Stevenage boss Steve Evans issues rallying cry ahead of crucial Good Friday League One clash against Bolton at the Lamex
By Layth Yousif
28th Mar 2024 | Local Sport
Stevenage boss Steve Evans has issued a rallying cry ahead of the club's huge Good Friday clash with Bolton Wanderers at Broadhall Way.
Boro sit in seventh, one spot, one point and one goal away from the coveted League One Play-off places, currently occupied by Oxford United.
Ian Evatt's Wanderers third-placed side come in the eagerly-awaited match after losing 1-0 to Derby County last time out, in front of the division's biggest attendance of the season, more than 32,000.
However, the tightly-packed Lamex is set to host another excellent crowd - with Boro boss Evans giving a passionate speech ahead of the Easter fixture.
Speaking to Nub News at the club's well-appointed training ground at Bradbury End, in a wide-ranging interview, Evans was bullish about Stevenage's chances across the next seven games - and beyond - starting with the crucial clash against Bolton.
"I think if we could get into the playoffs and go up then there's no chance we'll come down," roared Evans with his customary, trademark passion.
"I would relish managing Stevenage in the Championship. There's no chance we'd go down again - if we got there.
"There's a number of factors behind that. Chairman Phil Wallace.
"He's proud and passionate about everything he does - he takes it to an even higher level with a lot more integrity, a lot more dignity and a lot more everything else.
"We also have an excellent board too. And we've got excellent people working at this football club from top to bottom.
"I'm just the manager - but we're all in this together."
Evans and Stevenage have surprised many outside the Broadhall Way, after the charismatic Scot took over the reigns of a moribund club that surely looked to be heading for relegation from League Two, back into the non-league wilderness a mere two years ago.
Yet Evans kept Boro up with something to spare, prior to embarking on a wonderfully entertaining promotion season last term, that saw a powerful Stevenage side finish as runners-up to eventual champions Leyton Orient.
With many expecting Stevenage to struggle in the more rarefied air of the third tier, Evans side once again raised many eyebrows away from North Herts with his blend of muscular, athletic, attacking football, which, combined with a relentless press, and a refusal to take a backward step, has seen the club once again punch far above its weight.
However, just as the play-offs were looming large, Evans Stevenage have had a wobble. They come into the crucial clash with Bolton having failed to win in five, with three draws and two defeats, including a frustrating 1-0 Lamex loss to last season's rivals Orient.
The defeat was even more galling with memories still fresh of last season's encounter, that saw Stevenage demolish the eventual League Two champions 3-0 on a memorable afternoon in North Herts back in January 2023.
In such a tightly packed division, the goal sent Stevenage down to lowly eighth place, as their recent run of indifferent form, finally caught up with them - which also included a disappointing 3-1 loss to Peterborough United at London Road earlier this month in front of the Sky Sports cameras - prior to salvaging a point on the long trip to Cumbria's Brunton Park and Boro's last-gasp 2-2 draw at Carlisle last weekend that eased them up to seventh.
Surveying the table, Evans gave a masterful response.
"Of course, for us to get into the Championship, what we need to do is to get into the playoffs.
"It's a tough task is getting into the playoffs," the canny Evans continued, adding: "but it's not more tougher for us than it is for Oxford, than it is for Blackpool, than it is for Orient - and whoever else is in the mix, it's tough for all of us.
"Remember, what I've always believed is we respect every opponent - and we can compete with the best, we certainly can compete with the best."
Evans is always a vocal presence during games, and that passion can sometimes spill over into what officials deem as dissent - with Evans being handed a one-match ban from the touchline after his misdeamenors.
As ever, Evans is frank. "On the field we standards that that we think are up there with the best of them," he says.
"But we're not perfect. And sometimes we fall below the standards in terms of results.
"I've done that personally of course [referring to his ban] in falling below the standards I normally set.
"You feel hot when you allow yourself to drop below those standards. So we have to remind ourselves that the standards must also be maintained."
Whatever happens against Bolton and over the next nerve-jangling month in terms of Stevenage's play-off promotion hopes, the fact is the club under Evans are in far better shape than the one he took over two year ago.
Who still recalls Boro's last home clash with Bolton, during the wretched Covid-influenced 2020-21 season, when Evatt's struggling Bolton beat Alex Revell's Stevenage 2-1 to embark on a stirring run that eventually led to promotion for the fallen giants from the north-west.
Or the low ebb the club was in, prior to Evans first game in charge, having taken over from the underwhelming Paul Tisdale, in March 2023.
How does Evans reflect on the progress made under his leadership since then.
"I think I think football is a game of evolution," explains the Scot, adding: "I think there's lots of way I could have been better.
"Yeah. You know, my judgments on teams, on players from time, perhaps certain team selections could have been better.
"Because we've always said here, we don't win, draw or lose. We learn.
"We learn when we win, but we learn lots more when we don't win, or when we draw.
"So there's there's many thoughts across that sphere.
"What have we done really well, I think we've, we've been, led by a board led by chairman who's done brilliant for the club."
With three of the top-six still to play such sentiments will bode well for Stevenage - no wonder the club have been averaging their highest-ever attendances at the Lamex throughout this campaign. With another bumper crowd expected for the visit of the Trotters.
Evans agrees, saying: "There's a great family feeling to walk in here. There's a great team here at Stevenage Football Club.
"But to do that takes everyone from the tea ladies, to the support staff to the catering staff, administration staff at the stadium - everyone we only ever see on a match day.
"I think we've built real togetherness, I think we've invigorated ourselves and the people who live in Stevenage, and all the villages around have become Stevenage supporters, even if they weren't before. I think we've given them great pride in their team, which is important.
"And you know how we've been able to do that? You do that by winning games of football.
"What brings more fans? Community is important - but what brings more fans? Success. What brings success?
"Winning football matches. It's as simple and as complicated as that.
"If you're winning, and you're run immaculately well, from the top, and the bottom - as we are here - and we're all working so hard, then that gives you a chance of success. And that's what gave us a chance to make people happy."
If Evans can continue to work his brand of magic in North Herts and guide Stevenage to the League One Play-offs and the promised land of the Championship beyond, he will have certainly made plenty of people happy down at Broadhall Way.
See Nub News for our extensive reporting on League One Play-off promotion-chasing Stevenage, including match coverage from Boro vs Bolton Wanderers on Good Friday.
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