Bolton Wanderers fans' column: Straight From the Stands

Crowds, curses and carrying on regardless,

By Liam Hatton

ON Friday morning, Bolton Wanderers boss Ian Evatt was named League One Manager of the Month for October.

Now, this may seem like a curse and has plagued managers in the past, but you cannot say it is not deserved.

Let us call this for what it is at the moment, without sounding too hyperbolic and excitable - with five wins in a row and four of those in the league - Wanderers are right in the mix for automatic promotion out of League One.

The table does not lie at this stage as Bolton currently sit third in the league, level on points with second-placed Oxford United and just three points behind Portsmouth in first.

Now with a huge test in front of a big crowd at home against Blackpool today, it is just business as usual for Evatt and his squad as they aim for six in a row.

“I think it is mostly about the process and understanding what a good performance looks like for us,” Evatt said to the Bolton News. “If we can execute that plan, whether there are five or 50,000 people there, we need the same mindset and mentality.”

There has been talk by some of the fanbase in the past that Bolton under Evatt have struggled in front of bumper crowds, but personally I believe that is just white noise with one particular example at Wembley last year dispelling that narrative.

Sure, there have been instances in which Wanderers have struggled in these types of games, but as Evatt pointed out this week there have also been occasions in which they have managed with the added ‘pressure’ just fine.

For any player coming into Bolton - whether that was way back in League Two or as recently as this summer ahead of a promotion push - that pressure has always been there. Wanderers are a big fish in a relatively small pond in League One, so that added responsibility is a given for every player each time they pull on the shirt.

“You need to keep doing the things that have brought success, so when things do get challenging you almost need to double down and do it even more,” Evatt continued to the Bolton News.

That may infuriate some fans who demand for a plan B or a change in tack sometimes and whilst I have called for that on occasion, it is evidently clear that Evatt has his system to play and will very rarely deviate from that plan at all.

Right now, it is working like a dream - the squad’s morale is at an all-time high, the captain himself has come out this week and personally stated he has not been happier than he is right now at the club.

Life is good, Bolton are on a roll and our current biggest worry is Evatt somehow avoiding the Manager of the Month curse.

So, what needs to happen for Bolton to beat a very adept Blackpool side? Well, more of the same ideally. Evatt will have his team set up and it is ultimately down to the players on the pitch to implement his ideas, just as they have done this season.

Here is hoping for six in a row. Come on Bolton!

Bolton Wanderers fans pay their respects in a minute's silence for Remembrance Day (Image: camerasport)

Remembering the real heroes,

By Tony Thompson

WE all like to pretend that football is important, and that losing a game can spoil your week.

But before every game this weekend, there will be a moment that puts it all into some perspective A chill always runs down my spine when a football crowd falls silent to remember the brave people who have fallen in battle, and the Last Post is played.

I am not a political nor a religious person, I have no point to make on wars past or present. For that solemn moment, though, me and every other person in the stadium can take some time to reflect on how lucky we really are to live here and now.

I noticed a list on Twitter posted on Friday morning of the Bolton Wanderers players who had been casualties in the World Wars. The information was compiled by researcher Jeff Williamson, who can be found on Twitter/X at @JefferzWilli.

George Alexander Black, Archibald Haxton Anthony, Sargeant Herbert Lewis Bithell, Jabez Cartwright, Frederick Costello, Harold Greenhalgh, Second Lieutenant James Arthur Greenhalgh, John Roland Hampson, Angus Virtue Makant, Frank Shipbottom, William Wallace, Henry ‘Harry’ Goslin and Walter Sidebottom.

I often sit with a cup of tea on a Friday morning to write a few words to send into the paper and when I read those names it rather stopped me in my tracks. Thirteen young men, or rather heroes, who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country. And before the wars they would have been running around in the famous white shirt, kicking a football about for a living.

Most Bolton Wanderers fans will know the story of Harry Gosling, and the team that marched off the pitch at Burnden Park to sign up for the 53rd Field Regiment of the Bolton Artillery. It was so moving, they talked about making a film about it.

I think that story, which is also an incredible book by Tim Purcell and Mike Gething, should be on the shelf of every single Bolton supporter. What happened back then has always meant there is a strong connection between the club and Remembrance Day and I have been lucky enough to be in the crowd on many occasions to pay my respects.

Sadly, I won’t be there today, but at some point in the weekend I will be taking a moment to count my own blessings.

We shall remember them.