ENGLISH LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP:OCTOBER IS clearly a dangerous month for Middlesbrough managers. Almost a year to the day since Gareth Southgate was sacked by Steve Gibson, the struggling Championship club's chairman last night announced that Gordon Strachan had torn up his contract and walked away from the Riverside without compensation.

Tony Mowbray, a cult hero on Teesside since his 1980s Ayresome Park playing days, and Paul Ince, another former Boro player, are in contention to replace Strachan, together with Glenn Hoddle, Alan Pardew, Alan Curbishley and Lee Clark. Southgate left Boro one point off the top of the table but after winning 13 of 46 games under Strachan the team are two points shy of a relegation place and have suffered their worst start to a league campaign for 20 years.

Boro have declined dramatically in the four and a half years since Steve McClaren took his side to the Uefa Cup final against Sevilla in Eindhoven.

On Saturday Boro lost 2-1 at home to Leeds United, with the Riverside Stadium echoing to chants of “We want Gordon Strachan out”. Although Gibson confirmed yesterday’s parting of the ways was by “mutual consent”, the chairman had warm words for Strachan. “Gordon is a man of great integrity,” he said. “He has torn his contract up and walked away without compensation because he felt it was in the best interests of this football club.

“There are very few managers who have ever done that but that is the mark of the man. He feels he has given it everything he has got here but it hasn’t worked out and he has taken full responsibility. He knew that results weren’t anything like as good as we hoped they would be and he agreed that a change had to be made.”

Guardian Service