Ranking Middlesbrough's top 7 best managers based on PPG - Tony Pulis 3rd | OneFootball

Middlesbrough are in the midst of an era full of promise under Michael Carrick, as they look to secure a return to Premier League football next season.

As any experienced Middlesbrough fan will tell you, however, Boro haven't always had this good in terms of managerial appointments that have been made over the years.

But did some gaffers produce better points averages than you might think? Or were some tenures less productive than memory tells them to be?

Out of the bosses that commanded the Middlesbrough dugout for a minimum of 25 games, who are the top seven Boro managers of all-time on a point per game basis?

7 Tony Mowbray - 1.44

Arriving after the reign of a manager who every Boro fan will have been correct to presume wouldn't make this list, Gordon Strachan, club legend Tony Mowbray, proved to be just the man Boro needed at that time.

A boyhood fan of the club, "Mogga" steadied a ship that was rapidly taking on water, and was able to guide the club to Championship safety in the 2010/11 season.

He was also able to produce some of the club's best recruitment during that period, as he brought future promotion stalwarts such as George Friend, Albert Adomah and Grant Leadbitter to Teesside during his tenure at the club.

Mowbray left in 2013, to be replaced by another name who could potentially feature on this list...

6 Chris Wilder - 1.49

Appointed following a period of turbulence at the Riverside, brought about via the unsuccessful gamble on Jonathan Woodgate as manager, the former Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder arrived on Teesside in November 2021.

With him came a wave of excitement, as the proven promotion winner with The Blades said all the right things, looked the part, and had a clear vision and philosophy of what he wanted his Boro side to look like.

Unfortunately, he wasn't able to achieve a Premier League return with Middlesbrough, guiding the club to a seventh place finish and five points off the play-offs in the 2021/22 season.

Wilder was sacked in October 2022, to be replaced by the current occupier of the Riverside technical area, Carrick.

5 Bob Dennison - 1.53

Get your pen and paper out, it's time for a history lesson.

Bob Dennison was appointed Middlesbrough manager back in 1954, with his era perhaps being most fondly remembered as the manager who oversaw the emergence of Boro's very own goalscoring sensation, and future legend of the sport, Brian Clough.

Dennison stayed on Teesside until 1963, and even doubled up as club secretary between 1955-61. He boasts the most wins as Middlesbrough manager, with 158 wins in 381 games in charge.

4 Garry Monk - 1.58

Perhaps one of the more unexpected names on the list to Boro fans, Garry Monk is not a name that is particularly fondly remembered by Middlesbrough supporters.

He was the man chairman Steve Gibson entrusted to guide the club to an immediate top-flight return, following Premier League relegation in 2017.

However, the former Swansea manager spent money in quantities the likes had not been seen at the club, with him even breaking the club-record transfer fee to sign Nottingham Forest striker Britt Assombalonga for £15m.

Unfortunately, Monk's time on Teesside did not go to plan, as he was relieved of his duties just halfway into his first season as Middlesbrough manager.

3 Tony Pulis - 1.64

Another name who perhaps some may be surprised to see on this list, Tony Pulis took over at the Riverside following the sacking of the previously mentioned Monk.

The former West Brom manager came under heavy criticism - both then and current still - for his style of football, that consisted of predominantly long-ball tactics.

And whilst it may not have been the easiest brand of football on the eye, it did get results, as Pulis took Monk's largely expensive flop-laden side to a fifth placed finish during the 2017/18 season.

He then missed out by one point the following year, finishing seventh. Perhaps the Welshman doesn't receive the credit he ought to for the job that he did with Middlesbrough?

2 Aitor Karanka - 1.66

Middlesbrough's first, and currently still non-British manager, Aitor Karanka has gone down as one of Steve Gibson's finest appointments during his decades-long tenure as chairman of the football club.

An assistant to Jose Mourinho at Real Madrid, the Spaniard brought with him the blueprint that had seen his tutor become one of the finest gaffers the game has ever seen - being defensively solid.

Under Karanka, Middlesbrough set club records for clean sheets, and went on to put Wembley play-off final heartbreak behind them and secure automatic promotion in the 2015/16 season.

1 Michael Carrick - 1.68

And then there was Michael. The Manchester United legend will have no doubt been a name many would've guessed would make this list, but how many of you had him sitting at the top?

The top, indeed, is where Michael Carrick is set on taking his Boro side to, as reports suggest the 42-year-old is set to sign a contract extension at the Riverside Stadium this summer.

His Boro side finished the 2023/24 season as one of the most in-form teams in the division, as he appears to have the foundations of a strong squad heading into next season, with quality additions over quantity the priority this summer.

Middlesbrough are playing some of the best football many fans have seen in recent times under Carrick, and with the news of a long-term extension in the pipeline this summer, there are many reasons for Teessiders to feel optimistic that he is the man to end their Premier League exile.