Bolton Wanderers surely have to look at Ian Evatt alternatives after Wigan Athletic embarrassment?

After leading Bolton to promotion from League Two in his first season, Evatt took over as manager in the summer of 2020, and his team has been competing at the top of League One for the last few years.

Despite finishing third last season, Wanderers have improved year after year under Evatt. However, they endured heartbreak when they lost to Oxford United 2-0 in the play-off final at Wembley.

Following a busy summer transfer window that saw the entrance of players like Chris Forino, Szabolcs Schon, Klaidi Lolos, and John McAtee, Evatt was anticipated to provide automatic promotion this time around. The loss was the Trotters’ second straight play-off setback.

The top two already appear unattainable, though, as Bolton has had a patchy start to the season and is presently ranked eighth in the table, 12 points behind second-place Birmingham City and 13 points behind leaders Wycombe Wanderers.

Wanderers have frequently lost at home to Wigan in previous years, and following Saturday’s humiliation, some fans have demanded that Evatt be fired. Many were also irritated by his post-game interview.

With an increasing number of supporters questioning his position, Evatt hit out at what he described as a “pile on” after the defeat against Wigan, and he issued a passionate defence of his record at the Toughsheet Community Stadium.

When asked if he believes he has taken the club as far as he can, Evatt told The Bolton News: “It is an easy question make on the back of that, isn’t it?

“But you are talking to someone who has won more than 50 per cent of his games at this football club, more than anybody else, you are talking to someone who has just taken 26 points from the last 13 games.

To be honest, I find that query perplexing, even if I understand that you have to perform your duties.

“The supporters’ disrespectful and disrespectful behavior isn’t reflected in our results. While the first four games were fantastic, I can accept this. I felt really depressed about the people jeering them off at halftime, and I genuinely agreed with them.

However, it is absurd to believe that, despite everything I have contributed to this club, I am not the right person to lead it forward. Furthermore, I can only concentrate on myself and my goals; I cannot alter it.

Evatt has every right to draw attention to his record while at Bolton, and his post-match interview did contain some insightful remarks.

As Evatt states, there has been a noticeable improvement for Wanderers since they lost three straight league games earlier in the season to Charlton Athletic, Exeter City, and Huddersfield Town. Since then, they have only lost three of their last 13 games.

But in that time, the Trotters have nevertheless had some disappointing performances, including draws with relegation-threatened Shrewsbury Town and Cambridge United, as well as a crushing 5-0 loss at Stockport County. On Saturday, Evatt suffered yet another setback.

The margin of loss was not as great this time around because Bolton had lost to Wigan 4-0 at home in each of the previous two seasons, but Wanderers have now lost all nine of their meetings with the Latics.

However, chairman Sharon Brittan will be more concerned by the fact that the Trotters have lost further ground on the automatic promotion places, and with Evatt criticising supporters after the game, the situation is becoming increasingly toxic.

Brittan gave Evatt her backing in the summer after missing out on promotion, and she even allowed him to restructure his coaching staff in September following the poor start to the season, with first-team coach Matt Craddock leaving the club.

As Evatt has shares in Football Ventures, the company that owns Bolton, parting company with him could potentially be complicated, but Brittan would surely have expected more at this stage of the season, particularly after giving him a bigger budget in the summer.

With a trip to high-flying Wycombe on Friday night, Evatt’s situation might get worse before it gets better. Brittan might need to give a management move some real thought if he can’t improve his team’s performance during the hectic holiday season.