by ‘That’s a good question,’ admitted Thomas Frank, and it wasn’t far from the only one facing the Brentford manager as he sat down to preview his side’s home game against Nottingham Forest this afternoon Saturday. Or, to bill it another way, and how everyone is doing: Ivan Toney’s return from an eight-month ban for betting offences. Is the Brentford striker motivated by a sense of injustice?
It’s surprising that he didn’t get a great answer because Frank is usually the man for a great answer; always ready to engage, to think deeply, to respond with extra layers. At one point, when asked about the possibility of Toney getting a stick from opposition fans, he brought up David Beckham after the 1998 World Cup. “I hope that doesn’t happen but I know that there will be some comedy and probably more than comedy and stick,” Frank said.
Related: ‘A lonely life’: Ivan Toney walks a well-worn path as he returns from prohibition
As for the foul line, Frank agreed that it could give Toney an “edge” and it feels like a fair starting point to examine the emotions that have plagued the player since November 2022 – perhaps even before that. It’s mainly because of how hard Toney pushed himself.
The 27-year-old has given little interview since last May when his suspension was announced after he pleaded guilty to 232 breaches of the Football Association’s betting rules over a period of almost four years from February 2017.
Toney has spoken in more than one of them of his devastation at how “they” – meaning the FA – “decided to take him out” in November 2022 just before Gareth Southgate named his England squad for the Qatar World Cup . A newspaper broke the story of Toney being investigated for betting violations; It was barely an FA press release and, at that point, he wasn’t charged.
Toney felt it was impossible for Southgate to pick him because of the exposure and in the absence of the England manager, asking for the World Cup was more of a punishment than his eventual ban. But why did “they” wait until May to suspend it? “It’s like a double whammy,” Toney told the Journal of the CEO podcast, hosted by Steven Bartlett. “I felt that someone was out to stop me playing for England.”
Toney also told Bartlett that the authorities had made an example of him because of his position; that players further down the league who broke the betting rules were penalized less.
It speaks to another interesting theme: Toney’s reluctance to apologize for what he has done. Is he sorry, Frank was asked. “I think so… he doesn’t seem to think it’s cool if you make a mistake,” Frank replied. “Let’s say in a football game, he always puts his hand up if there is something he should have done better. Sadness is a big word. If it could have been done differently, yes, I think it would have been done but it moves on.”
This was the aspect that Frank wanted to push; Toney’s preternatural ability to live in the moment on the field, to immediately field anything that was straight. It’s easy from the outside to paint Toney as some kind of fanatic, ready to take out his frustrations on the Forest’s defense. The way Frank tells it, he’s ready to take on the protection of the Forest because that’s how he’s wired.
“The way he plays football is the way he lives his life,” Frank said. “If something is good, it still moves on. Something bad or whatever, an injustice… leave it in the past, move on. He does not play angry. It plays on smiles, energy, positive thinking.
“Ivan is so good at staying focused – the next action, the next shot, the next pressing situation, the next set, the connection. So leave the bad deed or the good deed behind and build on the next one. That’s a great ability and I think you see that in the best players.”
Frank was certainly better received by the media than usual and Brentford press officer Chris Wickham smiled during his welcome speech. “Just to let you know we’re not going to ask Ivan Toney any questions,” he said. Towards the end, Frank asked how much it was. “Twenty six? Yes?” he said. “Let’s hit 30! Come on, we can do that!”
Toney’s comeback was described as the biggest in the Premier League since Eric Cantona’s kung-fu kick and Frank was looking to bring another one – Christian Eriksen’s for his Brentford side in February 2022. It was the first Eriksen’s appearance since he suffered a cardiac arrest. during Denmark’s opening round of the European Championships in June 2021.
“He’s different but I compare him a bit to Christian – but also he wasn’t ‘hurt’ if that makes sense,” said Frank. “Obviously it was a crazy thing that happened to him but he hit the ground running and I expect the same from Ivan.”
When Frank saw a parallel between Toney and Cantona their self-confidence was supreme. “There is a story with our defender Charlie Goode, who is a good friend of Ivan,” said Frank. “When Ivan came to the club [from Peterborough in 2020] and he didn’t score for the first four games, Charlie said to him: ‘Are you all right?’ Ivan said: ‘Yes, I will break the scoring record in the Championship, I will score more than 30 goals.’ Which he did. He has that confidence. He believes he can score in every action.”
The Toney saga still has so many uncomfortable aspects. When he was first interviewed by the FA in May 2022, he said he had no bets on matches. He would only later admit that he would do so, although there was a caveat in the interview he did with Bartlett. “There were promises in the 232 that I didn’t remember making but I was willing to take responsibility just to get the process done and done,” Toney said.
Toney told Bartlett “It wasn’t a lie … I couldn’t remember what they were asking – until they brought certain things in front of me.” Then there was the line: “If I deny it, it’s fine – they’ll get nothing.”
Toney’s admission to Sky this week that he didn’t know if the move he wants to a top club could come this month, though probably spoke more to his insatiable desire. He had to fight to protect his mental health, especially during the first four months of his ban when he was not allowed to train with Brentford. There was also the reality of his gambling addiction.
Toney wants to move on. “He’s like an eight-year-old boy who is excited to play football,” said Frank, confirming that Toney would start against Forest and wear the captain’s armband in the absence of the injured Christian Nørgaard.
Even without Toney, the game would have been high-profile: injury-hit Brentford desperate to end a five-game losing streak against a Forest side one above them in 15th and chasing the announcement that they are facing a points deduction possible for breaking financial rules. . With Toney, it’s a blockbuster.
“It’s perfect timing for Ivan, it’s classic Ivan,” Frank said. “He could be away, kick-off 12.30pm, but now he’s at home, under the floodlights at 5.30pm and a bit of the game, I’d say. He will thrive in that environment.”
