Steve McClaren told me he didn't know who I was - but he was a good manager

Szilard Nemeth didn't have any hesitation about joining Middlesbrough - but the move almost turned sour immediately. The Slovakian overcame some difficult early moments to enjoy five years on Teesside, but his career in the North East got off on the wrong foot.

Nemeth played a key role in the 2004 Carling Cup-winning run and Boro's UEFA Cup campaigns, but admits manager Steve McClaren initially didn't know anything about him. The former England boss had replaced Bryan Robson and Terry Venables in the Riverside hotseat - and they had been the pair behind his signing.

However, while McClaren had to watch videos to learn about Nemeth's talents, he admits he went on to have a good working relationship with the coach. He turned down interest from Sunderland to sign for Boro, with Inter Milan also monitoring his career while with Inter Bratislava, but he has revealed things were hard initially.

READ MORE: Middlesbrough's unwanted Championship record that must be broken next season

READ MORE: Boro star sent Spurs transfer warning by Arsenal legend

"Things were tough after I joined Middlesbrough," he told OLBG. "I read that in the newspaper but Inter Milan weren't trying to sign me, I was talking to Udinese in Italy and also Sunderland. But I felt like Middlesbrough wanted me so it was an easy decision for me, but the first six months were very difficult. I came to a completely different world.

"Slovakia is a small country, also the football isn’t the same, so I came to the Premier League. Everything was different. I didn't speak very good English at the time. But I met lots of very good players in the dressing room and played against the top players, so for me these five years in Middlesbrough was just amazing. I will never forget those times.

"I had a difficult time with him at the beginning because when I signed the contract with Middlesbrough, because I had signed it with Terry Venables and Bryan Robson in April. When I came in July, Middlesbrough changed the coach to Steve McClaren who told me that he didn’t know who I was so he had to sit and watch videos of me.

"So I had a very difficult time in the first year, but I think day by day it got better and better. He was a good manager. He always tried to put the team in a good mood. He got very good players into the team. We won the League Cup and got to a Uefa Cup final.

Nemeth speaks fondly about the team spirit at the club under McClaren, and recalled a time when assistant Steve Harrison turned up to training in boxing gloves.

"Steve McLaren's assistant coach was Steve Harrison and he was really the funny guy," he explained. "He always tried to come up with something new every day. And what I remember was we had a little fight at the training ground. Two players, I won’t say their names.

"And the next day we had the meeting so Steve McClaren wanted to talk to us and tell us that it's not acceptable to fight on the training ground. Steve Harrison came like a boxer with the Rocky song playing. So it was really funny and he tried to make every day some fun. So I really enjoyed it."