McClaren seeks formula to win race for Europe

Middlesbrough's debut season in European football was given a great welcome by the Riverside fans as they flock to watch their favourites take on some of the best teams in the UEFA Cup.

Last week, they travelled to Austria where they earned a 2-2 draw against champions Graz in the knockout phase of the competition. The return will be played tonight in England.

Last season, Steve McClaren steered Middlesbourgh to their first success in a major domestic knockout contest, defeating Bolton 2-1 to lift the League Cup in Cardiff. That triumph led the Teessiders into Europe for the first time.

At home, McClaren's side will continue to strive to finish fourth in the Premier League and have a tilt at the more lucrative Champions League.

Although this looks to be a tall order for them to follow, another qualification for the UEFA Cup is not beyond them. Middlesbrough can reach their goal and will be given a boost if the eventual winners of the FA Cup or the League Cup will emerge from the sides placed above them in the final standings.

In their defence of the League Cup, Boro succumbed in round four at Liverpool. They lost at the same stage of the FA Cup to Manchester United.

Long-term injuries have deprived them of Mark Viduka, Ugo Ehiogu, George Boateng, Malcolm Christie and Gaizka Mendieta. But they still managed to cope, aided by a crop of talented youngsters who emerged from the club's youth academy.

A former member of the youth side, Stewart Downing, went on to earn his first full international appearance in England's last outing against the Netherlands.

After seeing out the dismal month of January, when they collected only two points, Middlesbrough are now looking ahead with more confidence after a win over Blackburn and a draw at Bolton - one of their direct rivals for a place in Europe.

The manager

McClaren was born in York on May 3, 1961. His playing career failed to blossom and he went down as one of the many players who had to retire early due to injuries.

McClaren started in 1979 at Boothferry Park as a midfielder for Hull City. He enjoyed a stretch of six years with the Tigers, chalking up 178 appearances, before he moved to Derby County.

In 1986-87, he formed part of the side that won the Second Division championship.

McClaren left Derby in the season that followed. After a loan period with Lincoln he signed for Bristol City in 1988.

His last stop was at the Manor Ground (now the Kassam Stadium) with Oxford. In 1990, McClaren was forced out of the game at just 27 due to a back injury.

Oxford offered him a coaching job and he took over the youth team. A string of positive outcomes saw him going up another rung as coach of the reserves side. He was soon appointed first team coach to manager Dennis Smith.

In 1994, Derby had to pay £30,000 in compensation to Oxford to acquire his services. McClaren became assistant manager to Jim Smith.

In his first full campaign with Smith at Pride Park, in 1996-97, Derby were promoted to the Premiership for the first time. They managed to gain a mid-table position at the end of the season when critics had bracketed them with an immediate drop to Division One.

McClaren's biggest break in coaching arrived in 1998 when he was added to the Manchester United coaching staff.

When a year later Brian Kidd left Old Trafford, Alex Ferguson unveiled McClaren as his no.2. Ferguson had done his homework well and in their first season together they led the Red Devils to that elusive treble of Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup.

In 1999, United also became the first British club to win the Intercontinental Cup.

McClaren enjoyed a trophy-laden period at Old Trafford. After Kevin Keegan's resignation at the England camp in 2000, McClaren, along with Peter Taylor, took charge of the national side until Sven-Goran Eriksson completed his contract at Lazio.

The FA wanted McClaren to stay in the set-up when Eriksson arrived and United, at first, gave their consent. But when they became aware of the time he had to spend away from Old Trafford, United decided to withdraw their permission.

McClaren's three-and-a-half-year contract was to expire with Ferguson's retirement date in the summer of 2002. The media started to speculate and linked McClaren as an ideal replacement for Ferguson.

Managerial job

But that target was far fetched and a year before his contract ended he started to look for a managerial job.

Both West Ham and Southampton approached him but McClaren was persuaded by Middlesbrough to take over at the Riverside. In June 2001 he became Middlesbrough boss.

In his first season he trimmed the high wage bill at the club by over £7 million and after an erratic opening the team soon found its footing to finish 12th in the standings.

Boro also reached the last four of the FA Cup only to lose to Arsenal via a Gianluca Festa own goal.

McClaren returned to his part-time job as assistant to Eriksson but after the World Cup in 2002 he left to concentrate solely on Middlesbrough.

In the pre-season activities McClaren signed Italian striker Massimo Maccarone for a club record fee of £8.15 million and had also succeeded in luring Geremi from Real Madrid on a loan period besides capturing Juninho for a third spell at the club.

His second season took off much better and in the first phase of the campaign Boro also placed as high as third. Yet, the side's erratic away form saw them slipping down to 11th.

In 2003-04, the Teesiders won the League Cup and a place in Europe.

This season he signed a new attacking tandem in Mark Viduka and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink. The capture of Ray Parlour added to the experience the side have and Boudewijn Zenden proved to be another major swoop by McClaren.

He also returned to the national team fold to fill the void left by Kidd who was forced out of the reckoning due to health issues.