IT was with a degree of certainty that Ian Evatt predicted that Wanderers would recover quickly from the 5-0 defeat at Stockport County.
The Bolton boss, who in a few weeks will become just the fourth post-war manager to preside over 250 games, has probably accrued enough experience to consider himself an authority.
Whilst Evatt can point to four successive seasons of improving league position, a promotion, a trophy at Wembley, his time in charge has also been flecked by periodic times of hardship and defeats which cut deep.
The latest, at Edgeley Park, brought about visible – and audible – signs of anger from the Wanderers supporters but Evatt remains convinced this is a battle he can win, and that a run of good form to the end of the year can help him turn a fresh page in 2025.
Evidence shows he has found a way of steering form back towards the positive, after all, he is still here, and set to join the likes of Phil Neal, Sam Allardyce and Bill Ridding as modern Bolton managers with significant longevity.
But on the eight previous occasions that Wanderers have lost a game by three or more goals with Evatt as manager, they have managed to bounce back with a victory just once. The recovery has been a slower burn.
We looked back at those flashpoints and what Bolton produced in their next league game.
Wanderers players look dejected after defeat at Leyton Orient in 2020 (Image: CameraSport – Rob Newell)
Capital punishment.
The first real capitulation of Evatt’s tenure came in the East London drizzle at Leyton Orient, aptly on Halloween 2020. With the pandemic in full swing and the fans still locked out of stadia, the public reaction was confined to those who had watched back home on a stream.
A few days later Bolton welcomed Mansfield Town on a Tuesday night and looked to be heading for another defeat after George Lapslie opened the scoring in the 56th minute. Antoni Sarcevic rescued a point in the last minute – and this proved to be the last league game that Billy Crellin played in goal for the Whites.
Ali Crawford shows his disappointment after a 6-3 home defeat against Port Vale (Image: CameraSport – Stephen White)
Six of the worst.
The 6-3 home defeat against Port Vale must rank as one of the most confusing games in Wanderers’ recent history. Even Vale boss John Askey couldn’t quite believe his side had racked up such a convincing score-line. It was, nevertheless, the first time Bolton had leaked six goals at home since a Premier League game at Burnden Park against Manchester United.
Wanderers had been on a four-game winning streak in the league but as Christmas fast approached the festive spirit was starting to drain away again, and a 2-1 defeat at Walsall in the following game left plenty of room for improvement as the January window approached.
Keith Hill returned to Wanderers as manager of Tranmere, and earned a 3-0 win (Image: CameraSport – Andrew Kearns)
King of the Hill.
Before things got better for Bolton in the 2020/21 season, they got worse. And for fans of a certain vintage a 3-0 home defeat against Tranmere is as bad as it gets.
Former Whites boss Keith Hill brought the Birkenhead men back to claim a comfortable win, leaving Wanderers floating 15th in the table on December 19.
The response had to wait for Boxing Day – and Evatt’s side found themselves 3-0 down against Carlisle United before George Thomason’s first professional goal just before half time signalled a dramatic fight-back. Nathan Delfouneso and Peter Kioso got them level – the latter then getting a red card before the end at Brunton Park.
Harry Brockbank and Josh Sheehan in the rain at Plymouth in October 2021 (Image: CameraSport – David Horton)
Week from hell.
It had been a few years since Wanderers welcomed neighbours Wigan but with nearly 21,000 watching on, this reunion couldn’t have gone much worse. A 4-0 defeat was described by Evatt as the lowest moment of his managerial career to date – but the week didn’t improve, and a long journey down to Plymouth saw things take another savage twist.
A 3-0 defeat at Home Park in farcical wet conditions was bad enough but we have since learned there was a fall-out between the manager and his captain, Sarcevic, which led to him being shipped out to Stockport.
Alex Baptiste, Adam Senior and Joel Dixon show their dismay after going behind at Accrington in December 2021 (Image: CameraSport – Alex Dodd)
Pain in the rain.
The pitch at Fleetwood was so wet, a duck invaded at one point in the second half. But the quacks (sorry) had already appeared for Bolton, who were on their way to a 3-0 defeat, compounded by Ricardo Santos’s red card at Highbury in December 2021.
Wanderers were struggling with injuries and bouts of Covid, which eventually forced the postponement of a couple of games. But they did play one more game before the New Year, a 1-0 defeat at Accrington during which the frustration from the away end was quite evident.
At the halfway mark in the season, Bolton were 16th in the table and just four points outside the relegation zone, once again looking for a restorative January.
Wigan Athletic players celebrate their third goal at the Toughsheet in a 4-0 win (Image: CameraSport – Andrew Kearns)
Lightning strikes twice.
Wanderers were top of the league table after three games of the 2023/24 season but came back down to earth with the proverbial bump when Wigan Athletic inflicted another 4-0 defeat on home turf.
More than 24,000 watched Charlie Wyke and Stephen Humphrys do the damage, and though Evatt maintained the margin of victory flattered the Latics somewhat, he admitted his team had not competed like they were playing against a local rival.
“For the first time someone punched us on the jaw and we just didn’t recover,” he added.
The response was a 1-1 draw in a scrappy game at Burton Albion, courtesy of Dion Charles’s second-half goal.
Bolton Wanderers’ Ricardo Santos reacts as he is sent off after receiving a red card and conceding a penalty in the process (Image: CameraSport – Rich Linley)
No fun beside the seaside.
Arguably the key week in Wanderers’ promotion chase last season started with a heavy 4-1 defeat at Blackpool.
George Thomason had got the day off to the perfect start with an early goal but the Whites quickly got sloppy and Evatt’s old club got themselves in front before half time.
Ref Josh Smith gave a ridiculous red card to Santos on 66 minutes, after which the home side hammered home their advantage.
There was no time to mope, however, as another local game was coming up in just a couple of days. Wanderers desperately wanted revenge against Wigan for the home embarrassment six months earlier but despite playing well, they failed to find a breakthrough in the first hour. In what was effectively the Latics’ first attack of the game, Humphrys snatched a goal, prompting a familiar sinking feeling for Wanderers.
The scoreline says it all in Wanderers’ home defeat against Huddersfield back in September (Image: CameraSport – Dave Howarth)
Shudders-field.
Bolton had been out-of-sorts in the first few weeks of the season, and a September hammering at home to Huddersfield left us all wondering what hangover still remained from the play-off final defeat against Oxford United.
Evatt described “dark clouds” which the club had been unable to shift, and with the team sitting 21st in the table the manager’s job security came under serious question.
Talks with the board followed and after getting their backing, Evatt took Bolton to a much-needed 5-2 win in the next game against Reading seven days later.
Dion Charles scored a hat-trick, Josh Sheehan and Kyle Dempsey also getting their names on the scoresheet, and the doom and gloom subsided… At least for a few weeks!
What next?
Although some of the players involved in Wanderers’ dire display against Stockport played in a 2-1 win against Fleetwood in the Bristol Street Motors Trophy, we won’t see the real response until this weekend, when Blackpool come to the Toughsheet Stadium.
