WHEN Middlesbrough signed Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink last month they acquired a figure both loved and loathed. Chief Sports Writer SCOTT WILSON unravels one of football's most misunderstood figures.

IT was easy to pick out Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink as he left Middlesbrough's Rockliffe Park training ground earlier this week.

While other players left in groups, laughing and joking as they walked through the door, Boro's flying Dutchman cut a solitary figure as he ambled through the car park.

Alone in thought and person, Hasselbaink was conforming to the image that has dogged him since he first arrived in England more than seven years ago.

Portrayed as the enigmatic loner who struggles to blend in, the 32-year-old elicits admiration and animosity in equal measure.

Fans of Leeds and Chelsea worshipped him as he scored 104 Premiership goals in the space of five seasons, but those looking from afar saw an aloof outsider with a temperament as explosive as his 30-yard drives.

Margaret Thatcher famously said there was no such things as society - maybe Hasselbaink would say there was no such thing as team.

A simplistic version of events - but also a wrong one. It fits the template that has been cast for the striker, but fails to acknowledge the sides of Hasselbaink that are conveniently overlooked.

Like the proud African who makes annual trips to the land of his birth. Or the devoted family man who was raised by his brother and returns to his family home whenever Boro's hectic schedule allows him. Or the committed striker who is desperate to help his new team-mates establish Middlesbrough in the upper echelons of the English game.

"I've got a very big challenge at this moment in time," said Hasselbaink, who began the season with two goals in two games before laying on Mark Viduka's opener at Fulham on Wednesday night. "But I'm happy and honoured to have got this opportunity.

"It's very early days and there are going to be some hard times ahead. We'll see what happens - we've got a lot of good players but we have to gel and become a good team together.

"You have to set yourself high standards and try to achieve something with your team-mates. Everyone at the club is trying to achieve that, and I'm just a part of that process. It's all about pulling together for the same cause."

If there's one thing Hasselbaink should know all about, it's pulling together. He was just five when his mother gathered her six children together and told them they were moving from their native Surinam to Holland in search of a better life.

"My dad stayed behind in Surinam and my mum took all of the children with her and moved to Holland," he said. "I wasn't in Surinam for long, but it was an important stage of my life because I still consider that to be where my roots are. I go back when I can and I feel like I've got a bond with the place.

"I was the youngest when we moved, and that meant I was able to settle straight away because I was still little and I didn't really know what was going on.

"I can remember bits about Surinam but, for me, most of my memories start from the time when I was in Holland.

"I remember playing as a child not long after arriving, and I remember it being fairly easy for me, I didn't have a lot of problems with settling there.

"I don't think the older ones found it as easy though. There are 11 years between me and my eldest sister and I think she found it a lot harder so we had to support each other and try to make it easier.

"She was used to life in Surinam and, while I was okay, I think some of my family took a lot longer to get used to the change of lifestyle. Maybe that brought us together as a family."

With his father on the other side of the world, Hasselbaink was brought up by his mother and his three brothers, with youngest sibling Carlos playing a particularly pivotal role in his upbringing.

Carlos had kicked his first football in Africa and, after moving to Holland, the sport offered a means of acceptance into a society still coming to terms with post-colonial immigration.

On the football field, all were equal, and wherever Carlos went, the younger Jimmy was invariably in tow.

"It was brother that got me into the game," confirmed Hasselbaink junior. "I was brought up without a father, so my youngest brother became the male figure that I was closest to as a boy.

"He was the one who looked out for me and he was the one who put a football at my feet and told me to play. He was good. He turned professional when he was 19 and we even played in the same team for a while.

"I turned professional at AZ Alkmaar when he was playing there and we played together for a couple of years. He's not playing any more but he was always someone I looked up to at the start of my career. I wouldn't have been where I am today without him."

But, while Carlos' career peaked with trials at Norwich, Wigan and Luton, Jimmy was quickly scoring goals on some of the biggest stages in Europe.

Twenty goals in 19 starts for Portuguese side Boavista had scouts across the continent purring and, in June 1997, Hasselbaink made a £2m move to Leeds United.

"Initially it was hard to deal with how big football is here in England," he admitted. "That was daunting at first, but it was also very exciting." He helped Leeds finish fourth in the Premiership but, after a contractual dispute, opted to spend an ill-fated ten months with Spanish side Atletico Madrid.

"It was a hectic time in Spain," said Hasselbaink. "And sometimes, it's impossible to stop that spreading over onto the field. The president went to jail and there just seemed to be problems around every corner.

"Eventually we went down but, luckily for me, I did well and other clubs took notice. There was contact at the end of the season and I had a lot of options."

One of those options was Chelsea, and Hasselbaink embarked on a four-year stint at Stamford Bridge that saw him become the 12th striker to score 100 Premier League goals.

"I would have liked to have won something in the four years I was there, but I feel very privileged to have played for Chelsea," he said. "I played with a lot of good players and learned a lot.

"I enjoyed my time but as last season came to an end it was a bit of a difficult situation. We didn't know what was going to happen with the manager or which way the club wanted to go.

"When it was clear that the manager was going, you knew straight away that you could be going as well. Eventually I got the call saying they wanted to let me go, and that made it very easy for me to move on."

He could have moved abroad but, when Middlesbrough came calling, he was happy to commit to the English game.

"I just like the emotions of England," said Hasselbaink. "The crowd makes a massive difference to football in this country. It lifts you up and drops you down and I think that makes English football special.

"You know you are going to get some stick when you play away from home, but that's just part of the whole experience."

He has lived with criticism before, and he will live with it again. But, as part of Middlesbrough's new family, he will not be living with it alone.