McClaren was renowned for being a good coach and he quickly set about bringing in his own backroom team, including Steve Harrison and Steve Round as psychologist Bill Beswick was surprisingly made his number two, while on the field he snapped up a certain Gareth Southgate for £6million from Aston Villa.
Following a nightmare start in charge as Boro lost their opening four matches, McClaren quickly got to grips with management and secured a 12th place finish, while also leading the side to an FA Cup semi-final which they narrowly lost 1-0 against Arsenal at Old Trafford.
Big money was splashed out in summer 2002 as Juninho made his third return, while £8million was spent on Italian striker Massimo Maccarone, George Boateng arrived to take over from Ince in midfield and Geremi joined on loan from Real Madrid.
Despite a very positive start the new arrivals failed to push Boro on to the next level as they only managed an 11th placed finish.
The 2003-04 campaign started with deals that saw Spanish star Gaizka Mendieta snapped up on a loan deal with a view to a long-term contract and Leeds full-back Danny Mills brought in on loan. And, while the league form remained in the middle of the road bracket, it was in the League Cup that Boro hit their historical high-point.
After 128 years without a trophy Boro scraped past Brighton and Wigan, before penalty shoot-out wins over Everton and Tottenham. A two-legged semi-final success over Arsenal set up a winnable final against Bolton at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium on February 29, 2004.
Two goals inside the first 10 minutes - from Job and Bolo Zenden’s penalty - put Boro in the driving seat, before a howler from Mark Schwarzer got the Trotters back into the contest.
However Boro’s number one made amends with some outstanding saves to help seal Carling Cup glory and a place in European football for the first time in the club’s history.
The first piece of silverware sparked Boro into a summer spending frenzy as chairman Steve Gibson looked to get the club fighting for European qualification via their Premier League finish in addition to making an impact in their debut UEFA Cup campaign.
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Mark Viduka and Michael Reiziger were all brought in and it did the job as Boro finished in seventh position courtesy of a 1-1 final day draw at Manchester City in which Schwarzer saved an injury time Robbie Fowler penalty to clinch a UEFA Cup spot for a second successive season. Incidentally that season’s UEFA Cup bid ended in the last-16 against Sporting Lisbon after a creditable run.
Striker Yakubu was drafted in for big money in summer 2005 as McClaren looked to build on the seventh-placed finish and push on in Europe. And, while the league was neglected heavily as they finished down in 14th spot, Boro went cup crazy in two competitions.
They reached the FA Cup semi-final where West Ham edged them 1-0 at Villa Park, while the best was left for the UEFA Cup. In what was only their second season in the competition, Boro saw off the likes of Stuttgart and Roma, before producing two of the greatest games ever witnessed at the Riverside to see off Basel in the quarter-final and Steaua Bucharest in the semi-final.
Boro were trailing by three goals in both games before ramming in four in front of the astonished home supporters to get through with Maccarone the hero on both occasions by scoring in the final minute.
The final in Eindhoven saw Boro outclassed in a 4-0 defeat to Spanish side Sevilla, but the platform was in place for the club to push on to bigger and better things, despite not having the chance to continue their European progress in 2006/07.
