FORMER Middlesbrough boss Bryan Robson has admitted that bringing Terry Venables in to work alongside him at the Riverside almost wrecked his managerial career.

The West Brom manager is preparing to return to Teesside tomorrow for the first time since his departure in 2001.

Robson remains adamant that appointing Venables four years ago was the right move in terms of helping to keep Boro in the top flight and he retains a healthy respect for the former England coach.

But he is also aware that the perception he needed help to manage meant it took a long time for him to be offered another top-flight job after leaving Teesside.

The former England captain had only a brief and unsuccessful spell as manager of Bradford before Albion offered him a lifeline last November after the departure of Gary Megson.

And Robson has demonstrated the qualities which illuminated most of his time with Boro in steering Albion towards Premiership survival after a six-game run which has yielded 11 points.

Robson said: ''I was looking to bring in a top coach at Boro because Gordon McQueen had had a major knee operation and couldn't really get out on the training pitch.

''Terry was out of a job at the time and I'd worked really well with him with England so that's why I brought him in because we were struggling at the time.

''The main thing for me was to keep the club in the Premiership. That's why I made that decision. In hindsight, that's why I probably didn't get back into the game.

''It knocked me back a long way. It has taken me a long time to get back into the game because of that decision to bring Terry in.

''People perceived that I needed someone to help me as a manager - but it was the right thing at the time for Middlesbrough.

''Would I bring in someone like Terry again?

"Probably not someone as high profile. You look back and it probably was a mistake - but it wasn't a mistake for the club.''

Robson added: ''The chairman, Steve Gibson, was wanting to keep us both on but Terry had business commitments at that time and said it was always only going to be to the end of the season.

''It is something I would have looked at as possibly continuing if possible. It would just have been about the way it was structured.''

Meanwhile, Boro boss Steve McClaren is hoping to tie up his own future along with two of the club's players over the coming weeks.

McClaren revealed talks have started with Dutch midfielders George Boateng and Bolo Zenden over new contracts - despite Zenden insisting negotiations would only begin when his current deal expires this summer.

Boro are hoping to extend Boateng's current deal with the Dutch holding midfielder proving his value following a return from a three-and-a-half-month lay-off with a broken toe.

Zenden, however, claims he has not yet sat down with Boro officials to discuss a new deal, but McClaren insisted: "We've had chats with George and Bolo and they know our stand on it.

"Talks have opened, we're looking to do something. How long they take is usually quite a while, but at least there's a willingness on both sides to sort something out.

"George has been phenomenal since he returned to the team and it just shows what we missed for the 18 games he wasn't available."

McClaren, who has just over a year remaining on his own contract, is also looking to put pen to paper on another deal to bring stability to the club.

That is unlikely to be a problem as chief executive Keith Lamb recently conceded the club were looking to retain McClaren's services "for some time to come."

"At present nothing has been finalised because we've been that busy looking at players and travelling around," said McClaren.

"It's been a hectic period, with four games in 11 days the latest demand.

"But I want to sort something out sooner rather than later because I think that will settle everyone down, the players and the staff, and we can really start planning for the future.

"We've got a team that's good enough, we need to develop the squad and bring in younger players and that's what we need to do in the summer.

"I still believe whatever happens this year the progress has been very much forward. With everyone fit we've got a squad that can challenge anything."

Meanwhile, McClaren has rated his trip to Rome on Wednesday night an unqualified success, and confirmed his interest in bringing Juventus defender Igor Tudor to the Riverside.

The Boro boss watched Siena's surprise 2-0 win against Roma in the Olympic Stadium, and witnessed Boro's loan striker Massimo Maccarone score for the visitors.

McClaren said: "It was a great opportunity to see Massimo in action. He not only scored but did well overall, which was obviously nice to see.

"I also took the opportunity to keep an eye on Igor Tudor."

Maccarone is due to return to The Riverside in the summer, but his future remains in doubt with Portsmouth's Yakubu Aiyegbeni a top target.