Transfers, goals and individual struggles: Where it went wrong for Chris Wilder at Middlesbrough

Last season Boro finished one place outside of the Championship play-off spots, and for parts of the campaign looked set for the top six.

And the man from Stocksbridge was a firm fans’ favourite on Teesside.

So what do the stats say to explain Wilder’s rapid fall from grace at the Riverside?

Goals

The simple story behind Boro’s slump under Wilder is a slight slowdown in goals at one end, but an unwelcome flood at the other.

But the reality is far more complex, with the newly departed manager having seemingly finally fallen foul on his lack of an out-and-out goalscorer.

Following Wilder’s arrival last November, Boro averaged 1.38 goals a game, mainly because players in midfield, on the wings and even in defence - with Paddy McNair scoring five times in the Championship - chipped in with significant contributions.

This time around, despite some players in those positions proving far less prolific, that production line has only marginally dried up, as the Teessiders’ goals per Championship game ratio has dipped to 1.3.

Defensively, the stats are far more damning, with Boro shipping league goals at 1.6 per game this season, compared with 31 conceded in Wilder’s 29 Championship games in charge - a rate of 1.07 - last season.

Buying (and selling)

Wilder may well point to both player recruitment and sales as pivotal to his fading fortunes at the Riverside.

The outside perception is that Boro’s club transfer policy is not primarily driven by the manager.

But if the Teessiders do buy and sell along those lines, it didn’t do much for Wilder.

The summer departures of Marcus Tavernier and Djed Spence brought big money into the coffers.

But while Spence, having been on loan at Nottingham Forest, was not a big miss, the cost of the loss of the dynamic and productive Tavernier, without an adequate replacement, is shown in Boro’s season stats.

Capable of playing in a variety of roles, including as a number “8” or “10”, Tavernier played every minute of Boro’s Championship season in 2021/22 beyond the first three games of the campaign.

As for the 10 goal contributions he made last term, no striker this season, let alone midfielders, are getting close to producing the same attacking output.

Individual struggles

Many of the squad are looking half of their former selves with morale tumbling game by game and a relegation scrap looming.

And arguably nobody has suffered a bigger dip in form than Matt Crooks.

Ten goals and two assists represented a superb first campaign in the North East for the former Rotherham and Rangers midfielder.

But after a reasonable start to 2022/23, with two goals and as many assists in Boro’s opening five Championship games, Crooks has struggled badly in recent weeks.