(Photo by Barry Pells/Getty Images)
New Middlesbrough boss Gordon Strachan will prove to be a shrewd acquisition by Teessiders' chief Steve Gibson.
Strachan penned a four-year contract at The Riverside on Monday to succeed Gareth Southgate and his grounding in management at Southampton and Coventry will stand him in good stead in the North-East.
Strachan also spent a successful four-year spell at Old Firm giants Celtic where he enjoyed an incredible win percentage of 67 per cent.
And while a record anywhere near as good as that with Boro in the Championship or top flight is almost impossible, it would be no surprise to see Strachan haul the Teessiders back into the Premier League at the first attempt.
Strachan though had an embarrassing start to life with the Hoops – his men were rattled 5-0 by Artmedia Bratislava and days later were held to a 4-4 draw by Motherwell.
However, things got better from there as Strachan became only the third ever Celtic manager to guide the club to three consecutive Scottish League titles. But after failing to lead Celtic to another league title in the 2008/09 season, he stepped down as manager in May 2009 and took some time off before being appointed by Middlesbrough.
Strachan has immediately targeted promotion to the Premier League for Boro and he said: “First of all, I don't need to be here and I don't have to be here. I'm here because I want to be here.
"When I left Celtic I told anyone close to me that it will be very, very difficult for me to retrace my steps in terms of jobs and the excitement I had at Celtic.
"I felt it had to be something different and I've got a chance of something different here. I know who the chairman is, I know where the money comes from. I know you get time and with the stability of the club you have a chance here to develop things the way you would like to see it develop.
"Developing younger players, making the better players better, these things attracted me to the job."
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