McClaren on Middlesbrough

Middlesbrough travel to Sunderland on Super Sunday for a fixture they’ve not won since 2006. Steve McClaren was the manager back then and Adam Bate caught up with him to get his thoughts on that time and reflect on Boro’s Premier League return…

Middlesbrough’s return to the Premier League after seven seasons in the second tier brings back memories of their previous top-flight run. In 2004, Boro won their only major trophy to date, beating Bolton in the League Cup final, and the following season they finished seventh – the club’s joint-best league finish since 1951. In 2006, they reached a European final.

The man at the helm for all of those achievements was McClaren. It earned him a crack at the England job and there have been many highs and lows for him since – from a Dutch title with FC Twente in 2010, to the sack at Newcastle last season. But the former Manchester United assistant’s managerial journey began at Boro.

“It was kind of my breakthrough, going from a number two to a number one,” McClaren tells Sky Sports. “Sir Alex was retiring (he later abandoned the plan to quit in 2001) and we didn’t know who was going to take over. He just said that if there was an opportunity this might be the right time to do it. He gave the green light, otherwise I wouldn’t have left.

“But I always wanted to be a number one and have a go. You can go on all sorts of courses and be an assistant here there and everywhere but it never prepares you for sitting in the seat and being a manager. It’s completely different. It was very hard. I always tell my assistants now, stick to being a number two because it’s the best job in the world.”

It didn’t take McClaren long to get a taste of the pressure. Boro lost their first four games with a 4-1 home defeat to Newcastle adding to …

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