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Middlesbrough right to fire Aitor Karanka but did they wait too long?

And so the axe falls once again. Of the six Premier League teams with fewer than 30 points this season, only one has stayed faithful to the manager who opened their 2016-17 campaign. Sadly, that team is Sunderland, three points adrift at the bottom, six clear of safety and with more defeats on their record than any other club in the top flight.

It's little wonder, then, that the famously lengthy patience of Middlesbrough owner Steve Gibson finally ran out on Thursday. Aitor Karanka joins Claudio Ranieri, Francesco Guidolin, Bob Bradley, Alan Pardew and Mike Phelan on the pile of managers jettisoned out of a fear of ruinous relegation.