Sheffield Wednesday read off Middlesbrough notes with Garry Monk, Tony Pulis call but were disappointed: View | OneFootball

Sheffield Wednesday and Middlesbrough experienced contrasting fortunes after replacing Garry Monk with Tony Pulis.

Sheffield Wednesday will be hoping for a much-improved campaign in the Championship this season.

Wednesday narrowly avoided relegation last season following a remarkable turnaround under Danny Rohl and there is plenty of optimism that they can climb the table in the year ahead.

The Owls have made significant progress since Rohl replaced Xisco Munoz at Hillsborough last October and the German is arguably the club's most popular manager since Carlos Carvalhal.

It is fair to say that not all Wednesday managers in recent times have received the same affection from the fan base as Rohl, and Garry Monk and Tony Pulis are two notable examples of failed appointments.

Pulis took over from Monk as Owls manager in November 2020 in a repeat of the exact change that Middlesbrough made almost three years earlier, but the two clubs experienced contrasting fortunes under the Welshman.

After a successful season in charge of Leeds United, Monk made the move to Boro in the summer of 2017 following the club's relegation from the Premier League.

Boro were widely considered to be the promotion favourites in the Championship after a summer of big spending that included the signing of striker Britt Assombalonga from Nottingham Forest for a club-record fee of £15 million but Monk failed to deliver consistent results and after winning just 12 of his 26 games in charge, he was sacked in December with the club sitting ninth in the table.

Pulis was swiftly announced as Monk's successor and after an upturn in fortunes in the second half of the season, the Teesside outfit reached the play-offs, where they were beaten by Aston Villa in the semi-finals.

Boro made a strong start to the following season and they were firmly among the promotion contenders until a run of six straight defeats in March and April saw them drop out of the top six.

The form did improve in the final few weeks of the season but it was not enough for Boro to secure a second consecutive play-off finish, and unsurprisingly, Pulis was dismissed shortly after the conclusion of the campaign.

Pulis' time at the Riverside Stadium ended in disappointment and many supporters were unhappy with his direct style of play but his tenure overall will be viewed as a success, particularly given the decline that followed under Jonathan Woodgate.

The veteran manager remained out of work for almost 18 months after his Boro exit before returning to management with Wednesday but he found life much tougher at Hillsborough.

Pulis was named as Wednesday's new manager in November 2020 after Monk had been sacked with the club sitting second-bottom of the table but they had just had their 12-point deduction reduced to six, offering hope that survival could be achieved.

However, the warning signs were there from the start of Pulis' tenure as he struggled to make an impact with the former Stoke City boss failing to win any of his first eight games.

Pulis did eventually get his first win with a 1-0 victory over Coventry City before following it up with a 1-1 draw against Blackburn Rovers but just two days later, he was sacked after just 45 days in charge, making him the shortest-serving manager in the Owls' history.

The Athletic revealed that Pulis quickly regretted taking the Wednesday job after realising the extent of the challenge facing him and Sky Sports claimed that he had offered to leave on "mutually agreed terms" without a pay-off but owner Dejphon Chansiri did not accept his proposal and instead decided to dismiss him.

A few days later, Chansiri held an extraordinary two-hour press conference in which he admitted that the appointment of Pulis was "totally wrong". He accused his former manager of trying to "cause a lot of trouble" and "damage" the club.

Coach Neil Thompson spent the next two months in caretaker charge of the Owls before Darren Moore's arrival in March 2021 but after an incredibly turbulent season, the club were relegated from the Championship on the final day of the campaign.

Wednesday proved to be the final club of Pulis' illustrious managerial career, while Monk was out of work for over three years after his departure from Hillsborough before taking over at League One side Cambridge United in March.

Given the fact that Pulis had never been relegated as a manager, there was plenty of logic behind Wednesday's decision to appoint him, but his time at the club was a nightmare for all parties.