as a third of that tally – but even then he was arguably wasteful in front of goal, and could feasibly have hit 25 another season.

Charles started 38 of the 46 games, though, whereas other strikers in Elias Kachunga, Jón Daði Böðvarsson, Amadou Bakayoko, Victor Adeboyejo, Dan Nlundulu and Cameron Jerome all shared the minutes between them, meaning he didn’t have a settled partnership.

That could change, slightly, this season, on early evidence, as the former Accrington Stanley striker has already forged an excellent understanding with Adeboyejo, who is already starting to recapture the form he enjoyed in the first half of 2022/23, at Burton.

The second half of the season, at the Toughsheet Stadium, proved difficult for the Nigerian, who may not have been able to generate the same momentum that came from being the main man he was at the Pirelli, with so much rotation.

Nonetheless, Adeboyejo has started 2023/24 in fine fettle, and been an excellent physical focal point for Charles to play off.

The 25-year-old brings excellent link-up play which, with his strike-partner’s nippy, persistent running in behind brings distinctive ‘Yorke-and-Cole’ vibes.

Evatt has the options to change things up when he needs to, over the course of the season, but for now Adeboyejo and Charles have started superbly.

What’s Next?

It would be foolsome to draw definitive conclusions so early in the season, but the initial indications are that Bolton look very much the team to beat, and potentially a dominant force.

Promotion seems likely, so in that sense the plan for Evatt is to get up, hopefully this year, and stabilize within the Championship then try to grow from there towards Premier League designs.

Given how well the club is run by Chair Sharon Brittan, and Sporting Director Chris Markham, it’s an appealing club to be part of that makes Evatt’s job a lot easier.

On the other hand, there is the chance that Evatt’s work attracts admiring glances from the Championship, or even the Premier League.

If Kieran McKenna were to be poached from Ipswich, or Michael Carrick, from Middlesbrough, for instance, Evatt would be one of the most obvious candidates for either club to turn to.

While there’s a stylistic appeal to Evatt, there’s also a possibility that his brisk, honest, forthright media handling and man-management style translates better to a lower level than right at the top.

As such, it may be that this journey between Bolton and Evatt – an incredible one so far – will continue for a long time to come.