Garry Monk says the new Leeds United regime led by Andrea Radrizzani had no intention of keeping him long term at the club, which was why he had to leave.
The former Swansea City boss took charge of Leeds in the summer of 2016, putting pen to paper to a one-year deal, and earned huge plaudits for his work at Elland Road as the Whites only narrowly missed out on a playoff spot in the Championship.
Radrizzani took full control of Leeds in the summer this year and held talks with Monk about a new contract to keep him at Elland Road.
But following the discussions Monk chose to walk away and has since bounced back into management at Middlesbrough.
Monk has taken heavy criticism from Leeds fans for leaving the club and while the manager does not want to go into detail about what happened, he is prepared to stress that the Whites had no intention for him to stay long term.
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He told the Daily Telegraph: "There has been a lot of negativity [toward me] and I was disappointed to leave Leeds.
“I felt we had a fantastic season when you consider what it was when I took over and what it was when we left.
"There was an expectancy we’d still be there.
"It was frustrating, and I don’t want to go too much into it, but for me there was never a real intention for me to have a long-term job there.
"My intention was to stay, but I had a one-year contract, there were new owners.
"After the job I’d done and after discussions, there was never a real desire to keep me and I didn’t want to put myself or my staff in that position.
"That’s why I took the Middlesbrough job.
"I’ve loved every minute of it and we are improving, you have to rebuild the confidence of a club after relegation, the players, the staff and the fans and we’re getting there", Monk added.
Leeds moved to appoint Thomas Christiansen as their new head coach in the summer following Monk's departure.
