Bolton Wanderers boss Ian Evatt has urged supporters to stop personal abuse towards him and his players after his side recorded back-to-back wins for the first time this season.
It’s fair to say that the Trotters suffered a hangover after last season’s antics. After missing out on automatic promotion, they were forced to navigate the play-offs where they suffered heartbreak in the final against Oxford United.
Despite that, they began the campaign as one of the pre-season favourites to secure a top two finish. However, they endured a miserable start, winning just one of their opening five fixtures. A 4-0 home loss against Huddersfield Town earlier this month left Evatt’s team in the relegation places as pressure began to mount.
That pressure has started to ease somewhat over the course of the past week. A 5-2 win over Reading last Saturday finally kicked them into life, and a change of tactics against Crawley Town saw them earn a hard-fought 2-0 away victory.
It’s a pair of results that have lifted Bolton up to 14th in League One. More importantly, they are now just four points off the play-off places with two very winnable fixtures against Northampton Town and Shrewsbury Town on the horizon.
Evatt knows the importance of building on the momentum, but has urged supporters to channel the personal abuse which he, his players and staff have had to endure:
“The vast majority of people involved in this football club all want the same thing,” Evatt told official club media.
“It’s important we stay on the right line and the right side of that. We’re doing our best and doing our bit as best we can. We understand the start of this season hasn’t been as smooth as we all wanted it to be, but we have picked up of late and we need the backing of the fan base, it’s simple as that.
“We’ve largely got that but if we can try to eradicate some of the personal abuse, I think it will help everybody. Players, the staff, myself – we all have our own health and well-being we need to take care of.
“I think it’s only right that we take critique, as long as it stays as critique and not spill over to the personal stuff. The fact I’m having to say this after a win probably speaks volumes. We’re all trying our best. We love working for this football club I love managing this football club and hopefully we can continue to get good results.”
Writer’s View
Bolton fans are understandably getting itchy feet having missed out on promotion last season. This is their fourth season in League One in what is arguably a much tougher division following the additions of the likes of Birmingham City, Huddersfield Town, Wrexham and Stockport County.
Their start has left them playing catch-up early on, but there are still 39 games to go in what will be a long and gruelling season. Whereas Birmingham look unstoppable and will take some beating when it comes to securing the title, that second spot is attainable for a club of Bolton’s size and quality. Saturday’s win showed that Evatt does have a plan B, altering his tactics to emerge victorious against a resilient Crawley. It’s those fine details that could prove pivotal come May.
