STEVE McClaren returns to Middlesbrough’s Riverside Stadium this afternoon, almost 13 years after he stepped down as Boro boss in order to take charge of England.

McClaren spent five seasons in charge of the Middlesbrough, presiding over one of the most successful spells in the club’s history. Here are some of the most notable highs and lows of his Teesside tenure.

HIGHS

Signing Gareth Southgate

As statements of intent go, signing a player who would go on to be one of your club’s greatest-ever servants is not a bad way to start.

Southgate was McClaren’s second signing as Middlesbrough manager – Szilard Nemeth pipped him by a couple of weeks – and the decision to pay Aston Villa £6.5m for the future Boro skipper was one of the best moves McClaren has ever made.

It was a powerful statement of intent given Southgate’s standing in the game, and ensured McClaren would have a reliable lieutenant running the dressing room throughout this Riverside reign.

Winning the Carling Cup

McClaren remains the only Middlesbrough manager ever to have lifted a major trophy thanks to his side’ Millennium Stadium heroics on an unforgettable February afternoon in 2004.

Boro saw off Everton, Tottenham and Arsenal to make the final, and could not have wished for a better start in Cardiff with Joseph-Desire Job and Bolo Zenden scoring in the opening seven minutes.

Kevin Davies ensured a nervy finale as he pulled a goal back for Bolton, but Boro deservedly held on to spark wild scenes of celebration that saw a jubilant Steve Gibson join McClaren to celebrate on the pitch.

The run to the UEFA Cup final

They might have been a ‘small town in Europe’ but McClaren’s Middlesbrough enjoyed a remarkable run of success as they made it to the UEFA Cup final in 2006.

Their comeback win over Basle in the quarter-finals was remarkable enough, but Boro somehow managed to repeat it in the last four, with Massimo Maccarone’s unforgettable 89th-minute strike taking them through to the final in Eindhoven.

The final itself proved a bridge too far, with Boro crashing to a 4-0 defeat at the hands of Spanish giants Sevilla, but McClaren had nevertheless masterminded one of the most incredible European cup runs ever experienced by an English side.

The history-making team against Fulham

The UEFA Cup final proved to be McClaren’s final outing as Middlesbrough boss, but three days earlier, his final domestic fixture for the club proved to be every bit as remarkable.

Resting a number of his senior players for Eindhoven, McClaren selected the youngest starting XI in Middlesbrough history, with an average age of just 20. Fifteen of the 16 players in the matchday squad were born within 30 miles of the Riverside Stadium.

“It’s a historic day for the club,” said McClaren at the time. “Everyone will remember this for a long, long time. I was proud to become England manager on Wednesday, and I was as proud today.”

LOWS

Losing his first four matches

His Middlesbrough reign might have ended on a high, but McClaren’s time on Teesside could hardly have got off to a more inauspicious start.

His opening game was a 4-0 home defeat to Arsenal, which ended with his side with just ten men following the dismissal of Ugo Ehiogu, and subsequent away losses at Bolton and Everton were quickly followed by an embarrassing 4-1 home defeat to Newcastle.

A League Cup win over Northampton Town ameliorated some of the pressure, and McClaren was finally able to start breathing a little easier when he claimed his first league success as Boro boss courtesy of a 2-0 win over West Ham.

Criticism for his defensive approach

You will struggle to find too many Middlesbrough fans who are critical of McClaren’s record during his time at the club. However, there are plenty who continue to decry the quality of football his teams played.

The chief criticism levelled at McClaren was that he was too defensive, urging his players to adopt a safety-first rather than encouraging them to play with the shackles off.

To many, the opening day of the 2005-06 season was when McClaren’s negativity reached its nadir, with Middlesbrough’s players jeered for guarding the ball close to their own corner flag in order to protect a goalless draw against Liverpool.

Shipping seven against Arsenal

McClaren enjoyed some notable victories during his five years in charge of Boro, but there were also some thumping defeats.

A 5-1 reverse at Portsmouth on the final day of the 2003-04 season was especially emphatic – Ayegbeni Yakubu scored four – but McClaren’s heaviest reverse came during his final season in charge, with Boro crashing to a 7-0 defeat at the Emirates.

McClaren looked shell-shocked that day, with Thierry Henry helping himself to a hat-trick as Arsenal demolished a Boro defence featuring youngsters Matthew Bates, Stuart Parnaby and Andrew Taylor.

Having a season-ticket thrown in his face

It wasn’t all plain sailing for McClaren during his final season in charge of Boro, even though his side eventually made it to a European final.

Supporter discontent ebbed and flowed throughout the 2005-06 season, and came to a head during an especially harrowing 4-0 home defeat to Aston Villa.

One disgruntled fan memorably flung his season-ticket into McClaren’s face on the touchline at the Riverside, yet just one week later, Boro were bouncing back with a 3-0 home win over Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea.