We had a decent thread a while back discussing Evatt’s philosophies and approach to the game (think it got tainted and pulled)

So not a bad time to start it up again at the beginning of the season.

In the main he’s done a fantastic job. A minority lost patience round about Xmas/New Year in both seasons. 

But surely now he has the large backing of the majority of fans and the brand he talked about implementing here is now well and truly established.

Good article above highlighting how he’s using Sport Science to get the squad performing to it’s optimum level.

A young, meticulous, intelligent and passionate individual, who we are very lucky to have leading our club.

I hope he gets what he deserves with promotion to the Championship. 

12 minutes ago, only1swanny said:

One would hope that he's first to the training ground and last back, then doing "paperwork" etc from his office AT the training ground. 

 

Monday's probably his work from home day

1 hour ago, Dimron said:

I don't think there is enough "good guy, bad guy" going on in the Ian and Sharon relationship and as a result the players and coaches are taking the piss... too touchy feely in my book

May be they needed a buffer a director of football someone who had previous manager experience and can see through the bullshit 

we have got a inexperienced owner and a relatively inexperienced manager 

Edited January 19, 20251 yr by Farnywhite

1 hour ago, Farnywhite said:

May be they needed a buffer a director of football someone who had previous manager experience and can see through the bullshit 

we have got a inexperienced owner and a relatively inexperienced manager 

Not a fan of the 'Director of Football' concept, just another layer & removes some powers from the man who should be in charge ... if capable of doing that job properly. It just invites clashes. Or offers new scapegoats.

I'd tend to agree, but we do have a pretty unusual set of circumstances?! the status of the club, the division we're in and as said an inexperienced owner and manager.

With BSA waiting in the wings Id be amazed if he couldnt come in offer some advise to both and get us moving again!

Edited January 19, 20251 yr by JimmyRiddle

Evatt is effectively our DoF

Folk on Facebook saying Big Sam should Director of Football.

4 minutes ago, Ani said:

Folk on Facebook saying Big Sam should Director of Football.

Folk on facebook think wifi is rewiring their brains.

7 minutes ago, Ani said:

Folk on Facebook saying Big Sam should Director of Football.

He was in the BN saying he would come back in some capacity, but not manager.

He's not coming back

22 minutes ago, Lt. Aldo Raine said:

Evatt is effectively our DoF

He is and the owners swallow what ever he tells them by the sound of it  youth team , B team , coaching staff , medical staff route and branch review . Non  of that seems to be working never mind the first team . May be evatt is spreading himself to thin 

On 18/01/2025 at 20:50, Zico said:

From a WhatsApp group 

"The lad who tweeted about Evatt being killed. 

6 month ban and wrote an apology. Police not charging him but seems Evatt making a private claim against him!

He was there on Saturday 

12 hours ago, JimmyRiddle said:

I'd tend to agree, but we do have a pretty unusual set of circumstances?! the status of the club, the division we're in and as said an inexperienced owner and manager.

With BSA waiting in the wings Id be amazed if he couldnt come in offer some advise to both and get us moving again!

Needs a "big man" to sort out our current lot of prima donnas.

He is talking a back 4 with a diamond 4 in midfield....18 months too late, but better late than never

He would play Sheehan at the tip with Morley/Thomason/Schon/Desmond/Cogley/Matete for the two central spots and Randal taking the forward tip....Could extend his stay

15 minutes ago, masi 51 said:

He is talking a back 4 with a diamond 4 in midfield....18 months too late, but better late than never

He would play Sheehan at the tip with Morley/Thomason/Schon/Desmond/Cogley/Matete for the two central spots and Randal taking the forward tip....Could extend his stay

Anything is worth a try because this current system is so shit it’s laughable 

Just been talking to a Blackpool fan who was telling me the Oystons paid Evatts gambling debts off back when he was a player.

He then wasn't allowed a transfer and it all went a bit wonky between him and the club. 

Sounds familiar

37 minutes ago, masi 51 said:

He is talking a back 4 with a diamond 4 in midfield....18 months too late, but better late than never

He would play Sheehan at the tip with Morley/Thomason/Schon/Desmond/Cogley/Matete for the two central spots and Randal taking the forward tip....Could extend his stay

Say he does this, & it works. How does he explain NOT doing it before & how does he explain the plethora of identikit midfielders he's bought ... one as recently as last week ... who are now in surplus. The constant failings in wing-backs & consequent waste of full-backs & wingers. There are many other questions too, but these'll do for starters.

27 minutes ago, Dr. Feelgood said:

Say he does this, & it works. How does he explain NOT doing it before & how does he explain the plethora of identikit midfielders he's bought ... one as recently as last week ... who are now in surplus. The constant failings in wing-backs & consequent waste of full-backs & wingers. There are many other questions too, but these'll do for starters.

If an absolute footballing miracle occurs, and we suddenly start ripping up trees playing 4-4-2, he can just say "I thought 3-4-3 would solve the minor problems that prevented us getting over the line last season, but it didn't". Pretty straight forward isn't it?

Change the formation = rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic.

We'll still be riddled with piss-weak fops.

He knows his system is not working, just does not want to admit that it was found out and he was not able to counter adapt.

As others have said why evolve all our starting line ups with 2 wingbacks.

Forester can play right back and this new lad will fit into the left back position but that would mean most if not all wingbacks are deemed surplus .....Desmond and Schon could play wide of a midfield 4 but again not in a diamond formation.

Changing now would mean a mass clear out but i see him having no other option

why wouldn't they put neal relegating us to div 4?

23 minutes ago, gonzo said:

That's a bit spooky, proper coincidences.

Probably best for IE not to mention the money spent (relative to other L1 teams), and compared to Neal's budget.  Neal also left us with at  least 8 players that held their own in the 2nd tier, some played in the Prem.  I'd be amazed if more than a couple of the current squad make a decent number of championship appearances, its all very L1.

neal definitely left us with better players than he inherited

but evatt will do the same

and 300k for walker would be a very big fee these days

mcateer and stubbs were great bits of business

11 minutes ago, Casino said:

neal definitely left us with better players than he inherited

but evatt will do the same

So he should. Didn’t we have about 3 senior players and a few kids when he took over, and since he’s spent probably north of £5-6m - you’d be hard pressed to leave us with worse.