The Last Of The Evatt In ...

[Arrested development]

Aimson is basic. Always as been. Anyone would of looked good playing against us today, just hoofed it at him all game. The other centre half looked like a world beater too. He's not a world beater. 

[Lt. Aldo Raine]

36 minutes ago, Arrested development said:

Aimson is basic. Always as been. Anyone would of looked good playing against us today, just hoofed it at him all game. The other centre half looked like a world beater too. He's not a world beater. 

They might not be world beaters but only one team has conceded fewer in this league this season, and they've conceded 13 fewer than we have so far

[Flannel Truscott]

1 hour ago, Rizlar said:

Agreed Santos makes me laugh he forever waves his arms about when he messes up also did anybody else notice when he pushed somebody on the sideline when Baxter was having treatment ? 

It was one of their coaches who was lingering near our huddle trying to listen in. Pushed him more than once and tbh the best thing he did all day 

[bolty58]

4 hours ago, Mounts Kipper said:

Did it once against Hull about 35 years ago…. Can anyone else remember that boycott?

I don't. Seen a few in Italy where the Ultras 'half boycott'. Miss the first half then come in at half time. Was at the Giuseppe Meazza once when Milan were playing Reggiana. Atmosphere was non existent first half then electric second. The board did get the message once they feared what escalated boycotts might follow.

As an aside, Milan were 0-1 down at HT and came back to win 2-1.

[bolty58]

4 hours ago, desperado said:

If you go on Latics Speyk, you’ll see their fans think very differently.

One post goes on about being happy if they finish 5th bottom and beat us twice.

This brightens my day. As big an inferiority complex as fans of Scotland.

This kind of bitterness leads to only one place. Consistent and repetitive failure leading to manic depression.

[bolty58]

4 hours ago, thebells said:

 the Swiss may be fairly relaxed (and of course not at games to see how bad it is).

Always been too laid back the Robinsons.

[Ratwhite]

11 hours ago, gonzo said:

I've refused to ever call for him to go. 

I've been convinced we could limp through and get enough points to mount a promotion challenge.

A few good runs here and there is all it takes to get a good push on and who knows what can happen in the run in.

But days like today can't carry on. It's just one too many body blows.

It's a shame as it will define the managers tenure. 

The fans will put up with just falling shy.

They won't put up with being embarrassed by your nearest and not so dearest.

I've just had enough of being let down.

 

is exactly where i am..

 

[Eddie]

8 hours ago, ianofcleveleys said:

Santos is that sort of player and has been for a while, divides opinion. I might be in the minority in not thinking he's the best defender in L1 but I know I'm not alone. 

Santos’s biggest problem is in his head, he’s got all the attributes to play at the next level (although his pace does look like it’s going a bit) but he just doesn’t come across like he’s mentally strong enough.

He’s so good against the lesser teams but when the pressure is on he’s the most obvious of them all that his head goes - he doesn’t even try to hide it and just goes into a big panicky sulk. Yesterday was just the latest example of it and Oxford was the worst. The problem is, his body language rubs off on the team and more so the crowd.

It’s almost like he doesn’t believe in himself, or he’s got an inferiority complex. I’d love to know if they’ve had a sports psychologist onto him because to me it’s the thing that would improve him most.

[Arrested development]

In these derby games it's about and tempo and setting the tone. We didn't have anything. That first 15 minutes was flat, slow and allowed them to play their way into the game. Kept giving free kicks away, silly bookings. Typical derby game from Bolton. There are no leaders. GT isn't a leader. He hid yesterday like everyone else.  First goal went in and heads had already gone. 

It wouldn't of made any difference whether it was 3 at the back or 4 at the back. This team is mentally weak. We've seen too many examples of it now.

We're good enough over a 46 game season to be amongst it , but when the pressure is on, they crumble. 

[Whitesince63]

Here’s a thought. Get Sharon with her obvious Wycombe connections to have a word with their board and stick an offer of £500k in for Morley which should be enough to pay Evatt off. Get a new man in who can do the necessary with the obviously good squad we’ve got and there’s still a chance for us this season. Does anybody seriously have confidence that we can go up if we keep Evatt however close to the play offs we are currently because I certainly don’t?

[Leyther_Matt]

7 hours ago, bolty58 said:

I don't. Seen a few in Italy where the Ultras 'half boycott'. Miss the first half then come in at half time. Was at the Giuseppe Meazza once when Milan were playing Reggiana. Atmosphere was non existent first half then electric second. The board did get the message once they feared what escalated boycotts might follow.

As an aside, Milan were 0-1 down at HT and came back to win 2-1.

All those sorts of things seem so melodramatic to me. We already have boycotts every week with 5 minutes left, and yesterday’s was brought forward 25 minutes earlier than usual. 

[Dr Faustus]

16 hours ago, Krimzon said:

Im used to being alone in my opinions and fighting a losing or unpopular arguement , but here is I think , some food for thought. 

After the Tranmere Play Off Final the club had an unbelievable hangover from that defeat which lasted the whole season . We were doing ok until mid feb and got the stuffing kicked out of us in an FA cup tie away at Southampton .

Despite signing Andy Walker & Mark patterson , and yet to have Stubbs & MacAteer play , From Jan we won 4 out of the last 19 games . Philliskirk 19 , Walker 18 , Reeves 15, Darby 10 goals and finished 13th . After getting beat away at Preston at the end of March when 1-0 up in the 89th minute and losing 2-1 , Phil Neal, realising the play offs were too far away  played the kids to see if any of them would step up and change things : Spooner, Roscoe, Fisher, Brookman, Stevens, Jeffrey.  It didnt work and we finished 13th .

I see a lot of similarities to this team and manager . Devastated by missing out on promotion at Wembley when everyone outside of the wirrall/Oxford thought we would do it. Players who did amazing last season just no longer cutting it . The Wembley hang over curse that only seems to affect us . 

Rioch came in and was obviously a genius but he already had a first team of Felgate, Seagraves, Stubbs, P Brown, Macateer , Storer , Patterson , Winstanley , Green , Darby , Kelly , Reeves , Philliskirk & Walker . I think Neal would have got us promoted with that squad. 

Rioch brought in Brannigan , McGinlay , Lydiate & Gary Parkinson, and in January David Lee . 1 would fire in a shed load of goals , the keeper IMO didnt need replacing and the other 2 the less said the better. Lee replaced Patterson wide left and Paddy was moved inside to midfield to compete with Kelly & Macateer . I remember the abuse Tony Kelly used to get as he was brought in to replace Steve Thompson and wasnt half the player , but with Macateer replacing Jules as they call him at Bolton , it worked . With Darby becoming the epitomy of a utility player and eventually being hounded out by the Bolton fans for being home grown . We just dont take to um , strange really.  

The point of all this waffle is that  IF we write off this season as just another 91/92 and regroup , the squad IS good enough to get promoted next season . The Board place a very high regard on working relationships and it seems to be the best Ive known .

If thats the case Then I expect a huge clear out and rebuilding in January . The 2 in midfield simply does not work , Adebanjo , as much as you want to love the guy is just not good enough , playing Macatee in midfield isnt good enough and playng wingers as wing backs is not good enough . There are players like Ricardo gardner that will adapt there game to suit whatever is asked of them , as did Campo , Hierro , Bernard Mendy (which was when we played with actual wing backs and scared the crap out of the Prem at the time) , Kevin Davies et al . yes we are talking about National and World class players but the principle remains. 

If Evatt stays , then he has to know/learn that his style of football  (whilst it has given us plenty of joy) isnt pragmatic enough to play the way he wants with 3rd division footballers . I would take a Steve Thompson & Julian Darby over what we currently play in midfield , a ratter and a passer . SJM and Andy Walker showed you dont need a big un and a litl un at this level up front, and the last time we got promoted from this division we had 2 centre backs in wheavers and Beaters that would never allow a cross into the box at head hieght or above and would put there body . legs , face, bollocks on the line to defend. and come up with 10 goals between them .   If a cross comes in now if Rico doesnt head it out then who can ? 

Speaking of which why has Santos suddenly morphed into Mark Fish ? 

As is stands so far this season , being nearly half way thru :

Baxter : Always thought he was a bit Dracula but now his dithering with the ball at his feet is just pissing me off , excellent shot stopper but Id drop him . 

Southwood : After a shaky start looks a proper keeper , decent shotstopper and quicker with the ball at his feet than his oppo . I couldnt give a shit if its fear . Im now in the saftey / row zed / put some fucking snow on it , camp. 

GJ : If he had been fit all of last season we would have gone up , no question no arguments. Since he came back apart from the first 2 months he has looked a shadow of himself. 

Santos : looks an absolute shadow of himself , like he has lost some pace and no longer knows what to do on the ball .

Jones : filling in and back from injury but a center half he isnt , had his best season with Bradley in front of him but then I would have too.

Toal : FFS mate stay fit , see GJ above .

Forrester : Im a fan of , has rarely let us down , no more than any one else. Did he fall down the stairs or did he kick fuck out of the microwave for getting his beans wrong ? 

Schon : A winger not a wing back , hampered by having to do both jobs. 

Desmond : As above , jury out on his defensive side . Evatt pandered to the crowd to start him today . Big mistake. 

JDC : Not his biggest fan but unreal engine and defends better than the above .  If he could only stop trying to cut inside when he gets forward !!

Williams : Has a long throw.

GT : Not the Messiah everyone wants him to be , 1 great game + 2 crap ones .

Matete : Player in there somewhere , but if playing as a DMC stop fucking fancy daning it.

Sheehan : Hugely disappointing this year , should never have been turned into a dmc quarterback . Play him behind the front 2 and give him a free role 

Morley : see above , cant come back quick enough if only to solve the 2 in midfield fiasco . Smacks of the last year of JJ when BSA wanted him to defend more . Like Sheehan , JJ , Ricky.  you lose more than you gain . 

Dempsey : crowd favourite , drives us on forever injured.

Lolos : no idea 

Adebanjo : should never play for us again . Lovely guy we all want to succeed , never gonna happen. 

Macatee : Im being asked to play where ?  probably MOM against Wigin but a very very low bar . Put him up front with Charles to have two ratters , I could see it work. however...

Charles : Did he get a pass ? Did he make any kind of movement to open up for a pass ? Looks burned out .

Collins : clearly the best footballer at the club ...how do you fancy 15 mins every other month that has a q in it ? 

Arfield : who ?

Sonny sssasasa : Anyone and I mean anyone would have been better in midfield than the tactics today . 

 

So , and if you are still reading God bless you Im boring myself, whats the answer ?  

Either Evatt gets the time to have a miraculous January where he brings in the second coming of Kieron Lee , Stig Tofting & Gudni Bergsson , flukes a Sasa Curcic & Abdoulaye Faye/ Rahdi Jedi . OR He completely reevaluates his philosophy and becomes the new BSA , If it works we do it , just to get us out of this shitty fucking league . No VAR ? Stand in front of the keeper and see what happens , linesmans blind and we now have Andre the Giant to aim at !

Or the board back him saying this season is a write off but here is some cash for the summer , go get Dennis Bergkamp.

Or he falls on his sword . Says Ive done all I can with this group of players , time for someone else to kick on . (Schumacher ?)

For me , I hate that its got to the Megson point (at least Evatt hasnt spunked 44 million) but the fans have turned and so have I .

Phil Neal had the OLD Liverpool way of 15 first teamers that would play anywhere rather than bringing someone else in ( Mark Came up front ?) til it was too late . Evatt is the same .

(cant believe I managed to bring it full circle)

And so now unfortunately , regretably , finally , and I take zero pleasure form writing this........I am also for a change of manager. 

 

 

 

 

 

you ok hun x

[Zico]

14 hours ago, desperado said:

Can’t believe he’s said this:

Ian Evatt: "What would you prefer...to not go to Wembley in back-to-back years, to not be in the play-offs, to not be sniffing around the top of the table...but to beat Wigan every year? I wouldn't want to trade all that...I want to get this club to where I believe it should be.”

 

This season is getting very sour isn't it

He can't take or accept the criticism that deservedly comes his way

He's oblivious to the problems he's created 

Or more to the point he doesn't know to fix them 

We all believe where the club should be 

But we're slipping further away 

And yet games in hand etc and we're in the top six

But last year's games in hand should have seen us in the top two

It's a right old fucking mess

[tomski]

3 minutes ago, Zico said:

This season is getting very sour isn't it

He can't take or accept the criticism that deservedly comes his way

He's oblivious to the problems he's created 

Or more to the point he doesn't know to fix them 

We all believe where the club should be 

But we're slipping further away 

And yet games in hand etc and we're in the top six

But last year's games in hand should have seen us in the top two

It's a right old fucking mess

The only surprise is poor old despo being shocked he said this. It’s text book him

[Lt. Aldo Raine]

38 minutes ago, Whitesince63 said:

Here’s a thought. Get Sharon with her obvious Wycombe connections to have a word with their board and stick an offer of £500k in for Morley which should be enough to pay Evatt off. Get a new man in who can do the necessary with the obviously good squad we’ve got and there’s still a chance for us this season. Does anybody seriously have confidence that we can go up if we keep Evatt however close to the play offs we are currently because I certainly don’t?

He's not in a job because we can't afford to sack him

[desperado]

2 minutes ago, tomski said:

The only surprise is poor old despo being shocked he said this. It’s text book him

I know it will give you no satisfaction whatsoever that you are being proven right - it’s why your perspective as an early “Evatt outer” has been one I’ve always listened to and respected.

Yes my hope, belief, blind loyalty (whatever you want to call it) has been tested beyond repair now.

It was cringeworthy listening to that “50% win record” interview - Jacko really rattled him didn’t he?

While he’s here I’ll keep going to homes as imagine most will, I’ll take in new grounds and possible local away games, but I’ll need a change of manager now to get me going anywhere else and be inspired to reach our ambitions. 

 

[tomski]

3 minutes ago, desperado said:

I know it will give you no satisfaction whatsoever that you are being proven right - it’s why your perspective as an early “Evatt outer” has been one I’ve always listened to and respected.

Yes my hope, belief, blind loyalty (whatever you want to call it) has been tested beyond repair now.

It was cringeworthy listening to that “50% win record” interview - Jacko really rattled him didn’t he?

While he’s here I’ll keep going to homes as imagine most will, I’ll take in new grounds and possible local away games, but I’ll need a change of manager now to get me going anywhere else and be inspired to reach our ambitions. 

 

Wasn’t a pop in any way mate. It’s sad that everyone sees it.  Nowt worse than  hearing can’t be bothered stories from somebody who loves going. 
 

You may understand my lack of enthusiasm a bit more now

[wakey]

When telling us to lay off the players a week or two back, Evatt said he was happy to take criticism because he was big enough and strong enough to take it.

I think he was talking bollocks.

[wakey]

17 hours ago, Krimzon said:

 

Williams : Has a long throw.

 

 

 

 

 

 

made me laugh that 😁

[gonzo]

The owners won't want to see empty stands that's for certain.

That's probably the only thing that'll get him sacked bar results.

[Rival Son]

We need to think back to Sharon’s appearance at the parliamentary sub-committee on football governance.

At this, she highlighted rich (mainly overseas) owners who operated with hire and fire policies. She talked about how it was a long-term project at BWFC, a strong relationship between the board and manager and staff.

This was a few days before the debacle against Oxford. After what she said to the committee, there was no way he was going after Wembley. Moreover, she isn’t going to pull the trigger until this season is over.

The only way he goes is through a resignation. Given what he has at stake financially, this isn’t going to happen.

Mutual agreement. Possible, but I think he has to instigate it.

Edited December 15, 2024 by Rival Son

[desperado]

22 minutes ago, tomski said:

Wasn’t a pop in any way mate. It’s sad that everyone sees it.  Nowt worse than  hearing can’t be bothered stories from somebody who loves going. 
 

You may understand my lack of enthusiasm a bit more now

I do pal. And I’ve never taken our differences of opinion as either of us having a pop, always good honest, passionate debate.

Like you now, I won’t be taking banners, be booing them onto the pitch and wanting us to lose, but while he’s here serving up more of what we saw and heard yesterday, I’ll be taking a far less hopeful and more accepting/pragmatic approach to our current situation - one where we are going nowhere/backwards with little hope of promotion. 

I hate saying it and admitting it, as it takes away that feel good factor of hoping and believing in something brilliant happening, that unique part of being a football fan.

But I’ve been there in worse times than this and stuck with us, so I’ll do the same now.

[1969]

12 hours ago, Rizlar said:

Agreed Santos makes me laugh he forever waves his arms about when he messes up also did anybody else notice when he pushed somebody on the sideline when Baxter was having treatment ? 

Yes one of the Wigan staff was trying to listen in on our team talk

[tomski]

Good man. I’ll be back all over it the day he leaves 

[gonzo]

My 10 year old didn't go yesterday as he knew we'd get beat and was tired after his football.

It's a poor do when the kids are losing the appetite.