Game looks Toney deaf to issues
The Sunday Mirror|January 21, 2024
Ivan's back but football is riddled with hypocrisy
RYAN TAYLOR
Game looks Toney deaf to issues

BRENTFORD 3 Toney 19, Mee 58, Maupay 68

NOTT'M FOREST 2 Danilo 3, Wood 65

IVAN TONEY has spent the past eight months plastering his body in reflective tattoos to help forget his gambling ban hell.

Yet here on his long-awaited return to action at Brentford, the more significant words were not written in ink. They were emblazoned across his chest.

Welcome to English football's bizarre double standards.

A broken system that is happy to endorse gambling and claim its cash - but fall into trouble and you will be hung out to dry.

"I feel like a free man, declared a stone-faced Toney in midweek.

He has not been held captive, nor been imprisoned, but the heartfelt statement was a damning reflection of the crippling mental struggles he has endured on his long road to liberation.

Thankfully, there was a priceless, early and deserving moment of redemption via a smartly-crafted 19th-minute free-kick.

Toney's goalscoring powers have evidently not waned during his time away from the game.

Denne historien er fra January 21, 2024-utgaven av The Sunday Mirror.

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Denne historien er fra January 21, 2024-utgaven av The Sunday Mirror.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.