Middlesbrough: Celtic winger was rare treasure from Gordon Strachan’s Scottish raids - View | OneFootball

The Strachan era on Teesside was one that Boro fans wish they could forget, but Barry Robson was a player who shone amid a sea of gloom.

The Gordon Strachan era at Middlesbrough Football Club is one that Boro supporters loathe to recall, but amid a mass migration of ill-fated Scottish Premiership signings, Barry Robson was a rare exception.

Strachan was handed the managerial role at the Riverside Stadium in late October 2009, and almost a year to the day he arrived at the football club, he ripped up his contract and left a side that was rapidly taking on water in the Championship.

The footballing icon made a host of signings during his short yet memorable for all the wrong reasons tenure on Teesside, with many of those being plucked from Scottish football.

Despite the vast majority of whom were condemned to become pub quiz answers across the town for years to come, there was a winger from Celtic that ensured Strachan wouldn't return from his raids north of the border without some treasure to show for it.

Football League World takes a look at Middlesbrough's signing of Robson, his time in the North East, and why he became a cult figure among Boro supporters.

Robson's arrival sees Scottish takeover of Teesside continue

January 2010, Strachan's first chance to stamp his authority on a Middlesbrough squad that had only just been relegated from the Premier League the season prior, with the club harbouring aspirations of an instant return to the top-flight.

But after a poor start under Gareth Southgate, that dream was beginning to look a far-fetched one, and so in an attempt to salvage the season, Strachan turned to the type of players he trusted the most.

Strachan stripped Celtic Park of all the loot he could find, with Willo Flood, Chris Killen, Stephen McManus, Scott McDonald and Robson all signing from the Glaswegian giants that winter, whilst Aberdeen striker Lee Miller also made the move south.

It was Miller, Robson and McDonald who were the biggest splashes, with the trio being the only players that Boro paid a transfer fee for.

Ultimately, those new arrivals weren't enough to see the club get involved in the promotion mix, with Middlesbrough finishing the 2009/10 season in a disappointing 11th place, but that wasn't going to deter Strachan from going straight back the same well in the summer of 2010.

Strachan pressed on with Scottish recruitment drive

Of the six new arrivals in the summer window of 2010, four of them were once again recruited from Scottish football.

Andy Halliday (Livingston), Kris Boyd (Rangers), Stephen McManus (Celtic) and Kevin Thomson (Rangers), combined with Estonian winger Tarmo Kink and Charlton midfielder Nicky Bailey, made up Strachan's transfer class.

Halliday went on to play 42 times for Middlesbrough between 2010-2014, whilst Boyd stayed for one season in which he made 29 appearances, scoring six times.

McManus made 78 appearances for the club between 2009-2013, and Thomson made 56 appearances for the club between 2010-2013, after signing for a reported fee of £2m.

In terms of Strachan's other Scottish recruits, Killen stayed for one season, scoring just three goals in 17 appearances. Flood made 16 appearances for Boro between 2009-2011, scoring once.

Miller made 13 appearances for the club between 2009-2012, scoring zero goals, whilst McDonald was a far greater success, scoring 39 goals and registering 21 assists between 2009-2013.

"I think maybe he signed too many players from Scotland," Robson said in a interview with Scottish football magazine Nutmeg via Teesside Live in 2018

"He felt at the time he needed some more drive and some men in the dressing room. For whatever reason it didn't work out, but you've got to remember that the team had come down from the Premier League and had to cut the wage bill.

"I don't think that was a problem, the football just didn't necessarily suit everyone's style of play. I fully expected us to go up with the personnel we had but it just never happened."

Robson was the leader Middlesbrough fans craved

McDonald and Robson were the only two of Strachan's Scottish signings that can be put down as definitive successes, but it was the latter who perhaps endeared himself more to the Middlesbrough faithful than any other player during his stay.

During a period in which a host of players made it clear that they'd rather be anywhere else other than Teesside, many Boro fans were left questioning whether the days of players wanting to play for their badge were in the past.

Robson reminded them that this wasn't the case. Captaining the side out of the stormy waters the side were left in under Strachan, and into the calmer seas under Tony Mowbray, the winger's leadership and passion was unmatched.

But it wasn't just his work rate and desire to give everything in a Middlesbrough shirt, Robson had bags of technical ability too, and his wand of a left foot was the architect behind some iconic Boro goals.

From a superb volley in an FA Cup tie against Sunderland to a long-range Boxing Day screamer vs Hull City, his best goals are still talked about on the Riverside Stadium concourses to this day.

Speaking in the aforementioned 2018 interview with Nutmeg via Teesside Live, Robson said of his time with Middlesbrough: "I wanted to come down and do well for Middlesbrough so there was a lot of factors in it for me,

"I think the fans took to me right away and I won a couple of Player of the Year awards. I've always had a brilliant relationship with the Middlesbrough fans. Even now, wherever I go - if I'm on holiday or whatever - they always come up to me and ask for a photo.

"I stand and have a chat with them. They're great, they always have been. I thoroughly enjoyed playing at the Riverside. Since I've gone into the coaching side of things I've always thought to myself that it's a club I'd love to go back to. Maybe as a manager one day, you never know, it's a terrific club."