Middlesbrough thought they'd played a blinder with Leeds United raid - it turned into a nightmare | OneFootball

Middlesbrough looked to have pulled off a coup when they poached Garry Monk from Leeds United, but his appointment proved to be a disaster.

Having suffered relegation from the Premier League in 2017, Middlesbrough are now in their eighth consecutive season in the Championship.

Middlesbrough had hoped to establish themselves in the top flight after achieving automatic promotion from the Championship in the 2015-16 season under Aitor Karanka, but their stay in the division lasted just one season.

A host of managers have been unable to guide the Teesside outfit back to the promised land over the past eight years, including Garry Monk, Tony Pulis, Jonathan Woodgate, Neil Warnock and Chris Wilder, and current head coach Michael Carrick will be hoping that he can succeed where others have failed.

Boro have only reached the play-offs twice since their relegation from the Premier League, and they were knocked out at the semi-final stage on both occasions, but their underachievement has certainly not been down a lack of investment from owner Steve Gibson.

Gibson has provided financial support to many of his managers in the transfer market over the years, but it was Monk who received the most backing after his arrival from Leeds United in 2017, and supporters will still look back at his disappointing tenure with frustration.

Garry Monk appointment looked like a major coup for Middlesbrough

After Middlesbrough were relegated from the Premier League under the guidance of caretaker manager Steve Agnew, Gibson laid out his clear ambition to bounce back to the top flight at the first attempt.

"There’s only one place I want this club, and that’s in the Premier League," Gibson told BBC Radio Tees, quoted by The Northern Echo.

"We’re going to work our socks off to get back up there.

"We’ve got a great opportunity in terms of resource. The club is well run and we are in a good stable financial position. We should have more resource going into next season than any other club.

"There can be no other objective – we want to smash the league next year. We want to go up next year as champions."

Gibson's bold comments raised a few eyebrows, but the Boro owner was certainly not afraid to back up his words, and the club looked to have struck gold with the appointment of Monk.

After previously managing Swansea City in the Premier League, Monk led Leeds to a seventh-placed finish in the Championship in the 2016-17 season before resigning to take over at the Riverside Stadium, despite holding talks over a new three-year deal at Elland Road.

Given that Leeds were a club with at least equal - if not greater - potential than Boro, Gibson made a big statement by poaching Monk, and he delivered on his pledge of providing investment in the squad as 12 new players arrived at the club during the summer transfer window.

Among those additions, Jonny Howson made the move from Norwich City for a fee of £6 million, while Ashley Fletcher joined the club from West Ham United for £6.5 million, and Boro broke their transfer record to sign Britt Assombalonga from Nottingham Forest for a staggering £15 million.

With Monk at the helm and a squad full of quality, many expected Boro to achieve Gibson's target of winning the Championship title, but it did not work out that way.

Middlesbrough will be desperate to forget disaster Garry Monk reign

Monk's appointment was greeted with plenty of optimism at the Riverside Stadium, but the warning signs began to emerge early in his tenure.

After their summer spending spree, Middlesbrough would have been hoping to make a strong start to the season, but Monk quickly came under pressure as his side won just four of their first 13 league games, and the club sat as low as 13th in the table in mid-October.

While much of the criticism directed towards Monk was due to the poor results and performances, his decision to freeze out popular midfielder Adam Clayton, who was part of the club's promotion-winning squad under Karanka, also attracted the ire of supporters.

It looked as though Boro were turning a corner after three consecutive victories against Reading, Hull City and Sunderland in late October and early November, but it only proved to be a brief respite for Monk as the inconsistency soon returned, and after a run of four defeats in six games, the 45-year-old's position looked under serious threat heading into the festive period.

With unrest growing among the fan base, Monk led his side to a much-needed 2-1 win over Sheffield Wednesday in late December, but unfortunately, it was not enough for him to save his job as Gibson pulled the trigger just hours after the victory at Hillsborough.

Boro were ninth in the table at the time of Monk's departure, and while some felt that his sacking was harsh with the top six still very much within reach, it proved to be the right call from Gibson as they went on to finish fifth under Pulis before losing to Aston Villa in the play-off semi-finals.

After leaving the Riverside Stadium, Monk went on to have spells with Birmingham City and Sheffield Wednesday in the Championship, and his most recent role came at League One side Cambridge United, where he was sacked after winning just nine of his 49 games in charge.

Monk not only failed to deliver promotion for Boro, but the excessive spending during his reign meant that key players such as Ben Gibson, Adama Traore and Patrick Bamford had to be sold the following summer in order to balance the books, and his appointment will go down as one of Gibson's biggest mistakes.