Ivan Toney has made an appearance on popular podcast, Diary of a CEO, where he has opened up about his his life since his ban.
The striker is banned from playing games for Brentford until the 16th of January 2024.
This ban came after Toney admitted 232 breaches of the FA’s betting rules.
The number three podcast in the UK, on Spotify, has hosted many football based guests from Frank Lampard to Jesse Lingard.
Toney is the latest on the show and he has discussed everything about his ban.
What has Ivan Toney said?
The Brentford talisman admitted to the charges despite ‘not recalling’ making the bets but just wanted it ‘over and done with’.
He didn’t shy away from discussing his gambling.
When talking about money he said: “I would be waiting for payday. I’d pay for everything I need to sort and then I would be like ‘I’ve got this much to play with’
“I took care of what needed to be taken care of then in my head it’s like ‘my money is my money and I can spend it how I want’.”
Its a sign of how deep routed the problem was for the forward.
According to Sportrac.com, Toney receives a salary of roughly £91,000 a month. A large amount to spend towards his addiction.
After an investigation into his gambling the Englishman didn’t worry: “‘That was when they threw everything at me. I thought I would deny it and then it’s all fine and they wouldn’t find anything.”
It appears he wasn’t self aware of the infringements he was making as he referred to the rules as a ‘grey area’.
It must of been an element of frustration for Toney to be banned at that specific moment.
With a World Cup on the horizon, the Brentford man wasn’t best pleased: “I felt like it was a bit of a questionable time when they decided to bring it all out and then when they actually dealt with the situation come the end of the season, it’s kind of like why bring it out then?
“The biggest punishment for me was missing out on playing at the World Cup. I felt like somebody’s out to get me at that time, to stop me from playing for England.”
A particularly tough pill for Toney to swallow, especially being the second top English scorer in the Premier League behind Harry Kane.
Despite all that has happened, it is clear that the bit is between his teeth for his return in January.
“There’s a lot of haters and doubters out there thinking, he ain’t going to be the same man when he’s back.
“Actually they’re right I’m gonna be a different man, I’m going to be even better than that guy who scored them goals before. I’m built different, my mentality’s different.”
Brentford fans are excited about his return and with two wins and five goals this season so far, imagine how good they could be with Toney back.