Bryan Robson makes a return to Middlesbrough today, with his West Brom side. Cheif Sports Writer Scott Wilson reviews his Teesside times with former Boro favourite Craig Hignett.

WHEN Bryan Robson hurried into The Hawthorns last November, few Middlesbrough fans gave him any chance of keeping the Baggies in the Premiership.

After all, this was the man who had failed to keep the Teessiders in the top-flight in 1997 despite taking his side to both cup finals and who, just as humiliatingly, had been bailed out by Terry Venables when the spectre of relegation reappeared three years later.

When West Brom propped up the Premiership at Christmas - no team has ever recovered from that position to secure survival - those who had predicted heartache and humiliation were happy to kick a man, and a side, who were as good as down.

Four months later and the boot is on the other foot. Robson has engineered a Lazarus-like recovery that has taken West Brom out of the relegation zone with five games of the season to go, and a winning return to the Riverside this afternoon could see his side open up a four-point gap to their nearest rivals.

From being a manager with a reputation for deep pockets but shallow thinking, the former England captain is reconstructing himself as a schemer able to draw match-winning performances from limited performers.

That revisionism is even stretching to the Riverside and, should West Brom inflict more damage on Middlesbrough's European hopes today, the home fans will be forced to further revisit the past.

Former midfielder Craig Hignett has and, while the 35-year-old accepts that Robson had his limitations as a young manager learning on the hoof, he insists that other people must take the bulk of the blame for the Riverside revolution falling apart.

The current West Brom side are fighting for each other as they attempt to engineer a remarkable escape.

When Robson's Middlesbrough were in the same position, all too often they were pulling themselves apart.

"Looking back, I don't think we had a great team spirit," revealed a candid Hignett, who made 194 appearances for Boro before embarking on a series of moves that eventually took him to Darlington.

"I think we just had great players - and there's a difference.

"Perhaps if we'd been able to bond those players together, and got some of them thinking in terms of a team rather than a group of individuals, we might not have got into the trouble we eventually got into.

"At times it was hard. It was hard to feel like you belonged to something and it was hard to bond with some of your team-mates.

"That's not in any way a criticism of Bryan.

"I think he found it harder than anyone. He had come from a club - Manchester United - where unity and identity with the club had really meant something. Suddenly, he was managing in an environment where that didn't apply.

"Even at the Manchester United he knew, foreign players had been something of a rarity. But, almost overnight, he was pitched into a dressing room with players from all over the world and that's not easy.

"I don't think he was the finished article at that stage, and I think he'd say as much himself.

"I'm not saying an experienced manager would have handled things differently - I'm sure they would still have found it hard - but Bryan was never going to turn himself into a manager of men overnight."

That kind of management takes time to master but, by leading West Brom to three wins from their last six games, Robson has proved that he can motivate players who had previously appeared short of both confidence and class.

Former Boro midfielder Jonathan Greening has become an influential presence at the heart of midfield, while players as disparate as the unorthodox Nwankwo Kanu and the unreconstructed Kevin Campbell have gelled to devastating effect.

"Bryan looks very settled at West Brom," said Hignett, who etched his name into Boro folklore when he became the first player to score at the Riverside. "He's obviously identified areas where things went wrong in the past and he's adapted his style and his methods accordingly.

"West Brom look to be a team playing with an awful lot of spirit and, as we proved, if you're going to win a relegation battle, you need to be able to fall back onto that.

"He's also surrounded himself with people he can trust and that's important. He's got Nigel Pearson down there with him and I'm sure that helps."

Robson has undoubtedly been the driving force in turning West Brom around, but perhaps his instant impact in the West Midlands should not have been too much of a surprise.

After all, while he might have failed to keep Middlesbrough in the top-flight in 1997, he guided the club to two promotions and three cup finals during his six-year reign.

His first full season ended in the First Division title and, just 12 months after dropping out of the Premiership, Robson led Boro back to the promised land.

"I think everyone got a lift from the minute he walked in," said Hignett, who famously took a pay cut so that he continue his career with Middlesbrough.

"Before he came to the club, we had no money, no chance of signing new players, and crowds of about 6,000.

"Suddenly, Bryan Robson was here, the crowds were flocking back, and all sorts of names were being bandied about as potential signings.

"Steve Gibson obviously helped as well and, together, the pair of them helped to instigate the kind of changes that have helped to make Boro into the club they are today.

"It was incredible to see the type of players who were coming through the door.

"It started with the likes of Nigel Pearson, Clayton Blackmore and Neil Cox but, before long, we were signing internationals and global superstars.

"Nicky Barmby was probably the first one, and he was obviously followed by the likes of Juninho, Fabrizio Ravanelli and Emerson.

"As a footballer, you always want to play in the best team you can and, when players like that were arriving on Teesside, you really felt you were going to be a part of something special.

"It was a bit of a whirlwind to be honest.

"But I'm sure the players that came wouldn't have come if it hadn't been for the influence of Bryan Robson. He was the catalyst behind it all."

This season, Robson has been the catalyst of something else. Under his control, West Brom have turned from relegation certainties to likely escapologists.

Chester-le-Street's most famous son will always be remembered for resurrecting Middlesbrough as a footballing force.

If things go to plan in the next five days, though, he might also be famed for an even more remarkable renaissance with West Brom.