Steve McClaren provides the proof that Middlesbrough's slow start is nothing to panic about

Maybe Middlesbrough fans should not agonise too much over the team’s frustratingly slow start to the season.

After all, Steve McClaren almost made a habit of it – and he was the manager who oversaw the club’s Golden Era. In fact, on the last occasion when McClaren’s boys got off to a bad start, they recovered sufficiently to go on and win the Carling Cup!

That was in 2003-04. When Boro finally did get their skates on in the Premier League they went on to finish 11th, a comfortable 15 points clear of the drop zone. Yet Boro failed to win any of their opening five league outings. In fact, they scored in just one of them, a 3-2 home defeat at the hands of Leeds United.

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Boro’s only point during the awful start came from a goalless draw at Leicester City. It was their worst start since the miserable 1984-85 season when Boro were hurtling along the rocky road towards liquidation. However, Boro had no obvious financial problems in the summer of 2003. And the campaign began, as ever, amid great expectation.

Boro were promising some big-name signings when the season kicked off and delivered before the end-of-the-month transfer deadline, bringing in world-class internationals in Gaizka Mendieta, Bolo Zenden and Danny Mills. Amazingly, all three were snapped up on loan deals, which summed up the aura and belief around the club that McClaren had already built up during his first two years in charge.

Two years before joining Boro the much-capped Mendieta, who had appeared in two Champions League finals with Valencia and was named European Midfielder of the Year. The Spaniard was a household name. His talents were immense and eventually earned him a 47.7m Euros