BRYAN Robson had come to the end of the road at Middlesbrough. His position had become untenable.

After the Terry Venables experience, there could be no way back. The fans had lost confidence in him - even if Steve Gibson had not.

But Bryan Robson does not deserve to leave with the boos of fans ringing in his ears.

He was brought to Teesside to raise the profile of the club, and to drive it into the Premiership. On both counts, he was successful.

Those who stood on the terraces of Ayresome Park during the dark days had to pinch themselves to make sure they were not hallucinating as the likes of Juninho and Ravanelli were unveiled at a sparkling new stadium.

There were trips to Wembley and, although the team left each time without a trophy, it was an experience the Ayresome Park faithful could only have dreamed about.

Robson's reputation as a truly great player was enough to attract the best to unfashionable Middlesbrough. For a while, that sufficed and it is sad that his failure to turn the club into more than Premiership also-rans, has sullied that heroic reputation.

Of course, Robson has had the benefit of an incredibly loyal chairman with a vast fortune to spend and, in the end, he wasn't able to take Middlesbrough any further.

But he deserves credit for having the courage to broker the deal to bring in Venables because it was that, in the end, which saved Boro from relegation. And, he must have known all along that, whether Venables succeeded or not, it would be almost impossible to return.

As a player, Bryan Robson was a winner. It will have been hard for him to walk away yesterday as someone who didn't quite make it as a manager.

It is time for a change and it is to be hoped that Steve McClaren can bring silverware to the region.

Steve Gibson - the fan-turned-chairman - deserves that more than anyone. Not just for the way he has revolutionised an ailing football club, but by the way he stood by the man who helped him do it in an age when, sometimes, loyalty means precious little.