SINCE leaving Celtic in May, Gordon Strachan has spent the last five months touring around California and the west coast of Ireland.

Today, he will begin to plot Middlesbrough’s route back into the Premier League. And on the evidence of his introductory press conference at the Riverside Stadium, he is back in driving mode already.

The only difference this time, is that he’s ready to start driving reporters and journalists up the wall.

In fairness to the feisty Scotsman, it was not as though we hadn’t been warned. At his introductory press conference as Southampton manager in 2001, Strachan was asked, “Do you think you are the right man to turn things around?” Quick as a flash, he responded, “No, I think they should have got George Graham because I’m useless.”

Death by ill-judged question.

There was nothing that quite matched that yesterday, but there were plenty of quips and head shakes that gave a taste of what is likely to come.

Having arrived for his unveiling 30 minutes late - in the eyes of many Middlesbrough supporters, his appointment was nine months too late, so another half-anhour wouldn’t matter - he immediately set about sparring with his questioners.

Was he happy to be inheriting a team three points off the top of the Championship?

Yes, but if you checked the table, you’d find they were three points off tenth as well.

Was Middlesbrough’s home form a psychological problem that would have to be addressed?

“To be honest, the only problem I have right now is whoever’s talking away in the background.” But have you spoken to the players about the psychology of playing at home? “No.”

If his stature, as he sat alongside the imposing Keith Lamb, was short, the length of some of his answers was even shorter.

Yet it did not seem as though Strachan was trying to be evasive or obstructive for the sake of it.

Yes, he boasts a spiky personality and clearly enjoys taking on journalists at their own game. But in the eyes of both the media and supporters, that is surely preferable to an anodyne boss who opens his mouth week after week but ultimately says nothing.

In amongst some of the put-downs were interesting nuggets that opened a window onto Strachan’s managerial style.

On more than one occasion, he described himself as a coach, and while Garry Pendry will be arriving as his number two, it is clear that Strachan regards himself as a hands-on boss who is much more comfortable in a tracksuit than a suit. Unlike his predecessor, the tank top look is unlikely to make it into Middlesbrough’s managerial collection this autumn.

He talked of “improving players” and “developing the team I’m inheriting”, and while Steve Gibson is likely to make something available when the transfer window reopens in January, Strachan clearly accepts he will be working with what he has for the first year of his Riverside reign.

He spoke of watching QPR and Reading earlier this month and being impressed at the standard of football.

The implication was that it would be wrong to regard a move from Celtic to Middlesbrough as a giant step down the ladder.

On the whole, it was an impressively authoritative performance, with the only stumble coming when a Scottish journalist appeared halfway through proceedings.

“A Glasgow reporter has just turned up and I’ve started to get the shakes,” said Strachan, whose relationship with the Glasgow media became strained in the final stages of his Celtic career.

“If you’ve been manager of Celtic, you could be Prime Minister,” he added, hinting at the pressures that accompany the Parkhead job.

He’s not quite standing for election yet, but like his fellow Scotsman Gordon Brown, he will hope to have something to celebrate next May.