STEVE McClaren summed up in one sentence what people have been saying for years about the over-paid under-achievers who have cost Middlesbroughbenefactor Steve Gibson a small fortune.

"For what we had out on the field we should perform better than that," the beleaguered Boro boss conceded as he headed back to the North-east still searching for hios first win of the season.

McClaren, the man widely tipped to be the next England coach, slammed his team's Reebok poerformance as "unacceptable" and, like Sam Allardyce after Wanderers' humliation at Portsmouth, sympathised with the supporters who had made the trip.

A watsed trip from Teesside to Lostock on a Saturday afternoon is not as painful as Bolton to the South Coast for a Tuesday night trouncing but Boro fans have spent years travelling the land in the hope of collecting some silverware to justify the hard cash chairman Gibson has put at the disposal of his managers - Bryan Robson for seven expensive years and for the past two, the man regarded as one of the most progressive coaches in football.

But it appeared McClaren did not know where to start when he analysed his team's shortcomings as he tasted defeat at the Reebok for the third

successive season.

He noted with some justification that Jussi Jaaskelainen's stunning 32nd minute save from Szilard Nemeth was the "defining moment" but did not hold back as he reckoned: "There were a thousand things that went wrong ... but I think it was the basics.

"We didn't defend well, we didn't win enough challenges in midfield, didn't create enough and we didn't really look like scoring.

"When you get them together you get a poor performance. When we get the ball down we can play but we have to compete, we have to win challenges, we have to win tackles and we haved to be first to things and work hard."

Nevertheless, he was determined to remain positive in the face of increasing criticsim. "We've been here before," he added. "We've had a bad

start but I believe and I know there is enough talent in the squad to be able to bounce back from that."

Indeed, Boro do have a reputation as slow starters. Two years ago, when they became one of the victims Wanderers' breathtaking start, they recovered to finish mid-table

Whether they can do it again - and whether that is enough in the light of their financial resources - depends on what response McClaren gets from the post-match roasting he gave his players. But he appears to have a problem on his hands with the mercurial Juninho who made no secret of his disgust when he was substituted in the second half as Boro were looking for an equaliser.

McClaren must have been the only person in the stadium not to see the little Brazilian's reaction but, after explaining that the introduction of

Michael Ricketts for Szilard Nemeth at half time and Jeremy Job for Juninho on 57 minutes were tactical moves, he conceded: "I can imagine he was disappointed but I'd be very disappointed if a player wasn't disappointed at being substituted."

Mendieta and Zenden are just two of the latest high profile signings that have raised expectations at the Riverside and it is their recruitment that

increases the pressure on McClaren to deliver.

"There's pressure there," he conceded, "but we have experienced players who have been here before. What we are looking for now is a show of character.

"The first season I was here, we lost our first four games but pulled it around to finish 12th and get to the semi-final of the FA Cup. There's enough talent in the dressing room to do that again."