Evans was out of work for over a year. His name was linked with Nottingham Forest following their relegation from the Premier League at the end of the 1998–99 season, but the job went to David Platt instead. He also lost out in the race to become Bolton Wanderers manager in 1999, with the club appointing former player Sam Allardyce. His comeback finally came in March 2000 when he became joint caretaker manager of Fulham alongside Karlheinz Riedle until Jean Tigana was given the job a month later.