HE LOVES TO MOVE, HE LOVES TO MOVE
Figuratively at least one suspect, Ivan Toney, braced himself to score against Nottingham Forest on Saturday. Considering he returned from his eight-month spell at Naughty Step after pleading guilty to 232 charges of breaching FA betting regulations, it’s probably safe to assume that there wouldn’t be anyone foolish enough to disrupt something so clearly marked and potentially career-inducing. The damaging rule has literally backed itself to score with cold hard cash, it’s probably safe to assume that many other punters are also involved.
In the build-up to his return, Toney, his manager and several team-mates had made it clear that the Brentford striker was a player to prove. A point that needs to be proven to the haters, the tyrants at the FA, the Brentford fans, England manager Gareth Southgate, the recruitment departments of Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United and, perhaps most importantly, to himself. Prior to his return, Toney had shown few signs of rust in warm-up matches and showed he still had a keen eye for goals when he scored a hat-trick in Brentford B’s low-key strike against Southampton U-12s. But on a weekend with several top-flight matches, there was always the possibility that he would be thrust into the spotlight from the moment he donned his red-and-white striped shirt featuring an eye-catching advertisement for a South African betting firm. front.
Relating to: Nottingham Forest write letter to Premier League and PGMOL over Toney’s goal
Considering the captaincy on the day, things couldn’t have gone better as he played a crucial role in helping Brentford win their first game after five consecutive league defeats. As if chattering and generally making a nuisance of himself while creating a series of opportunities that could not be converted by his team-mates wasn’t fit enough to throw in again after such a long absence, the highlight of his performance came in the form of a clever free-kick. This proves that even if the rest of his body still has some catching up to do, his brain is definitely in tune. “It means a lot,” the visibly shattered player told Sky Sports when asked how it felt to be back. “It’s been a long time coming. I put this out there [the goal], while I was out. Now I’m here and I’m excited to get back to scoring goals and winning with the team. “Before the game, before I left my house, I thought, ‘Yes, we are winning today and I am scoring a goal.'”
Before sending his free-kick from just outside the penalty area into the gaping hole at one end of Forest’s poorly positioned defensive wall, Toney had moved both the ball and the referee’s magic bubble indicating the ball should have been a foot or more away. the right to give himself a marginally better angle from which to shoot. It’s a bit like lighting a huge bonfire in your garden, no one is sure if what they’re doing is illegal or not, but it’s clear that no one wearing a Jungle shirt at the time made a complaining murmur because they either didn’t care or didn’t care too much. They are too busy not participating in their collective defensive duties to shift the same distance to their left to cancel out any small advantage Toney might give him.
But Forest boss Nuno Espírito Santo moaned about it after the game and the club has since written a scathing and almost certainly pointless letter of complaint to the Professional Game Officials Board Limited (PGMOL) asking whether what Toney did was a foul. play. Given the near-universal lack of clarity offered by various former pundits-turned-arbitrators over the past two days, they may be waiting a very long time for an answer.
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Join John Brewin for his back-to-back Monday night special at Afcon, starting with goal updates for Guinea Bissau v Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea v Ivory Coast (17:00 GMT), followed by all the key action from Brighton v Wolves (19:45) . Premier League and Championship match between Leicester and Ipswich at 20.00.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“When someone wants to break into your home, you will not be able to agree with the person who wants to rob you. [Florentino Pérez’s] Our goal is for the big clubs with the richest and largest assets to manage football in Europe. And the rest are just vassals who have to be happy with whatever they are given” – La Liga chief Javier Tebas talks to Nick Ames about his ongoing feud with the infamous Real Madrid president, the idea of a European Super League and the idea of a European Super League. We explore why financial mismanagement is ruining the game.
FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS
As for Steven Gerrard’s new contract with Al-Ettifaq, it may not have been earned by his results so far, but it serves a useful purpose: it will prevent him from being linked with managerial vacancies in the top two leagues in England, and will ensure that Scotland’s men’s game is a success. top flight and probably in the WSL as well. The sound you can hear is a collective sigh of relief from supporters all over the country. “I knew if we waited long enough we would find something about the Saudi Pro League that would benefit football as a whole” – Ed Taylor.
Some fans think Scott Twine’s latest move from Burnley to Bristol City will unravel” – Mick Beeby.
As a Watford supporter (yes, there are long-suffering fans among us), I was very surprised to see Troy join FGR as player-coach; While doing this, I also took into consideration that he was not interested in coaching at all. He was at Watford. Suddenly he became a manager and that was even more shocking. The irony of all this chopping and changing managers at the club is that Deeney’s former club Watford, who poached (am I allowed to use that word) Rob Edwards shortly after FGR won promotion, did so and foolishly booted him out of the 10th division. games in the season. Since then FGR has failed and Dale Vince has become a laughing stock. He seems to be having trouble choosing an experienced person to manage his club. Those who come from the middle go away (or is it the other way around?)” – Geoff Hall.
Send your letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. The winner of today’s letter of the day is…Ed Taylor, who received a copy of A Culture of Kits, published by Pitch Publishing, which went on sale in early February. To pre-order a copy, visit the football bookstore.
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