WHEN Neil Warnock agreed to remain in charge of Middlesbrough in late July, he claimed he had the basis of a decent squad, with “four or five good signings” needed to turn the club into genuine promotion contenders.

Three months on, and on the evidence of the first five games of the season, Warnock is presiding over the basis of a decent squad. He just needs four or five good signings to turn his side into genuine promotion contenders.

The problem, of course, is that with the transfer window having closed, those signings will not be arriving until January at the earliest, if indeed they come through the door at all. The coronavirus pandemic has transformed the financial picture in the Football League, so Middlesbrough chairman Steve Gibson can hardly be blamed for wanting to rein in his spending. When you look at the sums that have been squandered in the not-too-distant past, though, you cannot help but wonder what Warnock might have achieved had he been appointed at a time when the purse strings were loosened.

In terms of structure and organisation, the improvements overseen by the 71-year-old have been both marked and immediate. For most of last season, under Jonathan Woodgate, Boro were defensively wide open and far too easy to break down. With Warnock in charge, they are tough, resolute and supremely well drilled.

Reading arrived on Teesside with a 100 per cent record, but never looked like penetrating their opponents’ rearguard. Warnock’s decision to revert to a flat back four proved justified, and having rapidly turned Paddy McNair into one of the best centre-halves in the Championship, the Boro boss is also working his magic with Dael Fry.

Having looked out of sorts for the best part of a season, Fry is gradually returning to the levels that once saw him linked with a £20m move to Burnley. In fairness, the 23-year-old always had the attributes demanded of a top-class defender, but that didn’t look to be the case with Anfernee Dijksteel and Marc Bola last season, so the way in which Warnock has transformed the full-backs into key components of a rock-solid defence is even more notable.

“Dael Fry’s back now,” said the Boro boss. “I didn’t see that last year – I didn’t think he did very well last season – but he’s a revelation at the minute. He’s got everything in his game. I want him to be a bit more aggressive, and he was. He went and won his headers, which I thought was super.

“What can you say about Dijksteel? He’s my favourite. And I’ll be honest, my biggest worry was Bola against (Yakou) Meite because he’s as strong as an ox, but I was really pleased. That was Bola’s biggest test since I put him back in and, overall, he was excellent.”

So far, so good. But as has been the case for quite a while now, the level of Boro’s performance dropped off markedly at the opposite end of the field.

Neither Britt Assombalonga nor Chuba Akpom looked like troubling the Reading defence in the first half, and things became even less threatening after the former was forced off at the interval, even if Jonny Howson was unfortunate to have a second-half effort ruled out for offside.

Patrick Roberts will add some much-needed creativity once he is up to full speed, but the failure to sign an attacking player ahead of Friday’s deadline already looks a grave error. “I’m disappointed we didn’t do anything, but that’s life,” said Warnock. “You get a bit down, but at the end of the day, it’s only a game of football.”