Ryan Giles opens up on transfer decisions, ‘special’ Middlesbrough bond & future
Ryan Giles opens up on transfer decisions, ‘special’ Middlesbrough bond & future
RYAN Giles doesn’t have regrets but he does have the second chance he’s long hoped for.
“It feels like a long time ago now…”
The left-back is reflecting on the summer of 2023, a transfer window that presented Giles with a dilemma: rejoin Boro on the back of his hugely successful loan spell at the Riverside or instead link-up with newly-promoted Luton.
He’d loved his time at Boro and there was – and still is – an “emotional attachment”. But the pull of the Premier League was understandably strong. And his parent club at the time, Wolves, were understandably keen to drive up the fee for the defender.
“That was a tough one,” he says, looking back.
“I knew Boro were trying to bring me back [after the loan]. It was tough. It wasn’t just myself in the negotiations, I was at Wolves back then and they made it clear with their financial situation that they wanted as much as they could get for me basically.
“Obviously there was that back and forth going on. From a personal perspective, the opportunity to go and play in the Premier League was huge and something I always wanted to do. If you ask anybody I think they’d say the same thing.
“But I had that attachment here and what the gaffer had done for me. It was such a tough decision, but it sort of came out of my hands a little bit with Wolves. They had to do what was right for them. It played out that way.
“It was disappointing but also a chance for me to step up to the Premier League. I knew it would be tough but I just didn’t know if I’d ever get that opportunity again. It was one of those things. It was disappointing not to come back but everything happens for a reason and I’m back here now, so happy days.”
Happy days after uncertain days. The move to Luton didn’t work out and he headed for Hull a year ago on a loan deal that was made permanent in the summer. But that switch didn’t particularly go to plan either, which led to talks over a potential Boro move in the summer. A deal couldn’t be struck. So did Giles think his chances of a Riverside return were over?
“Not really, no,” he insists.
“Part of being a professional footballer, you have to just get on with things. I knew there was interest there, we’d spoken and the clubs had spoken. I just sort of got on with my job.
“When I went to Luton initially I knew it would be tough. Luton were going up and the odds were against them. I knew what I was going into. It was just more the opportunity from an individual perspective to go and give it a go and think whatever happens in the future, I’ve experienced the Premier League. That was always something I wanted to do anyway.
“I was in constant dialogue with the gaffer [Michael Carrick] as well to be fair, we kept in touch and that was nice. I wouldn’t say there’s regret, everything happens for a reason.”
Which brings us to the here and now. The media room at Rockliffe, where Giles is speaking to the press after rejoining Boro at the end of last week on loan until the end of the season.
“I’d been aware of the interest for a while,” he says.
“I obviously wasn’t holding my breath because of what’s happened before. I was just getting on with it and what will be will be was my attitude. But when I knew it was close, the excitement starting building. It’s something I’ve always been open to, of course. To be here now is obviously brilliant and it’s a good opportunity for me to hopefully kick on again, for sure.”
Giles has felt the love from Boro’s fans before and since his return – even though he did have to deal with some light-hearted chants when he came up against Carrick’s side for Hull.
“I love that about them, even the reception I got when I came on at the Riverside, that’s part of football,” he says.
“They’ve been brilliant, honestly. They’ve always been in my socials. It’s been brilliant. Now I want to put smiles on their faces and do the best I can for the club.
“I feel like I’ve got a bit of unfinished business really, if you like. I obviously can’t do it on my own, but if I can come in and add something to what has been a successful start to the season…The team are in a brilliant position. It’s a real opportunity to try and achieve something.”
Looking back on his last spell at Boro, when Giles flourished under Carrick’s tutelage, the left-back says: “It might sound cliche, but losing in the play-offs like we did, it’s hard to explain but there was just this real emotional attachment that I felt. Even going away at the end of the season, the reaction from fans at that time as the club were then trying to sign me, it just felt like I’d built something special.
“I look at the squad now and the one we had then, I honestly believe we’re in a very good place. There are some really top players here. I’ve come in to hopefully add something to the team and hopefully we can kick on and repeat what we did last time, while obviously going one better this time. That’s ultimately the aim.”
‘You should have signed for the Boro’, was the chant from the fans when Giles was wearing a Hull shirt.
So what does the future hold? Will he sign a permanent deal at the end of the season?
“It’s hard to say,” he says.
“I want to stay respectful to Hull, that’s important. What will be will be. Like I said before, negotiations can sometimes sway the way you don’t want, that’s just part of football. We’ll see what happens.
“At the end of the day, I have to do well here as well. If I don’t perform, the club might not want to do it. I just have to control what I can control and let’s see what happens in the summer. That’s the best way to go about it.”
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