Pulis’ year-long overhaul is a work in progress

One year on, and the Boro boss heads into another Christmas Eve in charge of a Middlesbrough side sitting in fourth position in the Championship, having picked up 39 points from 23 games.

Four places and four points. On the face of it, that might not seem like much to show for a year of rollercoaster emotions and near-constant upheaval, but as he prepares to take his side into battle against Sheffield Wednesday on Boxing Day – the team that were present for the demise of his predecessor, Garry Monk – Pulis will argue forcefully that plenty has changed. Crucially, however, he will also concede that the process of renewal is far from complete.

If the current Middlesbrough side feels like a work in progress, that is because that is exactly what it is. The next few months will prove whether Pulis is up to the task of completing a successful overhaul.

Defensively, the current Boro boss has unquestionably been an improvement on his predecessor. Monk’s Middlesbrough side were repeatedly cut to ribbons – think of the three-goal home defeat to Derby County that effectively marked the beginning of the end for the current Birmingham City boss – whereas Pulis’ team boasts the best defensive record in the division.

Even accounting for their recent wobble, Boro have conceded two fewer goals than any other Championship team, and Saturday’s clean sheet made it a remarkable 12 for the season. Having concluded that his side had been too open in some of their more recent outings, Pulis opted to shut up shop at Reading, fielding three centre-halves behind a midfield largely devoid of attacking flair. The result was a return of the impenetrable defensive resolve that characterised Boro’s play in the early months of the campaign.

The problem, as everyone associated with Boro seems to acknowledge, is at the other end of the field. Having been unable to recruit the attacking players he was targeting in the summer, Pulis has spent the first half of the season trying to make do and mend in the final third.

He hasn’t had a great deal of success, and it was surely telling that Saturday’s winner came from George Friend, a wing-back, rather than anyone stationed further up the field.

Britt Assombalonga was every bit as ineffective as Jordan Hugill has been in recent matches, but it would be unfair to be too harsh on any of Boro’s strikers given the lack of service they tend to receive and the lack of support that is provided to them. You won’t find a farmer in the country that ploughs a lonelier furrow than a Middlesbrough centre-forward at the moment.

Pulis knows that, and while the Boro boss might have been criticised for a lack of adventure in recent weeks – his decision to replace Assombalonga with Hugill in the 66th minute of what was then still a scoreless game at the weekend was greeted with a chorus of boos and chants of “attack, attack, attack” – he will claim his hands are tied.

January will therefore be vital, and Boro’s promotion prospects are likely to stand or fall on Pulis’ ability to recruit the attacking players he feels are essential if his side are to cement a top-six position between now and May, let alone claw back the gap that Leeds United and Norwich City have created to the top two.

Martin Braithwaite clearly wants away, Stewart Downing can no longer stretch an opposition defence, and while both Marcus Tavernier and Lewis Wing boast potential, Pulis appears to have concluded they are not yet ready to play leading roles. Beyond that? The cupboard is well and truly bare.

Pulis knows he needs pace and power in attack, especially in the wide positions, and evidently feels his transfer work to this point should have freed up the funds required to recruit the players he has identified as capable of providing it. What happens next will determine whether he can really transform the team he inherited last Christmas.

“I’ve been here a year now,” said Pulis. “We finished in the play-offs, we got to the quarter-finals of a major competition, we’re fourth in the league at the moment and we’ve actually made the club (better). The club spent a hell of a lot of money, and I think the quote was that they were going to walk the league last year and spent over £50m trying to put (together) a team to do it.

“We’re now £30m in profit and we achieved what I’ve just said. And that was my remit. I knew (what) we had to put in place, and we had to take some tough decisions in respect of the finances.

“The club’s more important than anything else, my neck or anybody else’s, you have to make sure that your club is sound.

“The fella in charge is a wonderful fella, and he’s stuck a hell of a lot of money into it. I promised him when I came in that I would try and re-address everything that had gone on beforehand, and that’s what I’ve tried to do.

“This time last year, the club was struggling, and I knew we would have to eradicate some of the money that has been spent.

“We are now £30m in profit from sales, and that was part of my remit for my job, which you do, but people don’t see what you do.

“They are an honest group, but we need to add to it, as I’ve said from the first moment I came into the football club. There’s a lack of real pace and power in areas that we need to find, and if we do that, we will push on a little bit. If we don’t, every game is going to be tough.”

Saturday’s game certainly fell into that category, despite Reading’s struggles that resulted in the departure of Paul Clement earlier this month.

Things had might been different had a debatable offside flag not ruled out Ryan Shotton’s first-half header from George Saville’s free-kick, but with the scores remaining level throughout an otherwise uneventful first half, Reading gradually grew into the game.

Boro survived a penalty scare when Leandro Bacuna’s 72nd-minute shot struck Aden Flint’s arm in the box – referee, Stephen Martin, appeared to be unsighted and therefore waved play on – and the visitors took full advantage of the let-off when they scored the only goal of the game with 13 minutes left.

Jonny Howson played an excellent pass infield to release substitute Paddy McNair into the box, and the Northern Irishman squared the ball to the onrushing Friend, who swept home a first-time strike.

Friend came within inches of claiming a second goal with four minutes left, but his swivelled strike from Aden Flint’s knock-down struck the underside of the crossbar.

“It was nice to score, especially with my other foot, but anyone could have scored, we were just delighted to win,” said Friend.

“It was a big away performance, a real positive leading into two games at home. It’s a big confidence boost and a big result.”