Fans did not see the best of me - Flint
ADEN Flint admits Middlesbrough fans never got to see him at his best in Boro colours following his £7m move from Bristol City back in 2018. The defender signed a four-year deal with the club, but played only one season before leaving for Cardiff City.
His time at the Riverside saw Boro establish a mean defence under Tony Pulis, but they just missed out on the play-offs in 2019 and the former Stoke City manager left the club that summer.
While Flint acknowledges that his move didn’t turn out the way he would have wanted, he has highlighted the defensive record and says he has no regrets about moving to the North East.
And he has backed Michael Carrick to continue to meet the ‘huge expectations’ a club of Middlesbrough’s size generate from the loyal fan base.
“It was a big fee at the time and there was a lot of expectation on me going to Middlesbrough,” Flint told The Gazette in association with Sky Bet.
“I was coming off the back of scoring goals for Bristol City. I was keen to get in and do well – we missed out on the play-offs on goal difference unfortunately. We had the best defence in the league at the time, so we just missed out proportionally.”
Flint made 42 appearances for Boro in his solitary season on Teesside before going on to play for Cardiff, Sheffield Wednesday and Stoke City.
Currently playing for Mansfield Town, he admits he didn’t quite meet his own expectation levels at the Riverside.
“It was a short spell at Middlesbrough,” he added.
“Obviously given the expectation of me going in for a big fee – seven million – my time there was quite disappointing.
“A lot of the fans will agree with that as well because it wasn’t the season I was expecting from myself, and probably they were expecting.”