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Wanderers new boy Randell Williams has arrived with a few surprises up his sleeve!
Plunged straight into his debut on Saturday against league leaders Plymouth Argyle, the former Hull City wing-back also added a new weapon to Bolton’s arsenal.
A long throw, which certainly hadn’t been on the list of reasons Ian Evatt brought Williams in from the Championship, proved quite an effective tool against the Pilgrims.
Well versed with facing long throws, not least in his first season in League Two, Evatt admitted it felt a little odd when the boot was on the other foot.
“I didn’t realise he would throw it as far as Steve Backley!” he said after the game.
“The football snob in my almost felt embarrassed by asking him to throw it into the box – but it was that long it was more like a corner.
“He said to us before the game that he had a long throw and I said ‘oh really, that’s interesting, what does that look like?’
“When he threw it into the middle of the six yard box we all turned to each other and thought ‘oh… I see, that IS a long throw.’
“It is another string to our bow. We are not the type of team that wants to set that up all the time because it disrupts our momentum and tempo, the intensity we want to play at, but every now and again there is nothing wrong with using a weapon like that.”
Williams lasted 75 minutes before being replaced by Owen Beck, who looks likely to start on Tuesday night against Portsmouth in the Papa Johns Trophy.
Bolton’s new signing had started just one league game at Hull this season but Evatt is keen for him to catch-up ‘on the job’ and felt his debut was an encouraging one.
“He is a fit lad and I thought there were glimpses of what he can bring. He obviously got tired but it was a really intense and tough game to come into as well,” he said.
“He is a good professional, looks after himself, and he will only get up to speed by playing those games and gaining those minutes.
“I was really pleased with his honesty today because he put his hand up and said ‘I have done enough, now is the time for somebody else to come on and re-energise the game’. And I thought Owen Beck was really good.”
Watching Saturday’s game as a guest of the club was Manchester United legend Sir Alex Ferguson, along with Paul Scholes and ex-Burnden Park favourite, Peter Reid.
Wanderers could not find the winning goal their performance perhaps deserved but Evatt was happy to have his work assessed by such exalted company.
“The Fergie time goal would have been great,” he said.
“It is nice we have someone like that coming to watch us play.
“He is a brilliant manager, hugely successful, and I have to be careful what I say because I am the manager of Bolton Wanderers but you can’t help but respect what he has achieved in the game.”
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