1964white wrote: ↑Fri Oct 25, 2024 3:57 pmMiddlesbrough defender Luke Ayling said that he was "hurt" at bringing an end to his career at Leeds United.
"Leaving Leeds hurt then, and to leave the boys I'd spent five, six, seven years with certainly hurt," he said.
"I found it tough to leave at the time that I did," Ayling told the My Mate's A Footballer podcast.
"I still felt like I could help the team and get them to where they wanted to go.
"But it all came down to myself wanting to play football. It was either stay there for six months, sit on the bench or even not make the squad, or get out and play some football.
"I've been given a home at Boro and I'm really enjoying it."
Ayling was swayed by receiving a call from Boro head coach Michael Carrick telling him how much he was wanted at the Riverside Stadium.
"Speaking to someone like Michael and him showing how much he wants me gave me the confidence I needed at the time.
"My confidence was a bit low - we had just finished in the Premier League and it didn't finish too well. It was a tough 18 months really.
"So to have Michael say he really wants me to come to the club and put my mark on things, it was just nice."
Luke AYling has been a good player for Boro. Plenty of our fans were complaining about him. I don't know that Farke had a problem with Ayling in general. It was just a case that he was going to pick Archie as his first choice.
In hindsigh, he still could do a decent job for us. He's extremely useful in that he can back up center back. We're especially thin there right now and it's always good to have a 3rd center back to close out the final minutes. And as an attacking full back, he'd definitely fit our current system.
It's hindsight though. Is Bogle a better player? Probably. But nobody would put his heart and body on the line more than Ayling. And couch potato fans complaining he was too slow and finished were a long way off the mark.
Ayling, Luke
