After a hugely disappointing end to the season, the axe has swung on Tony Pulis, and Middlesbrough will now be preparing to appoint a new manager at the Riverside Stadium.

The Teesside club looked to be bankers to finish in the play-offs, but a run of six straight league defeats handed the final top six spot to Derby County, who will now play Aston Villa in the final at Wembley.

After failing to guide Boro into the Premier League for the second year running, the club have chosen not to extend Pulis’ contract, and they will be looking for a fresh, new face to take the reins at the Riverside.

There have been no shortage of applicants that have declared their name for the job, with the likes of Nigel Pearson putting his name forward for the vacant role.

Jonathan Woodgate, Danny Cowley, and Chris Hughton are just a handful of names that have been linked with the vacant role at the Riverside, as the North East club look to rebuild and make a long-awaited return to the Premier League next term.

Latest reports, however, claim that former Fulham manager Slavisa Jokanovic is set to be interviewed in the next 24 hours, as the club look to make a swift appointment in order to reshape their squad and start preparing for the new season.

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Jokanovic, for many, would be the perfect appointment at the Riverside. First of all, one of the main factors why Pulis was hounded out was because of his style of football.

The 61-year old was known for playing long-ball, direct football, which failed to suit his players, and often meant that there was a lack of goalscoring threat up top.

If Jokanovic were to be appointed however, there would be no moans and groans about his football - the Slovenian had his Fulham side playing the best football in the division last season, along with Wolves who went up as champions.

Unlike Woodgate and Cowley, Jokanovic knows what it takes to win promotion from the Championship, having won both the play-offs and automatic promotion with Fulham and Watford respectively.

Of course, it didn’t work with the London club in the Premier League this season, but he will now know that spending millions and millions of pounds on big-name players doesn’t mean guaranteed success.

West Brom definitely missed a trick by not appointing him after they got rid of Darren Moore, and whilst a manager of his calibre and quality is available, then Boro should be all over this.