Steve Evans has changed with the times and is working wonders again at Stevenage
Steve Evans still has the sombrero he wore at Elland Road – and he gets another tip of the hat for Stevenage's 100 per cent start to the season.
Full to the brim after keeping Rotherham in the Championship eight years ago, Evans was so chuffed to secure the Millers' safety that he promised to turn up for their final League game, at Leeds United in a Mexican bonnet and beach shorts.
Leeds were evidently impressed by his Acapulco outfit – because they appointed him as manager five months later. Evans, now 60 and approaching 1,000 games as a League manager, turned his stunt into a charitable fundraiser.
“That was a tongue-in-cheek moment which raised well over £25,000 for charity in South Yorkshire,” he said.
Steve Evans arriving at Elland Road in beach attire and a Sombrero (PA)“It started of as a bit of banter but we saw it through and it happened to be at a future employer of mine, but the support for it made you humble. It was a great moment.”
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Turning a throwaway remark into a nice little crowdfunder fitted in with Evans' image makeover from a volcanic temper on the touchline to the more mellow boss who led Stevenage out of League Two in May and banking maximum points so far this season.
On Saturday, 'Boro put their 100 per cent record to the test at troubled Reading, he insists he is a changed man. Back in the day, when fourth officials were routinely needled by Evans and his loyal assistant Paul Raynor, it was like watching bistro waiters being savaged by Hinge and Bracket.
And those who witnessed Evans thundering down the Wembley touchline, trousers struggling to keep up, to celebrate Alex Revell's stunning equaliser for Rotherham in a play-off final in 2014, still need counselling for the flashbacks.
Steve Evans' side are three from three to start the season (David Loveday/TGS Photo/REX/Shutterstock)Revell is now on Evans' coaching staff at Broadhall Way, with the manager admitting he should have toned down his antics sooner.
“If you don't change with the modern times, you get left behind,” he said. “The days are gone when you can go into a dressing room and almost break the walls.
“You are much more successful as a manager when you bring the players with you.
“You look at the Manchester City and Arsenal documentaries, and there are times when the managers can be animated, but I've been to both those clubs' training grounds, and watched both managers at work, and the players love them.
“I've been to games and watched managers who are at it (on the fourth official's case) the whole game, and in the not-too-distant past that would have been me. I'm not saying I'm never going to jump up and shout for a decision again, but you've got to be more careful now with these new rules coming in.
“But certainly, over the last three or four years, I'm more mannered, I'm more careful in what I say and how I say it. I still speak to the officials but I understand that how I speak to them is massively important – and then you get the honesty and integrity back from those guys.
“When I look back now I think, 'If I've changed in the last four or five years, maybe it should have happened 10 or 15 years ago.' But, yes, I've probably mellowed.”
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Evans' reward for his longevity as a manager is reflected in his enviable contacts book.
He once persuaded Arsene Wenger to loan him future World Cup-winning goalkeeper Emi Martinez at Rotherham, introduced himself to Sir Alex Ferguson with a £275 bottle of red wine as Crawley Town manager and Jose Mourinho was first to send congratulations when got the Leeds job.
Evans shrugged: “I've been in the game a long time, I've been on a lot of courses, I've been to see how great coaches work.
“I could probably pick up the phone to 18 or 19 Premier League managers if it's about taking a young player on loan, and my contacts book is an extensive list I'm quite proud of.
“They are dealing with Steve Evans the man, not the football manager. I often think back to what my dad said on his deathbed: 'Steven, if people don't know you, they don't like you. But if they know you, they love you.'
“That's what my family tell me when I see things about me which are harsh.”
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