Middlesbrough's miserable season continued on Saturday as they fell to a third defeat in four against Bristol City at Ashton Gate.

The defeat leaves Garry Monk's men six points away from sixth position and the pres-season favourites are now a massive 18 points behind leaders Wolves and 14 behind Cardiff City who occupy second spot.

Chairman Steve Gibson was confident enough to say that the club would 'smash' the Championship in May and backed new manager Monk heavily in the transfer market but things haven't gone to plan.

Around £15m was spent on Britt Assombalonga, £9m on Martin Braithwaite along with several more expensive additions. On top of that, Boro managed to fight off Premier League interest in key centre-back Ben Gibson who decided to stay with the club.

Yet, they look way off the pace and Monk is understandably coming in for severe criticism from fans for the results and the way the team are playing.

Here we look at three reasons why Gibson should axe Monk...

They're massively underperforming

We'll start with the obvious one. For all the people that suggest Wolves have bought their success, it's worth noting that Boro were the biggest spenders in the division by a long way.

We've already mentioned some of the big fees that were dished out and Monk can have absolutely no complaints when it comes to the transfer market.

The board have delivered a squad that should be capable of challenging for automatic promotion and the fact they aren't means Monk's job has to come under some scrutiny.

As well as that, they're not playing well. It's not as if they are suffering misfortune with injuries, suspensions, missing chances or anything. They just aren't playing well enough and that comes back to the manager.

He doesn't seem to have a plan

Whether it's personnel changes or switching formation, Monk has chopped and changed and it's looking increasingly desperate.

Boro have played three at the back, they've played 4-2-3-1, they've played with natural wingers, without wingers. You name it, they've tried it. And, the fact they still haven't got anywhere is a huge concern for Boro and their fans.

Even with his players, Stewart Downing was almost out the door in the summer yet is now a regular, established players like Daniel Ayala and George Friend have been in and out the team, whilst summer signings like Lewis Baker and Ryan Shotton don't get a look-in.

Unfortunately for Monk, because of their resources, Wolves are the team you can compare Boro too. It's night and day the contrast between the plan Nuno Espirito Santo came with and what Monk is doing.

His track record

If Monk was a manager with a proven record of getting teams promoted then you could understand giving him time, but he's not.

Of course, he is very young for a manager and has shown he is talented in the past, but this isn't the time for someone to develop and learn from their mistakes. Boro need promotion and they need it quickly. There's so much at stake financially.

Whilst Monk did transform Leeds, looking back they had a fantastic squad and ultimately fell apart towards the end of the season. Prior to that, he was sacked from Swansea after going through an awful patch with a talented team.

There's no doubt he could be a very good manager, but there's also nothing to suggest he will get Boro out of this slump and promoted.

Thoughts, Boro fans? Let us know in the comments below.