Many questioned whether Ivan Toney could make that step up from League One and Peterborough United to the Championship and Brentford.
Not only would he be making a step up but he would be stepping into some big shoes last worn by Ollie Watkins.
It is safe to assume that there is no-one left questioning now.
Toney filling shoes and the net at Brentford
Watkins scored 25 goals and provided three assists at Brentford in their 2019/20 Sky Bet Championship campaign. It was a total that propelled him to a £27m, Premier League move to Aston Villa.
Big shoes to fill indeed, but Ivan Toney has already filled them. Ahead of today’s game vs Stoke City, the former Newcastle United youngster already had 24 goals and nine assists to his name.
Today and the Stoke City game
Today Toney and high-flying Brentford took on Stoke City. It was a case of the second-placed Bees vs the 10th-position Potters.
It was a game that ended in a 2-1 Brentford victory. The Bees, however, had to come from behind after Stoke had taken a 27-second lead through Jacob Burns.
The Potters were to be denied the victory by two second-half goals from the Bees. First up was a thunderbolt from German midfielder, Vitaly Jennet, that rippled the back of the net from distance.
The winning goal was scored by hotshot Toney – his 25th of the season. There are 13 games left for the super-striker to add to his tally for the season.
Stoke City fans bemoan Potters choices in light of Toney brilliance
For Stoke fans, it was a case of expectation bearing frustrating fruition with Toney netting the winner.
It was also an occasion where Potters fans reflected on the cost of strikers they’d splashed out on compared to what Toney cost Brentford.
Here is what a selection of these Stoke City fans said after today’s loss:
Just let this sink in, We brought Vokes for 9 mill Brentford buy Toney for 5 mill 🙈
— Ben matthews (@ben_matthews7) February 27, 2021
Will never understand it. We opted for 9mil Vokes when Toney was available
— el pottersaurus (@FPLstokelona) February 27, 2021
£9 million for Ivan Toney
£9 million for Sam Vokes— Lucas (@StokeLucas5) February 27, 2021
Probably shouldn't say it, but looking forward to watching Toney today. Proper striker 💪 No idea why we went for Vokes and Fletcher instead mind
— Stace (@stokie_stace) February 27, 2021
Ivan Toney has bagged goals for a few years now. Brentford paid 5m for him. We paid out 10m for vokes, 12m for Afobe, 12m for Ince, 6m for McLean to name just a few. How has Tony Scholes still got a job?#scholesout
— James (@JPhillips87) February 27, 2021
They bought Toney for £5m, we bought Sam Vokes for £7m. Forget about tactics, systems & substitutions, that's the difference. #scfc
— poc (@peteoconn) February 27, 2021
Said for ages that Brentford’s recruitment model is second to none. It’s so far beyond anything Stoke’s hierarchy would consider while the Coates family run the show, and that clown Scholes overseeing it. Hence why we paid nearly double what Toney cost, for Vokes 😂
— Jordan (@JDSCFC) February 27, 2021
This Stoke fan, however, offers a reality check for those Potters fans having a moan:
People do realise it was over 2 YEARS ago we signed Vokes so stop comparing him with Brentford signing Toney
— Adam Boulton (@StokieBoulton79) February 27, 2021
