WITH the Football Association still expected to thrust a contract under Steve McClaren's face in the not-too-distant future, it is easy to forget that is only three months since the Middlesbrough boss was offered some rather less appealing job advice.

With the Teessiders careering to a humiliating 4-0 home defeat at the hands of Aston Villa, the vast majority of a 27,000-strong crowd directed their ire at their manager.

"McClaren out" chants reverberated around the Riverside, an irate supporter flung his season ticket in the Yorkshireman's face and the fans demanded the removal of the man they held to be accountable for their club's dramatic decline.

Three months later and they are likely to get their wish. But, rather than resigning with his tail between his legs, McClaren is set to leave for the biggest managerial job in the land with Middlesbrough having reached two semi-finals and, if things go to plan tomorrow, the first European final of their history.

How has the Boro boss brought about one of the most remarkable recoveries of recent times? How has he turned a team beaten 7-0 at Arsenal into an outfit just one game away from the UEFA Cup final? Interestingly, there is a groundswell of opinion to suggest he has not.

What if McClaren was simply the benefactor of a succession of fortunate breaks and forced decisions. What if serendipity was the saviour of Middlesbrough's season?

"There was a lot that had to be sorted out at that time (in the aftermath of the Villa defeat)," admitted skipper Gareth Southgate. "It was the dressing room, as much as the manager, that put things right."

There is little doubt that a cabal of Middlesbrough's senior players assumed increased importance in the four days that followed February's 4-0 defeat.

Southgate, Mark Schwarzer and Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink assumed the role of both mentor and motivator, calming the likes of Lee Cattermole, who had left the field in tears at the end of the Villa debacle, and challenging a group of the club's youngsters who were slipping into a barely-disguised comfort zone.

McClaren was hardly turning a blind eye to the crisis, but a series of meetings were perhaps less significant than a few short, sharp words delivered by experienced professionals who their team-mates looked up to.

Crucially, three of the players delivering those words would not even have been at the Riverside had their manager been given his head a month earlier.

During a chaotic January, McClaren was hoping to offload Mark Schwarzer, Ugo Ehiogu and Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink in order to raise funds for a raft of new signings.

That he was unable to do so was more about luck than judgment.

Schwarzer stayed put because no viable employer came in for him, Ehiogu's proposed move to West Brom collapsed when the Baggies were unable to meet his personal terms and chairman Steve Gibson played a key role in ensuring Hasselbaink remained on Teesside.

Subsequently, all three have played crucial roles in Boro's revival, with Hasselbaink's 14 goals since the turn of the year having compensated for Aiyegbeni Yakubu's lack of form and Mark Viduka's struggles against injury.

In comparison, the players McClaren wanted to sign - Nigel Quashie, and Jason Euell - have hardly set the world alight at West Brom and Charlton respectively.

"The chairman deserves a lot of credit because at that point it looked as if good players were going and he put the block on that," said Southgate.

"We would have lost Mark, Ugo and Jimmy but for him, and they've all played significant parts in our revival.

"The manager wanted to bring in new blood and was prepared to sell those three to do it.

"They deserve a lot of credit as well because once it was decided that they were staying, they knuckled down and their performance has been brilliant."

As well as seeing three of his most experienced players remain at the Riverside when the transfer window closed, McClaren was also fortunate in that two of his most important were ready to return from injury.

Stewart Downing was playing only his seventh game of the season when Villa scored four - since then, he has offered the genuine width Boro had been lacking in the first half of the campaign.

Just as significantly, George Boateng also returned to bolster a previously porous midfield.

The Dutchman made his first appearance for almost two months when James Morrison limped out of the first half of Boro's home game with Chelsea.

Less than an hour later, the champions had been beaten 3-0 in one of the strangest games of the season.

"George has a massive presence in midfield," explained centre-half Chris Riggott earlier this month. "You only have to look at how our form picked up when he returned towards the end of last season to see the difference he makes to the team.

"He's a leader and the rest of the lads pick up on that. He's been extremely important in our run to the two semi-finals."

The burning question, of course, is 'Can the same be said of McClaren?' While he has undoubtedly enjoyed the occasional lucky break, it is wrong to write the Middlesbrough manager out of the picture entirely.

Tactically, he has proved himself to be both astute and adaptable.

Willing to switch formations - Boro have played 3-5-2, 4-4-2, 4-3-3 and 4-5-1 in various games this season - McClaren has tailored his selections to counter the opposition. Generally, they have worked.

He has also displayed an ability to alter the outcome of a game while it is in progress.

The most obvious example was his decision to finish with all four strikers on the field as Boro staged the mother of all comebacks against Basle, a move that undoubtedly improved his position in the pecking order for the England job.

"The manager has come through a difficult period," said Boateng. "We know he has had criticism but, when that criticism has been there, he has come out every time and responded.

"He has always turned up and said he is there to get results. That takes courage.

"It is in difficult periods you learn about people. You see whether people will give in or whether they will fight.

"He has stayed, he has fought and he's given us back our belief in ourselves. We have taken our lead from him."

Strong praise indeed and, despite everything they have been through, Middlesbrough's players continue to respond to their manager's urgings.

They also continue to benefit from the things that have fallen in his favour.

It is commonly held that a lucky manager is the best type of manager of all.

For that reason alone, McClaren deserves his chance at Soho Square

Read more about Middlesbrough here.