Bolton Wanderers verdict issued on Ian Evatt, Plymouth Argyle links - Pilgrims “worry” expressed | OneFootball

Evatt is one of the contenders for the Pilgrims vacancy, according to reports

This article is part of Football League World’s ‘Terrace Talk‘ series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Several EFL clubs are currently searching for a new manager, with one of those being Plymouth Argyle - which would have been a complete surprise well over a week ago.

The Pilgrims were making their moves early in the transfer window in preparation for their return to League One, with Caleb Watts and Jamie Paterson both putting pen-to-paper - before news broke of head coach Miron Muslic heading to German sleeping giants Schalke.

Muslic was confirmed as their new boss last weekend, in which Argyle chairman Simon Hallett wrote a spikey response revealing that the Austrian-Bosnian told him that he was not returning to the club if they did not accept Schalke's approach, and it put the Devon outfit on the hunt once more for a new manager - a fourth since Steven Schumacher left in December 2023.

Bolton Wanderers "worry" expressed over Plymouth Argyle amid Ian Evatt links

One of the names that has been linked with the vacancy at Home Park is ex-Bolton Wanderers boss Ian Evatt, who has links to head of football operations David Fox via their time together as players at Blackpool.

Alan Nixon reported on Sunday that the 43-year-old is in the frame for the job, having been out of work since being sacked by the Trotters five months ago - FLW's Bolton fan pundit Liam O'Meara believes that Evatt would be a good fit down at Argyle, but is concerned that given recent mass upheaval at Home Park, they may make the wrong choice of manager.

"Ian Evatt I think would make a very good League One manager, particularly at the top end - he just needed a change more than anyone else," Liam told FLW.

"So, would it be a good fit? Yeah, but I wonder about him making that move though, because when he was at Bolton he was still based in Chesterfield, so it's quite a big move for him.

"But it's not like he seems to be on the shortlist of other similar job that have become available, so he may see that as an opportunity worth looking at.

"In terms of whether he's a good fit for the role - they haven't changed too much from when Schumacher was there, and Schumacher talked about augmenting Ian Evatt's style into his own and that they're very similar, so you'd have to say it works both ways and he'd be a good fit there.

"They've had quite a bit of upheaval though in the last six to 12 months, so I do worry about Plymouth and whether they'll make a sensible appointment."

Recent history would suggest Ian Evatt is unlikely to land Plymouth Argyle job - unless there is a change of tact

Since Schumacher was poached by Stoke in late 2023, Plymouth have gone for somewhat unconventional managerial appointments more often than not, although there have been a real mix of individuals.

Ian Foster was more of an international youth coach that ended up flopping, Wayne Rooney was the big name but someone that hadn't really succeeded yet in any of his manager jobs, whilst Miron Muslic was somewhat of an unknown from the continent.

Going down the proven League One route would be something far more sensible for Plymouth to do, yet history would tell you that they're unlikely to do it - even with a new head of football operations in place.