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'Hunger to be successful' - Charlie Adam on Ian Evatt and ex-Blackpool team-mates

Adam and Evatt played alongside each other at Blackpool
Adam and Evatt played alongside each other at Blackpool

Charlie Adam says Ian Evatt and several other former Blackpool team-mates have taken their “hunger to be successful” into management.

Adam played alongside the Bolton boss at Bloomfield Road, winning promotion to the Premier League under Ian Holloway.

Rob Edwards and Stephen Crainey have both had spells in management after hanging up their boots, while Keith Southern and Gary Taylor-Fletcher have also held coaching roles.

And Adam, who recently called time on his own playing career, isn’t surprised to see his former team-mates stay involved in the game.

“I just think that was the journey we went on and the type of people we were,” he told The Blackpool Gazette.

“We were hungry to be successful and we had that drive to be the best we could be, and that has managed to be at the forefront of the lads getting coaching positions and into management.

“Everyone has taken different pathways and journeys, which is great as well. Everyone is learning and leaning on each other for different experiences.

“But the lads who are actually in full-time positions in management, they have done brilliant in their relatively short-term careers. That is great for them and hopefully they can continue that over their careers.”

Earlier this year, Holloway said he was proud to see Evatt and company having success in management.

“I’d like to think I’ve affected some people in the long term and what makes me proud now is seeing the three lads from my Blackpool side turning into League managers,” he explained.

“I don’t know, maybe I affected them. But they certainly affected me and my life so that’s what I enjoy the most.

“The best thing about management is getting a group of people to believe in the same thing and then go to work and deal with whatever happens, because you can’t always say it will go well.

“But when they all grow and build personalities, you all start to feel like one, like I had with Blackpool. It’s quite incredible.

“It doesn’t always go right in football, does it? But I’ve never tried to change who I am.”

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