IAN Evatt has reflected on Joel Randall’s loan spell with Blackpool and the midfielder’s struggle to find top form at Bloomfield Road.
The midfielder featured just 10 times for the Tangerines, failing to score or produce an assist, in a spell that was also stymied by a hamstring injury picked up in only his second game.
Randall had been Evatt’s final permanent signing at Wanderers in January 2025 – with the club shelling out £1.3million to land him from Peterborough United, half a dozen months after haggling with Posh for a fee close to £2m.
And the Blackpool boss felt the change in management was the first blow to Randall’s confidence, which has failed to return completely in the 16 months thereafter.
“It’s been hard for Joel,” he told the Blackpool Gazette.
“We’ve had a lot of conversations behind-the-scenes. He’s suffered, he’s suffering. He’s a quiet lad and sensitive, but he has a huge amount of talent. I believe in that talent, and he knows it.
“He was unfortunate at Bolton that he signed and then two weeks later I left. New players are impacted by coaches changing, and Joel hasn’t shown his best at Bolton.
“We then get him on loan. His first game was great against Northampton and things are looking positive, but then he picks up an injury.
“Again, his confidence and belief has suffered. My conversation with Joel is how he can get back to being the player we all know he can be. I believe he’s one of the best players in League One at the top of his game - it’s just about how we get him there.
“Footballers nowadays aren’t built the same way, they struggle to deal with adversity. The world of social media is so difficult to deal with. It was brought to the world for positivity, and it’s had an adverse effect in many ways.
“It’s difficult for these players to read some of the personal stuff they get on social media - you can’t avoid it.
“For me, constructive criticism is always welcome, we can all do better, but when it oversteps the mark and becomes personal, it can become damaging. People should be aware of that moving forwards. These players are young lads who have mums, dads, sisters and brothers who all read the same things.
“Joel has suffered with that, and I’m here as a support network for him. All I want to see is him playing his best football.”
Randall has 39 appearances in all competitions for Bolton, scoring twice, and featured regularly under Steven Schumacher in the first half of the campaign.
His total of 900 minutes played in all competitions means he has spent more time on the pitch than John McAtee, Marcus Forss or Rob Apter.
There is no obligation for Blackpool to make a permanent offer for Randall this summer and speaking back in January, Schumacher had hoped a change of scenery could have reinvigorated the playmaker on his return.
“We just said that if we want to bring people in then we have to lose a couple from the squad, and Joel was the decision we made,” he told us.
“It hasn’t quite worked out for him here, certainly not the way he would have wanted it to, so maybe it is best for him to go out and get some confidence back somewhere else?
“We had a lot of players in the squad and he is one who hasn’t really featured lately.
“It has probably been a tough 12 months for him here, I don’t think it has worked out as he’d have wanted, but he has had chances.
“I think he's had a lot of opportunities, certainly since I've come in. I don't know what happened when Ian (Evatt) was here but when I came in he has had loads of games.
“He is a lovely footballer, no-one can deny that. But when you're looking for goals and assists and outputs, it wasn't quite there. The others, the likes of Kyle Dempsey, John McAtee, Marcus Forss – they have all scored goals.
“If I am trying to bring someone else in then I have to look at all of them and lose one. I had to free up some space.”
Share