Can Ian Evatt learn from his Bolton experience at Blackpool?

If any job looked tailor-made for him to make his return to the dugout, it was the club at which he enjoyed so much success as a player.

Blackpool fans had sung Evatt’s name at times when Bolton’s supporters were struggling to keep faith, and his connections to the club should ensure him a hero’s return at Bloomfield Road if, as widely predicted, he is confirmed as their new boss.

It is 217 days since the 43-year-old parted ways with Wanderers. And the man who sat in the media room explaining away a home defeat to Charlton Athletic had unquestionably lost some of the zest and vigour he had shown in the previous four-and-a-half years.

Not everyone agreed with what Evatt said, or how he said it, but his passion for the cause could never be questioned. That was why his final few months with Bolton were difficult to watch, and why, with hindsight, that separation should have happened much earlier.

Wanderers were only a few points off the play-offs at the time, and though their form had been inconsistent his remaining supporters inside and outside the camp had not given up on the top six. But minds had definitely been made up on the terraces, which were emptying more with each passing week, and within the dressing room it was also clear to see that doubts were creeping in.

Evatt left with a win percentage of close to 50 per cent, and while those figures are often qualified with the caveat that some of those wins were achieved in the EFL Trophy it must also be noted that he won 80 of his 164 matches in League One (excluding play-offs), which still gives him a very respectable 48.7 per cent.

The question is, can he rack up those sorts of figures again with a squad that has been assembled by someone else?

The Tangerines sunk to the bottom of League One at the weekend after conceding a 102nd minute equaliser at home to Wycombe and are now three points from safety having played a game more than the sides above them.

Evatt had time to mould his squad in his first permanent role at Barrow in the National League, shaping the team and his renowned footballing style over his first season before achieving huge success in his second.

At Bolton, the demand was huge and instantaneous, but he did have some time over pre-season to bed down a rough plan, even if the recruitment was shown to be rather scattergun in its effectiveness over the first few months.

By his own reckoning, the Covid pandemic and empty stadia made that difficult settling period with Wanderers easier, and had there been paying patrons stood around him in the dugout, he may not have lasted in the job past Christmas.

Though Evatt got promotion in his first season with the Whites it was arguably not until the January window of 2022 that his squad genuinely looked to his liking and the most convincing football was played over the following two seasons.

Blackpool have played primarily with a back four and wingers this season, although injuries to striker Niall Ennis – a player who had interested Evatt during his time at Bolton – and Dale Taylor, have forced them to play one up top and a third central midfielder over the last couple of games.

The proliferation of wide attacking players in the squad won’t necessarily be seen as a disadvantage by Evatt, who has shown himself quite willing to ‘convert’ the right candidates into wing-backs.

However, Blackpool have relied on counter attacking this season and their stats so far do not suggest they have the type of possession-dominant players that Evatt has coveted in the past, particularly in midfield.

The accusation most often levelled at him during his time at Bolton was one of tactical inflexibility. In his first couple of seasons he toggled between 4-2-3-1 and 3-5-2, but it was his decision to double down on the latter at the start of 2022/23 which dislodged popular wide players like Dapo Afolayan and Kieran Sadlier and created the first real dissention between himself and the fans.

The devotion to wing-backs and the in-vogue possession game did lead to silverware in the Papa Johns Trophy and two play-off campaigns but with footballing tastes starting to change, and even Evatt’s idol Pep Guardiola tinkering with a more direct brand, how will he respond with a completely new set of players?

Plenty of money was invested at Bloomfield Road over the summer, with their wage budget and transfer outlays increased significantly during Steve Bruce’s reign. Where that leave Evatt with regards to recruitment is unclear but some of his trusted lieutenants are seemingly within reach and struggling to find regular game time this season.

Ricardo Santos has not played a minute of football since signing for Swansea City and now has the added incentive of the World Cup finals with Cape Verde if he can force his way back into the squad.

Like Santos, George Thomason picked up an injury in the summer, which hampered his efforts to get a regular start with Wrexham after his £1.2million move in July. He came though the ranks at Blackpool – and developed a handy knack of scoring against his former club in Bolton colours – but developed a close relationship with Evatt, who also appointed him as captain last year.

And finally, Dion Charles’s struggles at Huddersfield are well documented, with the Northern Ireland international drawing another blank after coming on as a substitute against Wanderers on Thursday night.

He has now gone more than 25 hours of football without a goal since joining the Terriers, and his last goal for club or country was 38 appearances ago.

Though relationships cooled with Evatt towards the end of his reign and he too has history with Blackpool, stranger things have happened.

Wanderers will have to wait until February to welcome Evatt back to the Toughsheet, by which time they will hope to be firmly in the promotion hunt. And though the last interactions between the fans and their erstwhile manager were not entirely positive, there has been a touch of revisionism as time settled emotions and let some look at the bigger picture.

“Which version of Ian Evatt will Blackpool get?” asked one account on social media recently, posting four pictures of him in various poses and moods.

Perhaps the most pertinent question is will his experiences with Wanderers make him a better manager overall?

Evatt’s time at Bolton can be easily split into two: The spell before the play-off final defeat to Oxford United and the messy six months which followed.

Tactically, he was desperate to show he had more than one approach. Costly recruitment during that summer had been geared towards bringing in a different system but behind the scenes the relationships between him and sporting director Chris Markham had deteriorated, and the new-look team never took hold. Indeed, Evatt renounced the new formation just a few games into the new season, leaving some of his new recruits looking displaced.

The need for change had been fuelled by the huge disappointment suffered at Wembley and the widescale criticism that followed. Evatt had always kept an ear out for what was being said on social media – for better or worse – and it could be said that there was an overcorrection in the months that followed the Oxford result.

Evatt may feel he is now better placed to cope with the terrace opinions, which are now more accessible and ever-present than ever before. And while there will be demons he has to conquer going back into a club from his past, the months he has spent reflecting on the job he did at Bolton should stand him in good stead.