Sheffield Wednesday: Former Premier League boss delivers scathing assessment of 'disastrous' Garry Monk transfer record

Monk spent five months in charge at the Riverside in 2017 before he was abruptly sacked, having brought the likes of Britt Assombalonga, Cyrus Christie, Martin Braithwaite and Ashley Fletcher to the club in a response to owner Steve Gibson’s assertion that he wanted to ‘smash the league’.

He was replaced by former Stoke and West Brom boss Pulis, who’s mediocre reign at the club ended in the summer, handing over to rookie Jonathan Woodgate.

Boro sit third-bottom in the Championship with only two wins this season. Monk’s Wednesday hammered them 4-1 in September.

Speaking on Ian Holloway’s podcast, Pulis launched an astonishing attack on Monk’s transfer dealings, laying the blame for Boro’s ongoing woes at Monk’s door.

The out-of-work 61-year-old said: “To sell the players that we sold – Forshaw, Christie, Gibson, Bamford, Traore, to name just five – I think we cut the staff by 15-16 players in the 18 months I was there, just to rejig the finances which was important after an absolutely disastrous window.”

“The football club is struggling today because of what happened two-and-a-half years ago.

“It’s not what Woody’s done, or what the players are doing; the big, big point was two-and-a-half years ago.”

Wednesday are expected to dip into the transfer market to strengthen their promotion credentials in January and Pulis, who is heavily linked with the vacant manager’s position at his former club Stoke, seemed to deliver a warning to the club, outlining the perils of getting it wrong.

“If you have a bad window, if you have a disastrous window like that, and your recruitment is no good, then you’re going to suffer – and supporters have got to understand and recognise that.”

Monk found himself at the centre of controversy earlier this year as it emerged the club were ‘considering legal action’ against him. He stood accused of helping his agent profit from club transfers – any evidence of which Boro have yet to provide.

No legal action was enacted and in July Monk himself claimed he was considering suing Boro after the allegations became public knowledge.

Speaking after the Owls’ 4-1 Riverside blitz, the 40-year-old described the accusations as ‘nonsense’.

“That’s for other people to worry about, not for me. I know who I am, I know where I come from and what I feel.

“People that know me and the people within football that know me that know who I am, how I work and what type of person I am. That’s all that matters to me.

“I can’t control what goes on outside my world, that’s not for me to worry about.

“I’ve always been fully committed and honest and a hard worker. I’ll continue in that way.”