WANDERERS’ week from hell has continued with the news that club skipper Antoni Sarcevic has quit the club after an apparent spat with manager Ian Evatt.

Fresh on the back of a 4-0 defeat at home to local rivals Wigan Athletic and a 3-0 defeat at Plymouth Argyle, the latest bombshell further destabilises a season which is suddenly threatening to slip into reverse.

Sarcevic’s omission from the team-sheet at Plymouth appears to be the trigger for his sudden exit to non-league Stockport County.

The midfielder is out of contract at the end of the season and admitted last week that there had not yet been any contact on Bolton’s behalf to extend the deal.

A move to Edgeley Park – close to his family home – on a good contract appears in some respects to be a logical move. But for it to be accelerated at such speed with only 14 games of the season played will leave many supporters asking exactly what went wrong.

Unsurprisingly, Wanderers’ official statement confirming his departure, released at 2pm, did not go into any sordid detail about a disagreement, which is said to have occurred in the aftermath of Tuesday’s game at Sarcevic’s former club Plymouth.

The 29-year-old had played with an ankle injury in the heavy defeat to Wigan but was put up by the club to speak to the local press before the game at Home Park, seemingly intent on playing against his old employers.

Sarcevic had played in every league game up to Tuesday night and had also faced criticism about his own recent form. Nevertheless, to see him dropped to the bench alongside experienced striker Eoin Doyle was surprising news.

MJ Williams spoke to the local press on Thursday afternoon, discussing a players’ meeting which had been held after the game at Plymouth. He made no reference to an obvious falling out between the captain and the manager but admitted there had been some “honest words” spoken within the group.

Evatt also made no reference at all to problems in the camp during his own press conference a couple of hours later at the UniBol, insisting his squad had trained well during the day and were looking in good shape for this weekend’s game against Gillingham.

It is patently clear, however, that something went awry. And though Bolton’s statement attempted to put a positive spin on Sarcevic’s move, even going so far as to wish him luck, many fans have been left asking ‘why?’

It has been denied behind the scenes that any other player was caught up in the situation and Evatt has declined to comment any further, including to confirm that it was as a result of an argument, preferring to focus solely on the Gillingham game for the time being.

The manager – rarely anything other than up front and honest – will no doubt add some meat to the bones of the story after the final whistle on Saturday evening.

For now, the lack of available detail hardly makes for good preparation for the game itself, nor in Evatt’s efforts to arrest a three-game losing streak in which his side has not scored a goal.