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I’m being deliberately harsh here, but: 2 points or not, there are 12 teams ahead of us in the league and a play off spot is not the aim. We’ve won 3 on the spin, against Reading, Crawley and Northampton We should have won yesterday, but we didn’t, against the team 23rd in the league. Shoulda, woulda, coulda - conceding 2 goals a game at home means there’s a good chance you won’t win. Reached a play off final - means fuck all, we’re in the same league as last year because we lost it without having a shot on target. Again, it’s probably overly critical, but he can absolutely be sacked on his record when you look at the cold hard facts.

No doubt there are those who want Evatt out regardless. At full time, I just had yesterday down as ‘one of those games’. Two poor goals to concede but on any other day we’d have scored 5 second half. Last 4 games to me suggest we’ll be in the shake up (top 6) come the end of the season. In a football sense, I’ve always been supportive of Evatt (albeit sensed his number was up after Huddersfield). However, I’m tired of the antics. Actually, I’m tired that he never learns. He’s a grown man in a highly responsible, well paid role. He’s (quite rightly) appealed to people to treat his players, himself and families with more respect. But you can’t then behave in such a poor way yourself. I expect he’ll receive a longer ban from the FA now. Even if they show leniency, he’ll certainly be missing from the dugout for one game (but I expect 3). I’ll be very disappointed if he tries to defend himself. His knack of lurching from crisis to crisis is quite impressive.

The bottom line chaps is that ultimately, we all know how this ends. A leopard doesn’t change its spots and all that and to think otherwise is just naivety. Nothing has changed over the last couple of results, we’ve played against very poor opposition and taken points we’d fully expect to take. The same frailties are still there in abundance and if you think they are not you’re just kidding yourself. Sharon’s loyalty is commendable but at the same time very naive. She knows It’s coming but she has chosen to look the other way. I dread to think what another 45 minutes like yesterday would result in at St. Andrew’s in a couple of weeks time in a game for me that arguably at the beginning of the season you’d be hoping for a win and at least a point 30 million or otherwise. This game represented an opportunity to show that we were finally ready to push on this season. Unfortunately, you can see nothing but an absolute pasting on the cards and that isn’t good enough for me. It’s simply too far away from where it should be at this stage and for that reason it has to be Evatt out.

I’m reasonably confident we will go up…. Better chance if we don’t change manager mid season, fails this season and he’ll deserve to be sacked.

Well I've no intention of getting a banner made or paying for a light aircraft to fly over. I want Bolton to win every match & if he proves me wrong I'll be genuinely happy & be quick to admit it. I just don't see that happening & every extra game is just kicking the can along.

I dunno. I think if you told em to win more or spend all day debating with cheese, we’d have a few more points

It astounds me that many fans want Evatt removed from his job, we have league 1 players who sometimes can’t execute the plan or drop below their normal standards and a relatively young manager who has a decent win ratio granted at a league 1/2 level…. Think many fans just don’t like him (not all) his record does not in any way shout out that he’s a fair case for being sacked.

Perfect chance there to go 4 at the back (well really 2 as the full backs could’ve gone in alongside the midfield) 3 in midfield and 3 up top. They had no interest for the 2nd half aside from a couple of forays forward. Momentum was with us, they were camped in and the ball just kept getting hoofed away for another wave to come forward. You don’t need 3 centre halves collecting the ball from deep. but there wasn’t any innovation. It’s replacing like for like in the same formation

Best he shook hands with their manager and assistant then walk down the tunnel and into the dressing room…. That would avoid any future incidents.

Fair enough. But it fits with the narrative of the 5/10 games. If he messes up these big games then I will agree with you. I still think there’s evidence to cling to that we can believe it can be done. And I suspect I won’t be on my own. Come Birmingham and Stockport there won’t be many stood there cheering us on at kick-off thinking “we’ve lost this already we don’t win big games” Most of those will be on their Firesticks, poised over their keyboards waiting to go on their socials at the first mistake. I’ll be there thinking we can win because; - we are playing a system now which suits us better - We have 4 bang in form strikers who can all score goals - We have scored lots of goals in the last 5 games - We’ve got players who are up to speed and contributing (Schon) - We’ve got good quality back-up in a variety of positions - We’ve a captain who is performing consistently well and is a good young leader. - There’s a few players who must be top of the tree in their positions in L1 at the moment. There won’t be too many ahead of Dempsey, Johnstone, Charles, Baxter and even the crap Santos - And believe it or not, another controversial one for some to accept, the players are playing for their manager at the moment. None of that makes it extremely likely we are going to win anything, but I’ll argue with anyone that it’s not reasonable evidence to suggest there’s a chance.

It’s a very fair point, and my wording wasn’t great. I suppose I’d still say that that record suggests it is beyond reasonable though. Beyond possible, no, of course we could do it, beyond reasonable, yes for me it is. Like I said earlier, big games have proven to be his nemesis and this year there are more than ever.

take's one to know one eh?

Great We can have a daily running thread where @gonzo poses a question from the book every morning and watch as the day descends into either carnage and club shops or depravity and dildos

We’re 2 points behind a play off place, that’s after a slow start and switch back in formation after some bad results… won 3 on the spin before yesterday, should have won yesterday and reached play off final last season… sacking him would not be justifiable on his record.

The bloke is out of his league and like the Sarcevics, Doyles etc the club have outgrown him. I have slated him for his signings at best mediocre for the money he has dished out. We have half a dozen injured and out at any one time because going back to his signings they seem to arrive here injured. He sets the team up one way and cannot adapt or change midgame. Yesterday being a case in point. We got the game back to 2-2 and it was attack against defence yet he kept three centre backs on marking one player. He could have gone 4/3/3 Put both Collins or McAtee on kept Charles on and took Toal off along with Vic who offers very little. The corners are nothing but a joke leave Two forwards one on either line and that will make the opposition leave a minimum 3 back. Mark your players not the zonal system that does not work And like others have stated stop this taking players off at certain times to be replaced by a clone.........Some players have bad games it is natural or the game drifts them by. Can he not see that and adapt to it. He like Doyle and Sarcevic were right for us 4 years ago....Today it is time he joined the other two

A manager of a football team, at any level, should be an ambassador for the values that club represents. A manager of one of the oldest and proudest clubs in the league to be caught ramming his forehead into the face of an opposition player is sub Sunday league form. The pressure of managing a club the size of Bolton and the position it finds itself in is obviously getting to Evatt. I like Evatt but it's clear he has his own issues outside of the game itself but if he can't keep a clear head and manage a football team it's time for him to move on.

I think it’s a perfectly reasonable argument to say I think we can get results against the better sides in this league. Who are they? Well I think we’d all agree Birmingham. That one’s debatable and probably the one I’m most concerned about getting something from. But let’s see in a few weeks. Stockport away will be a good indicator, to see if we have improved/are improving. At the moment the table suggests it’s then Wrexham and Mansfield. Well we looked ok against Wrexham when we were playing the shit system, they didn’t worry me too much on that performance. Nor Mansfield. The way we’ve played in the last 4 games if we can recreate some of the good play we’ve seen, then against the likes of Burton, Peterborough and Blackpool at home it’s not a stupid or thick thing to say we could pick up points. If we do pick up points in these games and put a good run together then why can’t that be used as evidence? I don’t get it? I’m not making the point that that is extremely likely, but I am saying it’s not beyond reasonable and if so would dispel your myth that everyone should have made their mind up by now. I’d push it even further and say that these are exactly the games where we need to making judgements on this manager and our side.

If shit happens too many times then an objective isn’t achieved and you lose your job. In which case, shit happens

Maybe yesterday (1st half) was just a blip, all teams have them, even brum lost to high spending (lol) charlton. Some of the players could have been a little tired from it being the 3rd game in a week, got a roasting at half time and picked up a bit. At the end of the day it's all about opinions, you're evatt out so focus on the negatives whereas people who are happy with evatt see the positives

Thank you everyone who entered the competition. All commenters were assigned a number and a random number selector picked out #10. Congratulations gonzo! I will send a message to you for your delivery address.

Atherton covering Evatts arse, don’t just make players aware, nominate a player to do the job, it’s not rocket science, oh and I’m still Evatt in… for now.

Why? 10 from 12 and general improvement If it wasn't calling it a day after Huddersfield he's definitely not now

If you leave, say, Dion 1 yard off the centre spot the opposition have to put 2 players back with him. That's not difficult to see. If there's another left about 35yards up, then they need covering. So any ball, even half cleared, doesn't easily come pinging back in for what is called the 'second phase'. I don't give a fck what some statistic shows. How do professionals not understand this ?

Love the bit of passion shown by Evatt but you can’t really go kicking off with players on the pitch especially when you and the club have been vocal about hurty words on the tinterweb.

The mood very quickly returns to Evatt's future. After a little run when we played differently, scored early and took the game to the opposition we revert to fckg pit-a-pat ... &, subsequently, to making mistakes and defending like amatuers. He instructs that playing style, despite the different style getting results. I'm not sure whether in the second half the changed style was just the players grabbing it, rather than him upping the tempo. ... & I fckg hate the play-by-numbers style where he makes the same substitutions, at the same time as if it's a law. Then the shenanigans at the end. The Mr. Angry act of a man who can't control himself. We can continue Death by a Thousand cuts or rip the plaster off now. He's not going to change.

15%

IE’s behaviour was as embarrassment. He makes himself look tinpot and unprofessional. A bit like a teacher attacking a schoolkid.

What an utter moron Wish our board would get a move on. Just wasting our season the more chances we give him. It’s awful the abuse Evatt and his son received. But to talk about crossing lines & then go & do that makes you look a reet idiot.

You can drive past the rocket, that was, windows closed and get a whiff

“It just seems either very kind or naive or indecisive (with respect) to not have made up our minds yet.” This was the bit I was taking issue with. As if there’s some kind of intelligence issue associated with seeing how these next key games pan out. There were more than 50% after Exeter who wanted 5/10 games to make our minds up. I suspect me with many others wobbled after Huddersfield, and I have been impressed with our response since then. I still don’t get why seeing how these next batch of games play out, (which have a mixture of top sides, local sides, tricky homes/aways,) isn’t a sensible, reasonable and acceptable point of view and is in complete contrast to your view of folk with this opinion being “naive”

This is what makes games like yesterday must wins. We are capable of garnering enough points even if we continue our mediocre return in the "big games". But it puts huge pressure on everyone (probably contributed to his reaction at the final whistle maybe?). Think back to last season. As you point out not a great return against the better teams, but dropping points at home to the likes of Carlisle and Shrewsbury led to our downfall. It's doable but we have very little room for any more cock ups against the so called lesser teams.

Firstly to be clear, if we get to Christmas and we've won a majority of those games, I'll be absolutely delighted to get behind IE again. And I'd also say Birmingham is a free hit, we could be doing everything perfectly and still lose there, I won't be using a (narrowish) defeat as evidence against him, but if we win or even deservedly draw its a massive plus for him. But I don't think its a unreasonable to be concerned about our ability to go to Stockport, Wrexham, Wigan, Blackpool, Rotherham, Huddersfield and get our fair share of results. Otherwise we are ignoring what's gone before. We wouldn't employ our next manager without taking into account their track record, we'd get someone that has shown he has what it takes (unless its a McKenna/Mousinho type punt on potential). If we do win big games (and most of the small games) - great - but its based on hope rather than expectation/confidence. Its a gamble because once those are out of the way it could be too late to even aim for 6th place. On dispelling the myth, its not a myth, its just the hard facts. Bottom line is you and a few others think he deserves another chance, fine - just opinions and I hope I'm wrong. Others think he's had enough chances, we don't have to agree. Let's see what happens next couple of months and hope for an upturn.

Evatt has a penchant for confronting folk after the final whistle or saying silly shite when it's not gone his way. He needs to wind his neck in. it's not going to solve owt it just makes him look like a whopper.

Don't worry, they're not. Have they been in touch with you?

Looking at it simply, Evatt is a prick. We all know he's a prick but whilst we're doing well you can put that to one side. When we're doing poorly him being a prick becomes a problem.

I try and be measured and balanced, whether it's game by game or longer-term (maybe don't always manage it) and I'm not Evatt In, Evatt Out or Evatt Shake it all About for that matter (that last one not a good idea perhaps!). What I was looking for, over Summer and into first couple of months of season, were signs that the issues that caused us to fall short had been recognised and were being addressed, either through recruitment, change of approach, or both. Still early days yes, still a long way to go yes, still loads of time for sure, but all those things considered I'm not convinced. I don't think the recruitment in Summer has made us any stronger generally and in areas where we were suspect last season, while the only change in approach felt necessary was a disaster. So, as far as I'm concerned, we're back where we were, with the same good aspects and the same failings, in a Division that is more competitive than it was last season. Does that make me more Evatt Out than Evatt In? Maybe, though not at the point of feeling like any buttons need pressing yet. We aren't at that '10 games in' point yet and we could get to 20 and still have plenty of time for a change to have an impact if it was felt necessary. I'd be up for giving it that long. Games upcoming against the likes of Stockport, Blackpool and Wigan could be the acid tests though, strong performances in them may reignite everyone's confidence, limp ones could turn things toxic again.

There's another factor too imo. Some people see the manager as the club and you should build around them long term, some people see the manager as an employee of the club and you should move them on as you would with players when they've reached their limit. While I'm not advocating a Watford style hire and fire, I'm more on the latter side. He's had ample time to grow the club and has just reached his limit with us. That's not saying he can't manage in the championship but it's all gone stale with us, and he's now the thing holding us back.

Good post.

So frustrating yesterday. First half back to the crap we played before the last 3 results. second half much better, but having scored 2 early, we should then go and win the game. vic poor yesterday, should have gone off earlier. Dempsey superb. can’t believe the time the lad had to control the ball from the corner before he hit it. Great strike, but all very well mentioning set pieces to the players, bloody tell them what to do - all it needed was someone between penalty spot and edge of the box to stop that happening - basics

Posts taken from https://blueandamber.proboards.com/thread/107646/bolton-match-thread. Apologies for the grim colour - that's what SalopWays adopt annoyingly. PREMATCH DURING Listening to Radio Shropshire, that is the impression I get too....

If we were sitting pretty in the top two, not only would there be fewer critical voices, there'd also be a good number offering congratulations on him not giving an inch etc. That's just football, and the mood of the fans. He simply shouldn't have done it, and he will be sanctioned heavily by the FA. Hopefully the club will also sanction him in some way too. He's going to have some difficulties come the next training session- embarrassment etc- but he'll have to overcome it. No point constantly deliberating the point though, as it's a fairly cut and dried incident, and he will have to take his medicine.

Think yesterday was a perfect example of Evatt not learning certain things from last season The disappointing part is how we can go from quick tempo in previous games to such a lacklustre performance especially in the first half no doubt he will come out all sad and reel excuses out but ultimately whilst he’s in charge we will just go around in circles it’s going nowhere

Exactly right. I'm pretty certain those stats will also fail to account for 2nd phase goals because the opposition gets a free cross back into the box even if we do clear it. Look at the Huddersfield one, was about 5th phase but all stems from allowing them to load the box up so much that it becomes pinball and we can't get out.

No. It's not possible to do anything other than like for like subs in a game, don't you know this? Changing formation or playing a player in a slightly different position to usual when chasing a game, what a silly suggestion. Also, the subs have to be made at exactly the same point every week, starting with both strikers coming off, irrespective of how the game is going.

Ridiculous to bring Arfield on rather than Lolos.

There'll be a statistic that shows teams who bring all their players back concede fewer goals, and it's probably correct for corners hit into the six-yard box It's just that it fails when opponents cotton on and start playing it instead to a player on the edge of the penalty area without a marker

Fair play mate. I’m glad they all enjoyed it. Doesn’t change the fact I’m bored of him. The tactics, the standard of football. Only time I’ve never wanted to go was under Megson but I still did as I felt the team was limited and it was the best they could do. This lot are underachieving week after week due to repeated tactics and subs that never change. Yes we’ve won 3 and drawn 1 in for but don’t lose to Exeter and Hudd if you (IE) don’t want results like this scrutinised. He made the Arfield sub today because that’s what he does. No other reason. Mental when chasing a goal.

I didn't sit there and do that myself btw, I ask GPT to do it

Sorry to tell you but it shut nearly 12 years ago

His opinion is based on 'what I have seen' as is that of his 'experts'. Not on all the evidence presented, it is a massive difference. I have no axe to grind in terms of is she guilty or not OR was the trial fair or not, but the people who sat through all the evidence over months found her guilty, the people picking at the verdict do not claim to have seen or listened to all the evidence it is based on 'what i have seen' Paul Comstive scored off a corner twice in a game, so you could conclude if that was only game you had seen that he was a good player, however if you examine all the evidence he was fucking shit.