Bolton Wanderers' 2020 reviewed: Ian Evatt, Keith Hill, coronavirus and all that

Like every walk of life, the football business has been turned upside down by a global pandemic and forced to find unpalatable solutions in order to continue by any means necessary.

The game has almost exclusively been played to empty stadia since restarting in the summer, stringent salary caps have been introduced to prevent overspending in League One and Two, and thousands of players found their earning powers diminished as clubs scrambled to cut their costs.

Recent fixture cancellations put down to breakouts of Covid-19 suggest there may be further disruption in the short-term, while the whole world races to find a more permanent answer to the virus.

Locally, it is easy to feel for Bolton’s new owners, Football Ventures, who spent the last few months of 2019 sifting through the wreckage of administration and hoping for a period of stability despite knowing the club was almost certainly heading to play in the fourth tier for only the second time in its history.

Any business plan they had on arriving at the club last August must now be in its tenth draft, yet the calm and professional demeanour portrayed by chairman, Sharon Brittan, and the board during chaotic times has helped keep a lid on the drama.

Bigger financial questions lie ahead for FV this year, that much is true, but the success of their football decisions has been a matter of debate and now rests exclusively in the hands of Ian Evatt.

Appointed as head coach at the start of July, the former Blackpool and QPR defender was the bright young thing of lower league coaching, having taken Barrow back to the Football League playing an expansive and attractive brand of football unheard of at National League level.

David Flitcroft and Keith Hill

When the decision not to renew Keith Hill’s contract was announced in June, the natural call for ex-Bolton types such as David Lee, Dean Holden, Kevin Nolan or Sam Ricketts came from sections of support, alongside those who felt an experienced hand would be needed.

Evatt’s appointment was a reset button and the accompanying restructure of the football department – including the abolition of the Under-23s and departure of long-time academy boss Jimmy Phillips – meant the Bolton Wanderers we once knew was no more.

The young boss bounced into the building with bravado, instantly forecasting a promotion push. His arrival was accompanied by a mass of new signings – more than 20 in number – many apparently geared towards Brand Evatt by virtue of the sports data now being used by the club.

Outside the war room of Sam Allardyce, the word ‘algorithm’ was rarely uttered by Bolton staff and yet Evatt’s confident insistence over the summer was that science had played a part in assembling a squad which would live up to its billing as League Two title favourites.

Reality, it must be said, proved something quite different. There is a litany of reasons why things have not gone according to plan for the new manager – some preventable, some not – but the fact Bolton sit 15th in the table going into the New Year is no reason for celebration, not least to a fierce competitor like Evatt.

On occasion we have seen Wanderers flicker into life and produce the kind of intrepid, exciting football we watched from our sofas in the summer when Liverpool captured the Premier League title for the first time and Leeds United finally returned to the grand stage.

Evatt’s brand is en vogue and if he gets it right, the second half of this season could be quite something to watch.

But anybody who has watched Bolton over the last few months, from the press box or their iFollow screen, will also attest that those sumptuous flecks of free-flowing football have been overshadowed by some rank amateur defending from a team which has yet to gel as a unit at all.

Expectation will forever be a hindrance for managers at this club, not least right now as the memories of Premier League football are still fresh in the mind. For Evatt and his current crop, however, some of the pressure is self-created and most of the 8,000-plus who bought season tickets without any guarantees they will actually be allowed into the building are yet to be entirely convinced.

Before hand sanitiser appeared on every corner, clapping for carers, designer face masks and lockdown hairdos, Wanderers appeared to be killing time at the start of 2020.

Keith Hill’s team was rooted to the bottom of the League One table, 17 points from safety but with three games in hand on the likes of MK Dons and AFC Wimbledon above them.

Hopes of staying up were slim, even among the most optimistic Bolton supporters, but a three-game unbeaten run over the Christmas period had got some scanning the fixture list ahead and pondering: What if?

A 4-3 defeat to Burton on New Year’s Day proved a fittingly ridiculous start to 2020. Wanderers had led 2-0 but somehow tossed away their advantage to trail 3-2 at the break. Luke Murphy’s second-half red card rendered a comeback virtually impossible.

Hill needed help in the transfer market and was able to bring in Manchester United midfielder Ethan Hamilton, whose encouraging display on debut in defeat at Rochdale prompted the Bolton boss to utter the immortal words: “I know my onions”.

The hard-working but inexperienced Brandon Fleming also came in from Hull on loan but struggled to substantiate the manager’s decision to release Adam Chicksen a few weeks earlier.

Eventually, Muhammadu Faal and Jacob Mellis were also added to the mix in January as stop gaps but Bolton’s fate was depressingly obvious. A 5-1 mauling at Lincoln City proved a rare comprehensive result but while the squad remained admirably diligent, there was no mistaking the impatience in the stands.

Hill’s colourful rhetoric – once welcomed by a fanbase swept away with the Made in Bolton mantra – was now beginning to grind.

If growing dissatisfaction among the supporters was not enough to seal Hill’s fate, the introduction of Tobias Phoenix in a director of football-style role certainly undermined the manager’s position of power.

Little was known about Phoenix other than he had once held a similar role at troubled Macclesfield Town but with Wanderers looking to put in place a more permanent football structure, which would outlast whoever sat in the dugout, sparks were bound to fly with a traditionalist like Hill.

As the season meandered towards a premature end, Wanderers actually picked up some form, drawing their last three games before the pause button was pressed.

Who knew on February 29 when Remi Matthews’ late heroics ensured a goalless draw against Accrington Stanley that it would be the last chance Bolton fans would have to watch their side in the calendar year?

A fortnight later, following a staunch 2-2 draw at Burton, the home game against Peterborough United was postponed and the pandemic took hold.

At first, the hiatus in football was treated as a little luxury. Football clubs live tweeted old games, watched along with fans on YouTube, and absolutely everyone launched a podcast.

As the situation got worse, however, more and more staff were furloughed. Wanderers were not immune and barring a handful of senior management, who also took a big pay cut, the majority of employees were placed on the shelf.

That Hill and his players were (or were not) on this list was never communicated. Indeed, very little was conveyed from within the club – not that many people cared, as there were bigger things going on at the time.

As summer approached and football’s Operation Restart finally brought things back into focus, it became crystal clear that Hill’s time as manager was over.

Wanderers’ relegation was confirmed via a controversial points-per-game equation voted in by EFL clubs, which meant that Tranmere Rovers would also drop down alongside Southend United.

And while the play-offs decided the finer details of the 2020/21 campaign, the relaunch of Bolton was also underway. Evatt quickly rose above the other candidates and, with minimal haggling, left Barrow to take up his new post at the start of July.

As previously discussed, a stream of encouraging pre-season results and the uber-confident message emanating from the dressing room encouraged fans to dig deep. Just as we returned to pubs, cinemas and were able to walk both ways down an aisle at Tesco, however, the second wave brought about another dose of harsh reality.

Evatt’s side put a win on the board at the sixth time of asking, beating Harrogate at Doncaster Rovers’ Keepmoat Stadium. By that stage, the new boss had set some wholly unwanted records and the more reactive element of the club’s fanbase were already calling for change.

Football Ventures never wavered, actually reinforcing their support for the manager by dispensing with the aforementioned Phoenix in early December.

Asked for his thoughts on Phoenix’s departure, Hill – now at Tranmere and speaking after his side had just beaten Evatt’s Wanderers at the UniBol – responded pointedly: “That’s a question for the club’s owners.”

Wanderers’ form had improved over November where five straight wins had been enough to secure Evatt a monthly award and add some credence to Bolton’s promotion ambitions.

Ricardo Santos overcame his early-season collywobbles to show confidence as the central member of a back three, Eoin Doyle and Nathan Delfouneso got among the goals, Andrew Tutte and George Thomason emerged as unlikely heroes in the middle of the park.

And yet still the inconsistency continues. Worthy wins against Salford City, Cheltenham Town, Southend United or Stevenage were blotted by no shows like Leyton Orient, Tranmere and Port Vale.

The club’s recruitment – which had seemed so adventurous at the time – now looks decidedly haphazard. And though Phoenix was ultimately sacrificed for his part, Evatt too had questions to answer.

He was forced to apologise for using the phrase “man up” in response to Billy Crellin’s erratic form after a draw at Cambridge – attracting unwanted national media attention which bordered on hysteria.

Even though the Fleetwood loanee saved a penalty in his next game, his inconsistent displays did not warrant the extended run he got in the team. And it was no shock that things stabilised when veteran Matt Gilks picked up the gloves.

Going into January, a manager who brought in 20-plus players just a few months ago finds himself needing to plug gaps in quality at left wing-back, central midfield and up front.

But what is football without hope? What happens if Evatt brings aboard those crucial components, his side avoid injuries and the football calendar somehow makes it through the remaining virus spike to see a season out to its conclusion?

Well, Wanderers are still within five points of the play-offs and have in Eoin Doyle a striker who looks well capable of emulating his goalscoring success at Swindon last season.

Whereas only a few of the summer signings have lived up consistently to their billing, the Irishman has regularly shown that when afforded the correct service, he will deliver.

Elsewhere, the infrequent chunks of character and quality have not appeared regularly enough, disappearing and appearing even within the course of 90 minutes.

Wanderers signed a raft of six-foot plus defenders to cope with the expected set piece threat in League Two, and yet Evatt himself admits they have become the team’s Achilles heel.

The manager’s formation also relies heavily on its wing-backs, and though Luton loanee Peter Kioso has proved a fine find, Evatt has had to play Gethin Jones and Harry Brockbank out of position on the left because his summer additions have not been up to scratch.

But while there is time for things to work, should we not show patience?

Evatt is now in sole control of recruitment and says he will be beefing up his backroom staff in the New Year to help his cause. He seems happier with the responsibility – and who is to say he cannot now repeat the magic he worked at Barrow on a bigger scale?

Up and down the leagues, consistency seems to elude even the biggest clubs. Playing without support at the UniBol makes the classy stadium more of a glamorous stop-off point for opposition sides than the gladiatorial area it can be.

There are times in the last few months that Bolton’s inadequacies would have been ripped to shreds by their ever-expectant support. Equally, there are times when Evatt’s side have looked like they could use the proverbial rocket up the backside.

For now, the celebrations and frustrations will be consigned to social media, where sizeable backing remains for Evatt and his side to get this right.

With so many plans screwed up and tossed into the wastepaper bin, Wanderers certainly need this one to work.