Sunday 19 November 2017 07:38, UK
Garry Monk will always have fond memories of his year at Leeds United.
All eyes will be on the Middlesbrough manager on Sunday as he takes his new club to Elland Road, but he insists that the game - which is live on Sky Sports Football - is not about him.
"I know the question will always be there because I was Leeds United manager last season but this game isn't about me, it's about my team and that's all me and my players are focused on," he told Sky Sports.
"Of course my memories of Leeds are fantastic. Last season we took a club that was very fractured in terms of the relationships between the fans, the club and the players and we worked really hard to put foundations in to bring it to the point where it was strong, together and unified. That side of it I'm very proud of."
A late-season collapse meant Leeds missed out on the play-offs last season, but the future looked optimistic as ownership of the club changed hands and stability looked to be heading back to that part of Yorkshire.
All of a sudden, though, just a couple of days after Andrea Radrizzani had completed his takeover of the club, Monk handed in his resignation. He may have been at the end of a one-year rolling contract, but his departure was still a surprise.
But the 38-year-old insists his hand was forced.
"Our plan was always to take it into next season and go for those automatic positions and gain promotion," said Monk. "Unfortunately me and my staff weren't given the opportunity as we never really felt there was an intention to offer us a long-term contract with a view to having that long-term project, which we thought there would be.
"I always expected to be there longer than one season, but now every owner has their views on what they want to do and it wasn't right for me. [I felt] there wasn't any intention to give me a long-term future at the club and as a manager you have to make a decision, I made that decision and it put me out of work, but you have to do what you believe in and that was the only reason I left the club."
Monk understands that his decision may have upset some Leeds fans that put such faith in him, especially considering it barely took a fortnight for him to rock up at the Riverside.
But Monk says he's proud that he managed to put football back on top of the agenda at Elland Road after so many years of turmoil.
"Everyone will have their opinions but it was the first time in a long time that people were talking about Leeds for the football rather than what was happening off the pitch," he said. "The club had been through a number of years of tough times and turbulence, and those fans there that are so passionate and loyal deserved better. I recognised that along with my staff and players and we worked hard to build that relationship.
"There was that disappointment at the end of not quite making the play-offs, but then you strip it back to the start where no one expected anything of us. So to come to that end where players and fans were together and enjoying themselves was something that had been missing from the club.
"Then there was obviously the disappointment of me leaving, but I'm proud of the job we did there for sure."
Amid the flurry of questions about the team in white, it's easy to forget he's going to be in charge of the visitors on Sunday. And as little as a month ago it would have been almost impossible to imagine that Middlesbrough would be going into this game above Leeds in the table.
But three wins on the spin just before the international break lifted Boro from the bottom half to the play-offs, alleviating some of the pressure that was building on Monk in the process, while Leeds have lost six of their last seven.
"We maybe just changed a little bit of our focus in terms of what was important in games and really rectifying the balance of our side," he said. "In other games maybe the balance hadn't been quite right between defence and attack, we were doing both well but maybe not connecting them together as much as we should have been.
"Ultimately though it was the hard work the players have been putting in that helped get us those performances and three wins. It was a good return and a very good week for us, but we know a week in this league can change things drastically, and we have to be ready for these coming weeks.
"It's about taking each game at a time. I know a lot of managers do that but we try and take each game as it comes and put our maximum in, because each week can bring something different. We give our maximum for the three points then move onto the game after that.
"My experience from last season was that it was only really when you got to the last seven or eight games that teams really knew what they could fight for. Before that you could move up or down a few places after a good or difficult week."
And as for the drop off in form of Thomas Christiansen's side, Monk will know all about that. From a seemingly unassailable position in the top six, Leeds won just one of their final eight games last season to drop out of contention entirely.
"Every team in this league will go through difficult periods, it's impossible to get away from that," he said. "But they've got good players and are a good team and we've prepared for the best Leeds United, but my focus isn't on them it's on Middlesbrough. If we get our performance levels where we can we know we're capable of winning games."
And was he expecting any stick from the home fans at Elland Road? Even if it comes, he insists he won't be phased.
"As I said it's not about me, it's about my team, and I'm not focused on any of that," said Monk. "I want my players to continue to deliver performances and fight for that.
"Everything else is out of my control."
Don't miss the Sky Bet Championship clash between Leeds and Middlesbrough on Sunday, live on Sky Sports Football and Sky Sports Main Event from 1pm.
