McClaren seeks quick return from fast show

New-look Boro built on speed and strength as manager consolidates credentials

Steve McClaren looked a different man entirely. The pained pitch-side figure at St Mary's, Southampton, had given way to the jovial, genial host at Rockliffe Park. Back at Middlesbrough's training ground on Friday afternoon, Sven Goran Eriksson's left-hand man (Tord Grip being nominally, if not literally, on the right) was a man apart once again. With just the one lion on his shirt, the roaring red mascot of Middlesbrough Football Club, the hyperactive McClaren was happily getting on with his day job.

"This is where I'm judged," he said. "This is what I wanted: to become a number one. I was sort of thrown into the England thing at the beginning. It was 'help them out' sort of thing. And that's still on-going. But I've always maintained my main priority is Middlesbrough Football Club, establishing myself as a manager and not a coach. That's been the challenge. That's what I've concentrated on. The other... I've been pleased to go along and to help. But this is where I am judged."

And the judgement, after 16 months at Middlesbrough, could hardly be more favourable. As his own man, McClaren is emerging as a managerial master in the making. The plodding ramshackle team he inherited from Bryan Robson have been transformed into a dynamic new force in the Premiership. McClaren's Middlesbrough have the meanest defence in the League (five goals conceded, six clean sheets) and they have been playing the kind of high-speed, high-class attacking football that has had the Riverside regulars running out of superlatives on the phone-in shows.

Boro line up against Charlton at The Valley today on a roll of three Premiership victories. Up to the start of play on yesterday's fixtures, they had stood third in the table for a fortnight. Only once in their 126-year history have Middlesbrough finished a top-flight season in such a lofty position. They were third, behind Blackburn and Aston Villa, in 1913-14. They also finished fourth in the old First Division in 1938-39. It must be hoped that if Boro hold their form this time, their supporters will be following a football campaign in Europe in the aftermath rather than fighting a world war there.

Not that McClaren is looking towards the continental horizon – not yet, at any rate. "We're certainly not getting carried away by the start we've made," he said. "When we looked at the fixtures we believed the beginning of the season would be a good period for us to pick up points, so we're on target. We're not above target. We're not below target. We are on target. I think the test we've got coming up over the next four or five weeks will determine how good we are and whether we can maintain our position."

McClaren's caution is understandable. Although Middlesbrough played some mightily impressive stuff in their 3-0 win at Tottenham three weeks ago and again in their 2-0 win at home to Bolton a week later, only one of their opening nine games has been against a team who finished in the top eight last season. After Charlton today, they play Leeds at home, Newcastle away, Liverpool at home and Chelsea away. Last season they took just three points from those five fixtures.

But, then, this season Middlesbrough seem to be a different side. McClaren has built on his solid defensive foundations. He has George Boeteng anchoring a midfield of greater substance and invention, and Massimo Maccarone, Alen Boksic and Joseph-Désiré Job all sharp in a three-pronged attack into which Szilard Nemeth – England's tormentor for Slovakia in Bratislava last weekend – has been struggling to find a place as a foil.

"Our forward play is so much better than it was last year," McClaren mused. "We struggled to score goals last year and we didn't have many options up front. We relied heavily on Alen Boksic. Now we've got fierce competition for places up front. That's one of the main developments we've made: in our front end.

"I think what we've also got this year that we didn't have last year is pure legs, young legs that can get around the park. There's pace in the team. There's power. There's strength.

"Look at Jon Greening now, the way he's developed and built himself into a Premier League player. We've signed George Boateng. There's nobody stronger than George. Geremi runs all day. Joseph [Job] is strong and quick. Maccarone: quick. Boksic: quick. Nemeth: sharp. We've got pace and young legs."

At 41 McClaren has youngish legs himself, and 16 months into his solo management career he has shown the mental dexterity of a veteran of the job – not least in the transfer market. In stark contrast to his predecessor, he has hardly wasted a penny. He has also shown a shrewdness of judgement in the backroom staff he has signed: men such as Steve Harrison, who as well as bringing to bear his defensive coaching skills has improved team spirit with the natural wit and humour of the son of a stand-up comic, and Bill Beswick, whose expertise in sports psychology has given a sharper mental edge even to a seasoned model professional like Gareth Southgate.

"The most important thing I did was bring in my own staff," McClaren reflected, "because they're all bloody good at their jobs. I wanted people working around me here who could create the kind of work ethic that I wanted, who could create that atmosphere in the dressing room, that spirit of togetherness that I know is absolutely vital to any successful team. That was imperative."

He expanded: "They have developed the players who were here and the players we've brought in. We haven't got the resources to go out and spend £28m on one player but we have a player- orientated culture that can provide players with the tools to get the best out of themselves.

"It's been a big job. From the first day, of walking in with 54 players on the staff, we had to consolidate. We had to trim the wages. We had to reduce the squad. We had to put our house in order. We had to move on quite a few players while still maintaining results, which wasn't easy.

"The chairman [Steve Gibson] deserves tremendous credit for saying at the end of last season, 'Well, OK, we've consolidated. We've got our house in order. Here's the resources. Go and make a few signings'. We've been delighted with the signings and... so far so good."

Indeed. If it's still looking good a month from now Middlesbrough and their manager will have shown the mettle to match their new Premiership promise.