Gordon Strachan’s Riverside reign will be remembered as one of the most unsuccessful 12-month spells in the club’s history. In the wake of his departure, Assistant Editor Scott Wilson assesses his five biggest mistakes.

1 Tearing Gareth Southgate’s team apart too quickly

WHEN Strachan was appointed, he inherited a side within a point of the automatic promotion places at the top of the Championship.

Some tinkering was needed, unquestionably. But did Middlesbrough really require the kind of radical overhaul that sees seven of the players involved in Southgate’s final game no longer at the club just 12 months later?

A handful of the departures, such as the exit of Adam Johnson and Brad Jones, were unavoidable. But why did Strachan ditch the likes of Didier Digard, Marvin Emnes and Andrew Taylor without really seeing them play?

He openly described Southgate’s squad as lightweight and mentally weak. Yet after dismantling it completely, he created something markedly worse.

2 Making a succession of unsuccessful signings.

AS Steve Gibson was right to point out on Monday, Strachan cannot cite a lack of support in the transfer market as a reason for his failure.

Boro shelled out around £12m in transfer fees during his Riverside reign, a huge sum in Championship terms and a significant net spend despite the sale of Johnson.

Yet it is hard to think of a single signing that can be described as a success. His plundering of the Scottish Premier League was always a risky policy, and the failure of the likes of Kris Boyd, Scott McDonald and Barry Robson to fire has merely confirmed many people’s doubts about the quality of football north of the border.

Even when Strachan looked elsewhere he struggled, with Nicky Bailey failing to justify his £1.4m price tag and the likes of Tarmo Kink, Andy Halliday and Mikael Tavares failing to set the Championship alight.

3 Adopting a media strategy that alienated the fans.

IN this day and age, it is not enough for a football manager to manage. Like it or not, he is also the figure-head of an organisation, and the link between supporters and their club.

Strachan never seemed comfortable with that responsibility, or at least if he did, he had a strangely contemptuous way of showing it.

His infamous “take drugs, drink and smoke” comment attracted considerable criticism, but in many ways, the questionable content of the remark was inconsequential. The real crime was to make flippant comments in the wake of a result and performance that had justifiably angered many who had watched it.

When the media speak to a manager after a game, they are representing the fans. So every time Strachan insulted an interviewer, he effectively stuck two fingers up at the Middlesbrough support. Unsurprisingly, it did not take long for people to become tired of his infantile routine.

4 Lack of creativity and width.

ANYONE who has watched Middlesbrough this season will be all too aware of the side’s major structural weakness.

There is a complete lack of creativity and flair, and a midfield unit comprising three or four players effectively doing exactly the same thing in the same area of the field.

Strachan signed most of them, and by recruiting the likes of Robson, Bailey, Tavares and Kevin Thomson, he prioritised functionality at the expense of flair. “Winners” he would repeatedly call them – but they rarely did much of that.

5 Failure to address long-standing problems at full-back.

THE full-back positions caused a headache under Southgate, but Strachan’s refusal to solve an all-tooobvious dilemma has caused particular anger amongst the Boro support.

Emanuel Pogatetz’s departure in the summer left the club without a single natural left-back, save for Joe Bennett, who Strachan clearly does not rate. So why was Taylor allowed to join Watford on transferdeadline day?

And why, given the failings of Justin Hoyte, was a rightback not signed?

Matthew Bates has performed manfully in the last few weeks, but he is a centre-half.

Consequently, Boro were unbalanced throughout Strachan’s reign.