Ian Evatt reveals big mistake he's made at Bolton Wanderers | OneFootball

Wanderers boss owns up to overreacting to playoff defeat at Wembley.

Bolton Wanderers boss Ian Evatt was surprisingly candid in his admittance that he got his off-season preparations wrong following playoff heartbreak in May, as a return to his favoured 3-5-2 formation paid dividends against Reading.

Despite being heavy favourites in their Wembley meeting with Oxford United, the Trotters were sentenced to at least one more year in England's third-tier after a shock 2-0 loss in front of over 70,000 spectators.

In a recent interview with Bolton News, Evatt opened up about his managerial flaws, and is self-critical on allowing himself to become fixated on one dissapointing result.

The psychology of a playoff loss

The defeat was so devastating for the club that Evatt stated in June that he strongly considered leaving the club.

"Did I look myself in the mirror and think: ‘Have I taken this as far as it can go? The honest answer is I had those thoughts" he confessed. "but every time I came back to the fact that I love being manager of this football club, I love working with the people I work with. Sharon and the board are incredible people".

Implying incredibly difficult personal struggles this summer, it truly emphasises the manager's passion and drive for eventually obtaining that elusive second promotion with the Greater Manchester club.

Where does Evatt believe he went wrong?

Despite not quite reaching the automatic promotion spots in 2023-24, Bolton were electric throughout the campaign. Their points tally of 87 was a club record in the 21st century, while their goal tally of 86 achieved a parallel feat.

A large contributing factor to this was Evatt's dynamic and sophisticated deployment of the 3-5-2 formation. However, with 0.19 expected goals at Wembley (including zero shots on target), it was clear Oxford had done their homework and theorised how to extinguish the Wanderers' threat.

Of the mind that 'if Oxford can see through our set-up, anyone can' - Evatt reacted to this loss by scrapping his trusty tactics altogether, opting for a near unrecognisable 3-4-3 formation in pre-season.

A 1-1 draw to Fiorentina in July and and opening day victory against Leyton Orient showed promise, initially vindicating his decision to tweak systems. However one point from the next fifteen saw Wanderers in the relegation zone before last weekend. The 3-4-3 simply did not work.

“I think over the summer we focused too much on what went wrong in one game at Wembley. Everyone focused on Plan Bs and I was one of those thinking deeply about how we do something else."

“But there wasn’t a great deal wrong with Plan A. I think if we didn’t get the injuries we got in the second half of last season we’re promoted. We were still one game away and we didn’t perform at Wembley."

A tactical throwback earned a free 5-2

Evatt swallowed his pride and resorted back to his trusty five-in-midfield setup on Saturday.

A resounding 5-2 victory more than trebled their seasons goal tally, with last seasons top-scorer Dion Charles scoring a hat-trick.

“I am still learning, I am not the finished article at all and I’ll always critique myself first ahead of anyone else,” he told The Bolton News. “And maybe we tried to change too much".

In fairness to the Bolton boss, it is incredibly commendable to admit you were wrong, and allow yourself to be fallible.

For Bolton fans, they will hope this abysmal start to the season is behind them, and it wasn't merely a case of the Royals being caught cold by the surprise switch.