Ian Evatt fumes at his players as Bolton fans chant ‘Evatt Out!’ after 3-1 defeat to Rotherham

Ian Evatt fumes at his players as Bolton Wanderers fans chant ‘Evatt Out!’ after 3-1 defeat to Rotherham United on Saturday afternoon.

An excellent performance by the Millers saw them comfortably pick up three points, while it’s a dismal performance from Ian Evatt’s side.

The result means that Bolton fall to a fourth defeat in seven games and miss the chance to close the gap to the League One playoff places.

Mallik Wilks’ spot kick, Reece James’ cracking finish for his first goal for Rotherham and Sam Nombe’s rebound effort made for a fantastic afternoon for the hosts.

John McAtee netted a late consolation but Steve Evans’ side are now unbeaten in four (W2 D2) and extend their unbeaten record in league games at home to Bolton to 18.

“Every fucking one of ya, shit”.

Can’t disagree with the lad unfortunately #bwfc pic.twitter.com/z8ftRnN7BR

— JimTheWanderer (@JimTheWanderer1) January 11, 2025

Off you pop, flower. Please don’t pretend that was anything other than a waste of time and hard-earned money for each of the fans there today. Performance was dire and you should acknowledge this and apologise for putting us through it. #BWFC #DownTheTunnel pic.twitter.com/gw4tLVXGxr

— Craig Reaper 💙 (@okeyblokey) January 11, 2025

Bolton boss Ian Evatt said, per irelandlive: “It’s a collective and the players have to take responsibility as well.

“I don’t send my players out to show that lack of courage, fight and energy. It’s about time that maybe I called them out, because it’s me that gets it all.

“I’m okay to take it all, but sooner or later they have got to take responsibility.

“The first place I look is in the mirror, at myself, but some of them need to look at themselves too because that, for this club, isn’t good enough.

“We were second best all over the pitch.

“We concede a goal from virtually nothing. All of their good stuff was self-inflicted.

“Everyone can see the conditions and the pitch was lively and we are still making daft, erratic decisions.

“The disappointing thing for me was that everyone knows what you are up against when you are coming here.

“If you don’t understand what a Steve Evans team looks like and what they are motivated to be, then you shouldn’t be in the game.

“We spoke about it, but we were still second best and did not do the basics well enough.

“We were out-run, out-battled and out-scrapped.”

Rotherham boss Evans said: “We spoke to the group about making incremental steps forward on the pitch.

“Ian is a good manager and he’s got a good squad of players, but I felt they got us in a frame of mind that we wanted to play.

“We don’t get carried away, it’s a big week ahead.”

Ian Evatt after defeat at Rotherham

Thoughts Wanderers fans? 💭#bbcfootball #BWFC pic.twitter.com/KOSpzKJGSR

— BBC Sport Manchester (@BBCRMsport) January 11, 2025

Bolton: Baxter; Forrester, Almeida Santos, Johnston; Williams (Dacres-Cogley 60), Morley, Thomason (Charles 60), Schön; Randall; McAtee, Collins. Substitutes: Jones, Osei-Tutu, Matete, Lolos, Adeboyejo.

Booked: None

Rotherham: Phillips; Rafferty, Odoffin, Jules, James; MacDonald (Bramall 67), Humphreys, Powell; McWilliams; Nombe, Wilks. Substitutes: Dawson (GK), Kelly, Clarke-Harris, Hugill, Green, Holmes.

Booked: Humphreys

Referee: Andy Young

Attendance: 10,258 (2,166 Wanderers)

Twitter users reacted as Ian Evatt fumes at his players and Bolton fans chant ‘Evatt Out!’ after 3-1 defeat to Rotherham…

@craigianashwort: I think its time he left. However if they will not sack him, they need to change the coaches or people behind the scenes as this is hard to watch now. Many people from Bolton are not rich and all the excess cash they get goes on following BWFC. please show them some respect 🙌

@CMerrills22: Please for the love of god someone in any position of power at the club, read the comments, look at the fan reaction and sack Evatt. Failure to do so is failing the fans, we are where the loyalty should lie

@ANDYGRIFFITHS11: You’ve signed the players, a bunch of “Technical Fairies” 🧚‍♀️. The team needs some steel, the team needs a Target Man Number 9, wing backs who can get up and down and deliver. Everyone can see it – why can’t you??? All signing are of the same flimsy nature

@iainhadcroft: Beyond parody now. Who’s responsible for recruiting these players? Who’s responsible for the tactics? Who’s responsible for training them? Who’s reasonable for motivating them, for building their confidence, for creating a team spirit? That’ll be you Ian 🤷🏻‍♂️

@jkecrx: Turned it off after he said he’ll always take responsibility. He’s not done that once in his five years he’s been here. Always someone else’s fault. Time to go Ian

@DaveyJohnB: Nothing to do with your preparation, your tactics, your motivation, your signings, your psychological preparation. This is a underprepared team that is not ready to tough it out in league 1. Simply embarrassing!!!!

@fliplop1234: My prediction – “You don’t become a bad team or manager over night. We have had success and my 50% win ratio shows it. Before me Bolton hadn’t won a trophy for a thousand years and when I know it’s time to go I will go. I made of tough stuff we will reset and go again” 🤣

@MJSantley: Perfect timing with Rob Edwards available. It makes sense so please do it now!

@APBWFC1:
Evatts interview:
Referee missed a foul before the penalty
Dominated possession
Didn’t take our chances
All in this together
We’ll talk about it in training and go again

@GouldyMedia: It keeps on getting worse. 10th, four points off the play-offs and 14 points off the automatics after just 24 games, despite spending a significant amount of money. Something has to change – and we’ve been saying that for a while – but we all know it probably won’t.

@NathanTurner97: Phone Rob Edward’s ASAP

@MatthewRushton7: Can’t remember the last away game I went to where I felt so disinterested. I didn’t react to any of the goals and spent the 2nd half sucking on cough sweets out of sheer boredom. What even was that performance, Evatt needs to go

@brettjones84: Evatt said when these players stop playing for him,he will resign. I watched 11 players pulling out of challenges for 90 minutes. GET HIM GONE.

@RyanBar25078791: Another evatt masterclass I see🤝 It’s all good tho because we’ll play shite against Lincoln in a few days time scrape a result and we’ll all think it’s a turning point. Rinse and repeat.

@OneSizeFitz89:
Weak board/owners
Weak manager
Weak coaches
Weak players
#BWFC

@dex_1996: Sharon do the right thing. It’s getting unbearable now. Just pathetic. EVATT OUT!

@FredsCap: Pathetic performance lads 👏🏻 #bwfc