AHEAD of a transfer window when Middlesbrough expect plenty change, Tony Pulis has found for far too long the Riverside Stadium has been a stepping stone for too many players – and it has proven costly.

The Boro boss did not look to name names and suggested there is historical evidence, dating back to when his first team coach Curtis Fleming was still playing, to suggest players don’t hang around long enough on Teesside.

That has proven difficult for the club to find consistency in trying to achieve their ambitions, just as he has found since taking over a year ago after Garry Monk’s brief time in charge when he was allowed to invest heavily in the squad.

After the festive period, when Pulis will look for players to produce results to keep them in the top six, Middlesbrough expect a busy window. Martin Braithwaite, Britt Assombalonga and Rudy Gestede are among those likely to depart.

Pulis said: “There has been a history of people joining this football club and then leaving this football club very quickly. It’s never a help for any football club from day one if it’s like that, that tends to be … I’m finding that out.

“Having joined the club, spoken to Curtis from his age and playing days, players have been brought in and then gone pretty quickly. I don’t know what it is. I am not talking about just now. Players should come here who want to settle and play for this football club.”

It is not necessarily that players are looking to leave because of the area, it could just be that Pulis is prepared to let certain men go to free up space in his squad to accommodate others. He is known to be keen on Crystal Palace pair Connor Wickham and Jason Puncheon.

But the Newport-born 60-year-old, who has managed across the country at different levels, would love to think his targets embrace the challenge of working under him on Teesside.

He said: “I always thought I’d love to manage in this part of the country, to get a feel for it. I have always had that in me.  “I was born in south Wales, brought up in the Bristol area with a fella who always spoke very highly of County Durham and this area. There was always that in me, if there was a chance I would like to take it and I have that now.”

While Monk spent a big sum of money when he took over 18 months ago and built a relatively large squad, Pulis has always maintained he was keen to trim that pool of players and claw some of that expenditure back in.

He feels like he has done that and now he is looking ahead to a January window when he hopes to make plenty progress in shaping the squad how he would really like it, having not had the pace and power in attack he felt was required in the summer.

Pulis said: “The club on the pitch, we're in a better position than we were last year, off the pitch the club is a much more together club I think than we first came in.

“But we haven't been able to get what we wanted right from the start, you look at Patrick Bamford leaving, you look at Adama Traore leaving and they were two big gaps we thought we could fill. We've not been able to fill and they have left a gap so that has been a bit disappointing for us.  “But it's something you have to get on with. We're no different to any other club in the country, we're trying to improve, we're trying to get better and we're in a good position.

“They spent, I think, £54m last year. If you look at the turnaround now it's £30m profit this year on transfers so we've turned that around and that was important for the football club.

“It’s about us, everyone knows what we need, we know what we can see, we know what we need and must get to push on and that’s what we must do and we hope to do in the next four or five weeks.”

He added: “The majority of fans have been OK, they understand where we are. If you look at the facts since I came in, we have sold 12, bought three and loaned six.  “The club was haemorrhaging a lot of money, we are in profit by about £30m, we are in a better position than last year. We are in a position to add to the squad in January, even though everyone around the country would rather talk about doom and gloom.”

As well as the potential for Braithwaite, Assombalonga and Gestede leaving, it is quite conceivable that there will be more. Ashley Fletcher has not been figuring much, while midfielder Grant Leadbitter has appeared right down the pecking order.  Pulis, who will look to make a couple of changes at Reading today, said: “Every window is a big one, I don’t think I have ever been in one that hasn’t been.  “When I came here everyone was talking about what we would do in the windows, it’s good to read it and excitement for the supporters if you bring them in. But you just have to see what you can do and hope you get what you want to improve the team.”

Reading are without a manager and looking to climb clear of the relegation zone but Pulis will not be taking anything for granted today.  Middlesbrough head to the Madejski Stadium without a win in five, including the Carabao Cup defeat to Burton, and confidence has taken a knock. Supporters have started to turn more on Pulis after the slump, and he ie is determined to keep them in the top six.  He said: “They were unfortunate not to win at Rotherham last week. The lad has come in and changed a few around, John O’Shea might be fit for them; a few of their main players are back in. Every game is tough, not seen an easy one in the Championship. We have to be confident as much as anything to go and play.”