As part of his increasingly desperate attempts to return to gainful employment, Steve McClaren has just laid himself open to a probing from Roger Thames. Resplendent in a blazer and jeans combo that defines the ‘sports casual’ look, McClaren stated his belief that his detractors would look back on the latter part of his tenure as a golden era given time.

He’s always been something of an enigma. In decades past, it seemed impossible that the man who eventually delivered that elusive trophy could be looked upon with such ambiguity.

Many of the proudest moments of my time supporting Boro came under McClaren - not just the obvious ones too. The FA Cup semi-final in 2002 rekindled enthusiasm that was dwindling after the stagnation of Robson’s final years and a testing season. That team was barely even average, particularly without cup-tied Carbone and suspended Ince. Yet on that afternoon at Old Trafford, we showed courage and resolve on the pitch and spirit and unity in the stands. McClaren’s work salvaging the mess he inherited is easily forgotten.

In just over three years, he delivered a trophy, European qualification through the league and then the Uefa Cup final, three huge feats never previously achieved by the club. The case for his achievements has some weight, even if the man himself is a little too keen to make it himself.

Therein lies the issue with McClaren. Despite the exaggerated complaints over defensive football, the problem was the man himself. He’s struggled to portray himself as a sympathetic character. His futile hiring of Max Clifford and the infamous luminous teeth betrayed a lack of confidence in his ability to appeal to his public.

Gareth Southgate has clearly tried to learn from this. Its hard to think of a season where the team have provided as little value for a season ticket as this. When we’ve lost, which has happened frequently, we’ve been dismal. Even when we’ve picked up points, its been grim and attritional on the whole. Yet by stating a commitment to attacking football (even if this seems largely theoretical) and empathising with the crowd, Southgate has at least evaded much of the vitriol that was personally directed at McClaren. In a similar position, he said that the fans needed “educating”, an inexplicably crass and arrogant statement. For all Southgate’s possible failings as a manager, those are two criticisms that cannot be thrown at him.

There was also justifiable concerns over his loyalty to the club who gave him his first chance in management. After a creditable first year, he was fully prepared to join Leeds before they got cold feet. He flirted shamelessly with Newcastle. All this, while managing only once to rise above the Premier League’s bottom half in five seasons. That he considered ditching us for two clubs generally despised by the Boro fan base is bad enough. Given both clubs have habitually lurched from one farce to the next like stumbling drunks, it was even more grave that he considered either might represent career progression.

This is perhaps harsh. Not many staff would be left at football clubs if the occasionally arrogant and disloyal were ditched. It is peculiar that McClaren attracts such widespread ambivalence and even hostility from Boro fans in spite of what were genuinely historic achievements. Yet, grateful as I am, I somehow just can’t bring myself to like the man.

McClaren will be a long time out of work unless he can begin to salvage his reputation. There’s a long way back for him.

Iggy Pop Barker

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