Eric Cantona, Christian Eriksen and David Beckham were some of the names that sprung to mind as Thomas Frank looked ahead to Ivan Toney‘s long-awaited Brentford comeback.
Following his eight-month ban for breaching FA betting rules Toney will finally return against Nottingham Forest today.
He will be greeted like a hero and treated like one too with the honour of leading Brentford out as captain in the absence of Christian Norgaard, a sense of injustice fuelling him, an acceptance that things could have been different but apologetic?
‘Sorry is a big word I think,’ Thomas Frank said in a Toney-dominated press conference in which he was asked 31 questions about his talisman.
Toney’s enforced absence for non-injury reasons had echoes of Cantona’s for the same period in 1995 for kung-fu kicking a Crystal Palace fan.
Ivan Toney is free to return to action for Brentford following an eight month betting sanction
Brentford boss Thomas Frank has backed Toney to hit the ground running on his return
Frank hopes Toney can go one better than Cantona – scorer of United’s penalty equaliser in his comeback against Liverpool – by marking his return with victory as well as a goal but sees similarities in their confidence levels.
‘Yeah I would say so,’ Frank agreed when that suggestion was put to him.
‘A little bit different types of players but Ivan’s confidence is amazing. I think there’s a good story. It’s no secret that [Brentford defender] Charlie Goode and Ivan are good friends.
‘I had a good talk with Charlie about a year ago, we were talking about Ivan and other bits, he came to the club and I think the first three games he hasn’t scored and Charlie said ‘are you ok?’ and Ivan said ‘yeah I’ll smash the scoring record in the Championship, I will score more than 30 goals.
‘Charlie just looked at him (surprised) – and he did break the record. He has got that confidence. He believes he can score in every action. And that is a huge quality.’
With six league defeats in seven and just a three-point buffer to the drop zone, Brentford need Toney to find form instantly.
Frank said: ‘He is a player that will hit the ground running. I compare it a little bit, it’s different, but a little bit to Christian Eriksen. Also, it [his time out following a cardiac arrest] was not ‘injured’ if that makes sense.
‘Of course it was a crazy thing that happened to him but he hit the ground running [when he came back to football at Brentford] and I expect the same from Ivan.’
Frank claims Toney can have a similar impact to Eric Cantona at Man United after the Frenchman scored against Liverpool on his return from a nine month ban back in 1995
The Brentford boss highlighted Christian Eriksen’s return with the Bees after his cardiac arrest
Frank joked that it was typical Toney to comeback when he is – desperately needed and for a TV game at home under the lights. The stage is set.
Toney is the sort of self-assured personality who will thrive amid the additional scrutiny and even the inevitable targeting from rival fans.
Frank said: ‘I think he will cope well. The Netflix series about Beckham, I remember clearly in 1998 the game [when he got sent off at the World Cup against Argentina] but when you watch it back I’m thinking ‘what is happening? That is horrendous.’
‘I don’t hope that [level of abuse] will happen but I know how it will. There will be some banter and some probably more than banter and stick. He has got a very good mentality or ability to focus on the right thing so he will park it, not dwell on it, move forward and just be in the zone.’
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