Premiership: McClaren to leave speculation behind

Middlesbrough supporters may have to wait a fortnight before they get their first glimpse of Steve McClaren.

It is understood Sir Alex Ferguson’s number two at Manchester United has shaken hands on a deal to manage the Teessiders, but will not finalise the move until he returns from a two-week family holiday in Florida.

McClaren is due to jet out to the United States tomorrow after holding further talks with Boro chief executive Keith Lamb in London yesterday.

Lamb was expected to join up with chairman Steve Gibson in Singapore today and it appears he will have arrived bearing good news.

McClaren was understood to have been saying his Old Trafford goodbyes before embarking on his holiday and while there was no official comment from Boro and no sign of an imminent press conference it seems they have got their man.

The Teessiders are yet to reveal whether or not temporary coach Terry Venables has made a decision on his future, but the announcement last night that he has signed a five-year extension to his deal with ITV tends to suggest that any continued role would be in a limited capacity.

Details of the offer Boro have made to the man who also served under Jim Smith at Derby before replacing Brian Kidd at Manchester United remain the subject of speculation, but there is a growing feeling that he will take charge of team affairs.

Reports have suggested McClaren’s arrival will spell the end for manager Bryan Robson after seven years on Teesside, but that decision would have to come from the man himself if Gibson sticks to his guns.

Speaking on Saturday night after Venables revealed that he was considering a fresh proposal from the chairman, he said: ‘‘Bryan Robson is part of the plans of this football club.

‘‘At this football club, we honour our contracts, and Bryan has two more seasons after this one, as does Viv (Anderson).

‘‘The only way that this football club would break that would be by mutual agreement, and quite frankly, I just don’t see that happening.’’

Gibson remains a staunch ally of the man he appointed back in May 1994 and it is a sign of the strength of his commitment to the club that he has put the mutual loyalty of the pair on the line in a bid to forge a new way ahead.

Robson could be handed a more withdrawn position in terms of hands-on involvement on the training pitch and it would be understandable if McClaren wanted to bring in his own men.

There was no official comment from any of the parties immediately involved today, although Southampton chairman Rupert Lowe confirmed his club, like West Ham, has spoken to McClaren to no avail.

‘‘We did have a chat yesterday, but he is just one of many I have spoken to or will be doing,’’ he told the Daily Echo. ‘‘Steve is a very able coach and a man we felt we should talk to. But I am not really disappointed he has gone.

‘‘We have not put applicants in any kind of order so it would be wrong to say he was our main target or anything like that. We don’t have a first-choice.

‘‘It seemed he was going to West Ham and now I am informed by the media he has chosen Middlesbrough.’’

If Boro have indeed tied up McClaren’s signature that leaves United boss Ferguson the task of finding a number two for just 12 months.

Ferguson revealed at the weekend he would make the break with the club he took to the pinnacle of European football two seasons ago at the end of the next campaign, but the loss of McClaren would present him with a short-term headache.

Jim Ryan, a member of the existing coaching staff, helped out on a temporary basis after Kidd’s departure but whether or not he is an option for a longer period only time will tell.