Ian Evatt believes he has earned the respect of the Bolton fans during his time with the club which he cannot speak highly enough as he reaffirmed his and owner Sharon Brittan's aim to get the club back to where it belongs.
Wanderers recently completed their League One campaign and finished ninth in their first campaign back in the division since 2020.
During Evatt's time as boss after joining the club in the summer of 2020, he has led Wanderers to automatic promotion out of League Two last season, before the top 10 finish this campaign.
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Next season, Wanderers are seeking to challenge for promotion in earnest after a second half of the campaign surge for the play-offs ultimately did not come to fruition.
Evatt has had quite some journey as Wanderers boss with ups and downs along the way over the past two years as a young manager, and he admits he sometimes gets things wrong or annoys people by saying the wrong things.
But he says that is part of who he is and being as transparent as possible as he feels the Wanderers supporters are truly buying into his vision for Wanderers more and more.
And he has repeated his ambition to get Wanderers back up the football pyramid to where they belong as he says his views are aligned with that of chairman Brittan and the club as he seeks to improve the club in the transfer market this summer.
He said: "You have to earn people’s respect and I think I have done that with our fanbase.
“I can’t speak highly enough of them. Sometimes I get things wrong and people forget I am a young manager and I will do the wrong things. I’ll also wind people up by saying the wrong thing. But that is just me – I try and be as transparent as possible.
“I have a clear idea on how the game should be played and I want my players to go out there and paint the picture.
“I think the fans are buying into it a lot more and enjoying it a lot more too.
“There are lots of stats going around – two teams have broken the 70-goal barrier and we’ve got 73 points which the majority of the time would have got us there or thereabouts.
“But I have told you before, and I will say it again, I won’t stop working until I get this club back to where I want it to be. It is my aim, my target, and it is aligned with Sharon and the rest of the club.
“I have been off the grass for 10-15 minutes and I am missing it already.
“I will have to find something to keep me occupied but I think this will be a very busy summer and I am looking forward to having a break from matchdays but also to tying to improve us this summer."
