WHEN Steve Gibson sacked Chris Wilder at the start of the month, he began the search for a manager capable of reigniting Middlesbrough’s flatlining play-off push. Three games on, and with the hunt for a new boss about to enter its third week, the goalposts have shifted. Now, the priority is to appoint someone who can keep the Teessiders out of League One.

A season that began with such high aspirations has imploded to the extent that relegation is now a very real possibility. Boro have played 14 matches this term – almost a third of the season – and have claimed just three victories. Their position in the bottom three is not an anomaly, or a quirk of the fixture list, it is a realistic assessment of where the club currently stands. And, worryingly, things appear to be getting worse instead of better.

The home win over Birmingham City that followed Wilder’s dismissal was supposed to herald a new dawn, but instead, it increasingly looks like a temporary upturn in an otherwise downward trajectory. The subsequent defeats to Millwall and Blackburn almost certainly provide a more realistic reflection of Boro’s position, with the failings and flaws that led to Wilder’s departure all-too-apparent again.

It feels as though the Teessiders are sleepwalking their way into a crisis, and while the installation of a temporary coaching structure led by Leo Percovich might have made sense in order to buy Gibson and the rest of the Boro hierarchy some time to identify and interview potential candidates, it is an experiment that has now more than run its course.

Some clarity is badly needed, whether that is the appointment of a new permanent manager or formal clarification that the current temporary set-up will remain in place for a prolonged period of time. Limping through from game to game is no longer a viable option when results are nosediving and the mood around the Riverside Stadium is turning toxic.

It is not fair on the supporters, who are as much in the dark as anyone when it comes to what is going on, the players, who desperately need some leadership and long-term direction, or Percovich, who risks his cherished bond with the fans being tarnished through no fault of his own.

No one is coming out of this well at the moment, and the longer the current patched-up approach continues, the harder it will be for a new permanent boss to turn things around once they are appointed. The league position gets worse with every game that passes, and the mood within the dressing room inevitably becomes increasingly downbeat. Middlesbrough feels like a club that is broken – and the repair work needs to start now.

“It is important that everyone keeps their head up,” said Percovich, in the immediate aftermath of Saturday’s defeat. A valid judgement, but one that is easier said than done when so much uncertainty exists.

Percovich went on to accentuate the positives of his side’s display against Blackburn, rightly observing that things improved when he switched to a flat back four in the second half and pushed more of his players into opposition territory.

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He has hinted that he would like to make a major tactical overhaul, but has suggested his ability to rip things up and start again is severely restricted by the limited amount of time he has on the training ground when Boro are playing three games in a week. More evidence that the ongoing hiatus is proving counter-productive.

“The way that we played in the second half is the manner we expect,” said Percovich. “We reached the levels that we should have reached earlier. It was an improvement on the way we finished the games against Birmingham and Millwall.

“For me, the turning point was when we changed it and went four at the back. We went 4-3-3 and tried to play with no fear. I would enjoy bringing a style that I really like, but it is a very short time, game to game, in which to prepare.”

If nothing else, Percovich has at least proved he is able to be tactically decisive within a game, but while Boro undoubtedly improved in the second half, that should not mask the extent to which they were all over the place before the interval.

Had it not been for Zack Steffen’s shot-stopping abilities, the Teessiders could easily have been five goals down by half-time, such was the extent of Blackburn’s dominance and the impact of their own failings.

As it was, the visitors scored twice in the opening 17 minutes, with Darragh Lenihan’s chested own goal preceding a wonderful individual effort from Sam Gallagher. Steffen made smart saves from Callum Brittain and Gallagher, and produced a sensational stop as he turned the latter’s pointblank header over the crossbar, and Boro gave themselves a lifeline when Duncan Watmore slotted through the goalkeeper’s legs on the stroke of half-time.

They were the better side in the second half, with the introduction of Isaiah Jones making a marked difference, and would have equalised had Blackburn goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski not scrambled across his line to keep out Chuba Akpom’s shot when the Boro substitute was presented with a golden opportunity to level the scores from two yards out.

“You have to take your chances,” admitted a rueful Percovich. “Chuba faced a tremendous, but lucky, save from the goalkeeper. If that goes in, it’s a different story.”

True, but sometimes you have to change the narrative yourself. Boro’s leaders have the opportunity to do that by resolving their managerial dilemma as quickly as possible.