The 2017/18 season looked an exciting one for Boro - yet they fell flat on their face at the first time of asking when attempting a return to the Premier League
When Premier League relegation was confirmed after their 3-0 defeat to Chelsea, Boro knew they were at a cross road. An underwhelming 2016/17 season in which Steve Agnew took charge of Boro's final eleven games; and even despite thirty three points left to play for, the general consensus was that Steve Gibson had threw in the towel and accepted Boro's eventual fate of relegation. After a seven year absence, Boro felt cheated out of a true experience of the big time.
Boro knew that the 2017/18 season had the potential to be a huge one, and Steve Gibson did not shy away from the challenge.
Immediately after the clubs Premier League relegation was confirmed on May 13th, Steve Gibson gave THAT interview to BBC Tees, in which he uttered the famous phrase "We want to smash the league, we want to go up as champions."
Aitor Karanka had left Boro with a disgruntled squad, one that would need a huge overhaul before they could even think of competing for promotion. Steve Gibson's first task was to get the right manager to lead Boro to the big time once again.
There was many potential names threw about; with former Leeds United manager Garry Monk leading the race. In the 2016/17 season, Monk had lead Leeds United 11 points clear of 7th place. However, after a dramatic loss of form in the final 8 matches of the season, Leeds United mathematically missed out on the play-offs on the final day of the season, finishing in 7th place after being overtaken by Fulham.
After Andrea Radrizzani took over Leeds United two days earlier, and the day before Leeds United were set to activate a 1-year contract extension, Garry Monk resigned as Leeds United head coach on May 25th.
Two weeks later, on June 9th 2017, Middlesbrough FC announced the appointment of Garry Monk.
When he took over, Monk inherited a squad in need of a revamp and with a need for transfers, Steve Gibson was willing to provide the cash needed.
Their transfers certainly represented their aims, as Boro smashed their transfer record to sign Nottingham Forest striker Britt Assombalonga for around £15 Million. Assombalonga was joined by Martin Braithwaite and Ashley Fletcher for a combined fee of £15.5 million.
Other additions included Darren Randolph, Cyrus Christie, Ryan Shotton, Jonny Howson, Marvin Johnson, Luke Armstrong and George Miller, whilst Lewis Baker and Connor Roberts joined on loan.
Boro signed a total of 12 players for a reported combined fee of £50 million. A huge statement of intent, and something that seemed to line them up perfectly for an immediate Premier League return.
However, what seemed to be a rather easy opening game for Boro proved otherwise; as they were beaten 1-0 away to Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Following the opening day defeat, Boro only won 5 out of there first 15 league games. It was then clear to see that this season would not be everything it was anticipated to be...
After a 2-1 win against Sheffield Wednesday, the Boro team found themselves in 9th place, three points off the top 6. But merely hours after the victory Middlesbrough FC released a statement in which they confirmed the sacking of Garry Monk as manager.
The sacking came as a shock, especially after the win at Hillsborough. In addition, the January transfer was only few days away, leaving many Boro fans confused, some thinking that the axing was harsh. Although Garry Monk was shown the door, he left holding the second best win percentage of any permanent Boro manager with 46.2%; Aitor Karanka having the first.
On boxing day, three days after Monk's sacking, Boro announced Tony Pulis as new Boro manager. Pulis was sacked by West Bromwich Albion on November 20th 2017, after a poor start to the season.
Pulis was brought in attempt to balance the books, and organise the mess left behind from Monk.
With the obvious financial implications of the summer, Pulis was dealt peanuts for the January transfer window. It wasn't until January 30th before Boro made any movement, signing Jack Harrison on loan for the remainder of the season from Manchester City. Pulis then made two deadline day signings, Martin Cranie on a free from Huddersfield Town, and Muhamed Bešić on loan from Everton for the remainder of the season. Boro also seen the departures of Martin Braithwaite on loan to Bordeaux for the remainder of the season, whilst Cyrus Christie joined Fulham for an undisclosed fee.
Pulis steadied the ship at Boro, finishing 5th. Aston Villa were Boro's opponents for the paly-off semi finals, Villa finished in fourth, seven points ahead of Boro.
In the first leg, Villa won 1-0 at The Riverside. A dominant performance paid off for Villa thanks to a Mile Jedinak header in the 15th minute.
Boro then travelled to Villa Park a goal behind; and despite being the better side, the game ended 0-0 and Boro's promotion hopes were crushed. Monks time in charge proved to be a huge learning curve for everyone at the club, and something that the club needed to analyse in order to sustain a successful club model going into the future.
All had seemingly gone quite on the Garry Monk front when a Daily Mirror report, over two years after Monk's sacking, revealed the true reasons behind Monk's sacking. A report in 2019 unearthed that Steve Gibson was planning legal action against Garry Monk and his agent, James Featherstone, in reference to their transfer business during their time at Boro.
According to the Daily Mirror, when Monk was appointed as Boro manager, Boro allegedly made it very clear that he did not want Featherstone involved in any of the clubs transfer dealings.
At the time, it was reported that a breakdown in the relationship between Monk and Gibson was one of the key reason's behind him getting the sack.
Some of the ex-manager's transfer dealings raised a few eyebrows, including a club record £15 million for Britt Assombalonga. Other transfers included the £9 million transfer of Martin Braithwaite from Toulouse, and the £6.5 million signing of Ashley Fletcher from West Ham.
Contrary to Monk and Gibson's deal, data published by The FA revealed that James Featherstone was directly involved in Cyrus Christie's move to Boro from Derby County.
Monk allegedly informed his agent of his interest in Christie, from which Featherstone made Derby County aware of the possible transfer. He then reportedly advised Derby to hold out for an extra £1.75 million of Boro's valuation, which at the time was £750,000.
A £2.25 million deal was eventually agreed, with more than £100,000 allegedly being paid to Featherstone for his part in the negotiations.
Boro also allegedly claimed another agent told them that. Featherstone had asked to be involved in the transfer of Ryan Shotton from Birmingham City. Monk had insisted on securing Shotton in his conversations with the Boro's scouting team. Featherstone did in no way represent the defender at the time of the deal.
During negotiations to sign Martin Braithwaite, Featherstone contacted Boro but was told his services weren't required.
Boro were then lead to believe Monk knew that the signing of Ashley Fletcher from West Ham could have actually been struck for less than half the eventual £7 million fee.
This was based on his knowledge of negotiations between the Hammers and his former club Leeds.
It was argued that the club suffered a £3.5 million loss on Fletcher and senior club officials had evidence that Monk contacted West Ham to inform them of Boro's interest in Fletcher.
Boro were informed by Leeds United they had lined up a loan deal for Fletcher in January 2017, when Monk was manager, with an option to buy Fletcher at £3 million. The Daily Mail claims Monk would not authorise the move and later signed Swansea's Mo Barrow, a client of Featherstone.
In addition, Fletcher's father claimed Featherstone approached him over the possibility of assisting in the deal. Boro claim they asked the agent to stop contact with the forward's father.
The Daily Mirror reported Boro had reservations over fees and negotiations linked to several transfers: Furthermore, there was claims that an internal inquiry was hindered due to Monk's club laptop being wiped before it was returned after his December departure in 2017.
Whether these claims are true or not, something which is undeniable is that the 2017/18 season was a failure. The carelessness and naivety of handing Monk £50 million ruined the clubs finances, the effects of which are still being felt to this day.
Note: None of the aforementioned claims have been proven in anyway, with Monk and Featherstone denying any wrongdoing.
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