Chris Wilder sacked as Middlesbrough manager after less than a year in role

Chris Wilder has been sacked by Middlesbrough after only 11 months in charge at the Championship club.

The decision was taken following the 1-0 defeat at bottom-of-the-table Coventry, which left Middlesbrough languishing in the bottom three of the table. Boro have won only two of their 11 Championship matches this season.

A club statement read: “Middlesbrough Football Club have terminated the contract of manager Chris Wilder with immediate effect. Leo Percovich will take over first team affairs in the interim basis, assisted by Craig Liddle, Mark Tinkler and Lee Cattermole. The club would like to place on record its thanks to Chris and his staff for all their hard work over the past 11 months.”

Wilder, appointed as Neil Warnock’s replacement in November 2021 when Boro were 14th in the table, narrowly missed out on guiding them into the play-offs last season.

The 55-year-old had won promotion with previous clubs Oxford, Northampton and hometown side Sheffield United, who he steered from League One to the Premier League in three seasons.

Boro fans felt Wilder’s proven record and a raft of summer signings promised much for the current campaign and they had been installed among the promotion favourites. But they made a poor start as they failed to win any of their first five league games and their latest defeat was their fifth of the season. They have yet to win on the road.

Wilder, who signed a two-and-a-half year deal when he arrived at the Riverside, said he was committed to the job when he was recently linked with the Bournemouth vacancy.

The caretaker manager, Percovich, has worked in two spells at Middlesbrough, since 2013 as a goalkeeping coach under Aitor Karanka and then, after a short time at Fuminense, from 2019 as assistant to Jonathan Woodgate and then Wilder.

Boro’s next match is on Wednesday at home against Birmingham City, who sit only three points above them in the table.