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HOW McCLAREN TURNED IT AROUND
By Daniel Spellman of Betting Zone
Had the most vociferous of his critics got their way, Steve McClaren may well have been watching the UEFA Cup final on television.
Back on February 4th, he walked out of The Riverside after a 4-0 home defeat by Aston Villa with calls for his head ringing around the stadium.
Even loyal chairman Steve Gibson knew something had to change as ironic chants of 'McClaren for England' filled the air.
He might have bitten the bullet, as he had done reluctantly with Bryan Robson less than five years earlier to hand McClaren his big chance, and told his manager enough was enough.
But he did not, and he got his reward when the Yorkshireman fashioned a mouth-watering conclusion to an eventful season.
Rather than his armchair, McClaren will sit on the bench in Eindhoven next Wednesday and watch his side compete for the biggest prize in their history.
It has been a remarkable few months for a man who has alternately been branded clueless and touted as the next England manager.
"I said a couple of months ago, I'm not that bad a manager and I'll say it now, I'm not that great a manager," he said as the recovery gathered pace. "You are always somewhere in between.
"I know my results and my record and what we have brought to Middlesbrough over the last five years and I'm proud of that, as much as I was two months ago when all the stick and criticism was flying around.
"But we have held our nerve and come through it and are getting the rewards for that."
How has McClaren forged the recovery of both Boro's season and his reputation?
Gibson undoubtedly had his say; so too did the club's senior players with skipper Gareth Southgate, striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and experienced midfielder Ray Parlour understood to have been among those who expressed their views frankly.
The dressing room unity those clear-the-air talks fostered has played a major part in Boro's recovery.
"It was an important period, an important time, and since then we have won matches," admitted McClaren.
"We had a disaster against Aston Villa, but I've got to credit the players. They came under severe criticism as we all did, but they responded magnificently."
However, for all the efforts of the players both on and off the field, it was McClaren who had to come up with the plans and staff them with the right personnel to make them work.
He has been inventive in the process, rotating his players and formations in a bid to get the maximum from them despite mounting injury problems throughout a campaign which will have stretched to 63 games by the time they run out in Eindhoven.
Leading scorer Aiyegbeni Yakubu's lack of form in recent weeks has cost him his place as Hasselbaink and Mark Viduka have shown their true worth.
Teenagers Matthew Bates and Andrew Taylor have been thrown in, and like Stewart Downing and Lee Cattermole, have risen to the challenge.
Forgotten man Massimo Maccarone, for so long the embodiment of McClaren's mixed results on the transfer front, has belatedly paid off huge instalments of the club-record £8.15million the manager invested in him almost four years ago.
In truth, it has worked only partially - the Villa defeat left Boro flirting with relegation, and although safety was secured several weeks ago, their Barclays Premiership campaign has been a huge disappointment after last season's seventh-place finish.
But McClaren's selections and tactics have served him well in the cup competitions and might have brought the club two final appearances but for the Marlon Harewood goal which took West Ham to the FA Cup final.
He knows the margin between success and failure in football is minimal and that the cheers which have accompanied his side's triumphant march through Europe could quickly turn to jeers.
But for a man who has not always enjoyed the unquestioning backing of his own supporters, the sound of his name being sung as he and his players performed a lap of honour in the aftermath of their stunning semi-final fightback against Steaua Bucharest will have been satisfying.
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