• Boro are ninth in Championship, three points out of play-off places • Monk leaves Riverside after just over six months in chargeGarry Monk was sacked as manager of Middlesbrough on Saturday night, just four hours after presiding over his side’s 2-1 win at Sheffield Wednesday. Yet if the timing of Monk’s departure is slightly surprising, his dismissal will not come as a complete shock in Middlesbrough. In reality Monk struggled to alter Boro’s playing style from the ultra-defensive approach of Aitor Karanka to the more expansive, attacking game his Swansea and Leeds sides were noted for. After all, back in 2009, he sacked Gareth Southgate following a midweek 2-0 home win over Derby County which left Boro fourth in the Championship. Monk managed Swansea in the Premier League between 2014 and 2015 before helping Leeds to a seventh-placed finish in the Championship last season.

Source: The Guardian December 23, 2017 21:58 UTC