Middlesbrough failed to win for the eighth straight game when they lost 2-0 to Derby County on Saturday.
Middlesbrough sit 22nd in the table, and former Manager Tony Pulis has given his say on why he thinks the team isn’t playing to the best of their ability.
Speaking as a guest on Ian Holloway’s podcast, Pulis stated that the overspending in Garry Monk’s tenure as Middlesbrough manager is the main reason why they find themselves in the Championship relegation zone.
“To sell the players that we sold – Forshaw, Christie, Gibson, Bamford, Traore, to name just five – I think we cut the staff by 15-16 players in the 18 months I was there, just to rejig the finances which was important after an absolutely disastrous window.”
The disastrous window Pulis is referring to is Monk’s first and only summer in charge at Boro. The now-Sheffield Wednesday manager spent nearly £50 million on the likes of Britt Assombalonga (£15 million), Martin Braithwaite (£9 million), Jonny Howson (£5 million), Ashley Fletcher (£6.5 million) and Darren Randolph (£5 million) amongst others.
“The football club is struggling today because of what happened two-and-a-half years ago” continued Pulis. “It’s not what Woody’s done, or what the players are doing; the big, big point was two-and-a-half years ago.
“If you have a bad window, if you have a disastrous window like that, and your recruitment is no good, then you’re going to suffer – and supporters have got to understand and recognise that.”
Spending has been kept to a minimum since that summer, with Woodgate only buying four players in the most recent window. The most expensive of those signings was Anfernee Dijksteel at just £2 million.
