MIDDLESBROUGH have offered Gary McAllister the role of first-team coach as part of a major overhaul of Gordon Strachan’s backroom staff.

McAllister, who held talks at Boro’s Rockliffe Park training ground yesterday, has also been touted as a leading candidate for the vacant managerial job at Coventry following the dismissal of former boss Chris Coleman.

But Boro officials remain confident he will agree to join Strachan’s Riverside revolution following the departure of four senior figures in the last 48 hours.

Chief scout Dave Leadbeater became the latest figure to be axed yesterday, and as well as appointing McAllister, Strachan is also hoping to confirm former Scotland international Jim Blyth as Boro’s new goalkeeping coach and ex-Newcastle striker Ray Clarke as part of the club’s scouting network.

Strachan, who has pulled out of a punditry appearance at the World Cup finals in order to devote his full-time attention to rebuilding Middlesbrough, is keen to entrust backroom responsibilities to people he has worked with in the past.

Blyth and Clarke both worked with him at Celtic, while McAllister played under Strachan for two seasons at Coventry.

The former midfielder, who won a league championship with Leeds United and a UEFA Cup and FA Cup with Liverpool, has been out of work since his dismissal from Leeds in December 2008.

He rejected the chance to be Scotland boss last autumn, but has been offered an opportunity to move to Teesside as Colin Cooper’s replacement.

“There are people out there I’ve worked with before, and they know me and know my mind,” said Strachan, who categorically ruled out any chance of Neil Lennon moving to Middlesbrough.

“They know exactly what I’m after. I can’t experiment any more.

“We’ll look into things in the next couple of days, but I’m not daft, and I’ve already tried to start putting things in place.”

With a major overhaul already underway, Strachan has pulled out of a series of planned punditry appearances at the World Cup.

He had been due to travel to South Africa for the duration of the tournament in the employment of the BBC.

But with a significant amount of restructuring needed if his side are to mount a successful promotion push next season, the Scot has opted to remain in the North-East.

“I’m not going to the World Cup any more,” he said. “The BBC sent me a schedule through and I realised I had far too much on here to be able to commit to it.

“I’ve got loads on in the next three weeks, and if I was to go to the World Cup as well, I wouldn’t be able to squeeze everything in.

“That’s unfair. I get paid here to do my job, and I don’t think I would have been able to do it properly if I had gone to the World Cup. It’s about priorities and I know I need to get this right.”

In particular, Strachan is determined to ensure he is available to meet potential signings in person as he looks to strengthen his squad following this season’s 11th-placed finish.

Had the World Cup been in Europe, he might have felt able to split his time between his club duties and the demands of the BBC. As it is, the flight time between England and South Africa makes it all but impossible to combine the two roles.

“There’ll be times where I need to meet a player or discuss something with Keith (Lamb), and I wouldn’t be able to do that properly from South Africa,” he said.

“I’ve always felt that if you have to meet a player, it has to be eye to eye. You have to pay them the respect of meeting them personally.

“I’ll miss the World Cup because it’s a great experience, but this has to come first.”

While Strachan is close to completing the capture of Livingston winger Andy Halliday, the transfer window does not officially reopen until the start of June. As a result, he has opted to finalise his backroom arrangements before turning his attention to on-field matters.

Chairman Steve Gibson had asked Strachan to retain the staff he inherited when he was appointed last October, but seven months on, the Boro boss felt it was time for a change.

“Steve said, ‘Can you have a look at the coaching staff, give them a chance and see if we can all work together?’ That was fine,” said Strachan.

“That’s what I did, and I didn’t have a problem with it because in 13 years of management, I’d only terminated one contract.

“I believed it could be a success, but it’s got to the stage now where it’s not been successful. We’re not progressing in the way we wanted to, so you say, ‘Okay, what can we do?’. Is it enough to change the players and the formation, or do the staff have to change as well?

“We were over staffed anyway. We had too many people and there were times when it was uncomfortable.

“The guys who are leaving have been fantastic servants, but I have to make those changes.

“The club has been on a long slide for a few years and it’s about time we stopped it.”

■ Luke Williams and Bruno Pilatos have been included in the England squad for the UEFA Under-17 finals taking place in Liechtenstien between May 12-31.