Blackpool boss Ian Evatt responds to fiery clash with ex-teammate Barry Bannan in Owls draw
Sheffield Wednesday’s draw with Blackpool was a fiery affair.
Six yellow cards and a first-half straight red provided the theme for an ill-tempered clash between Sheffield Wednesday and Blackpool - though the most notable grizzle came between a manager and a vice-captain on opposing sides.
A bizarre back-and-forth saw Tangerines boss Ian Evatt trade angry words with Owls midfielder Barry Bannan across some time before Blackpool substitute Josh Bowler was involved in a coming-together with the little Scot and Wednesday skipper Liam Palmer.
Spiky character Evatt was shown a yellow card himself for the fracas, in which he appeared to bizarrely mock Bannan’s body shape. The moment sparked a nervous Hillsborough crowd into action and ultimately contributed to the 10-man Owls earning a point after Sil Swinkels had been dismissed on 39 minutes. Bannan and Evatt played together during the Scot’s 2009/10 loan stint at Bloomfield Road.
“I don’t know how Barry’s not been booked,” he said. “Look, I like Baz, he’s one of my ex-teammates, he’s a good guy and a brilliant footballer. But my team, when we’re here, I want to win. That’s a clear yellow card on Josh Bowler, he didn’t get booked and he didn’t like very much that I was asking for a yellow card.
“There was a bit of a tiff, which happens in football. But I’m sure when I see him we’ll shake hands and say it’s not personal, it’s just about winning. He feels the same. I’m not sure why I got booked, I stayed in my technical area. It is what it is.”
A handball shout from a free-kick sparked protestations in the away end, with Wednesday fans revelling in their disappointment for several minutes afterwards. Evatt expressed a disappointment with that decision and also took aim at the management of the match by the officials.
Asked whether he felt they should have had a penalty, he said: “I think so, but it’s hard enough getting one decision at places like this, getting two is very difficult. It looked it to me and I thought there were some soft decisions that came after it. I thought the ref allowed them to slow the game down. They’re entitled to do that but the way the game is, the ref has to manage that better. The rules have changed. To see only four minutes go up was tough.
“Before the game we’d have al snatched a hand off for a point, but in the context of the game, it’s disappointing that it was only one.”
The result extends Blackpool’s winless run to nine matches on 12 points. With incoming manager Dave Challinor watching on from the director’s box, Wednesday’s draw extended their draw-heavy run to one win in eight league matches.
“I’m pleased we got something out of the game because I felt it was the least we deserved,” Evatt said. “The plan first half and all week was to try to not give up too many chances and to be connected, compact in the middle of the pitch and to play with an extra defender. We knew we could provoke them to throw bodies forward and then transition quick to counter-attack. We had chances to do that and I thought the gameplan was excellent.
“You can’t account for mistakes like that. We make one critical mistake and we get punished for it. But I was pleased with the way we reacted. We showed a good reset and were positive with it, that got the man sent off. The problem is, when you’re playing against an opposition with 10 men and all of a sudden they’re the ones in a block, at 1-0, with an extra 10 or 15 per cent being at home... I’m delighted we got a point. It’s a step forward, we need to keep moving forward now and make sure we don’t take a step back.”