On a summer’s night six years ago in front of 470 souls at Whitley Park in North Tyneside, Ivan Toney made his debut for Newcastle United Under 23s.
The consensus? Nowhere near first-team standard, and not ever likely to be. It was an opinion that barely altered during the course of his three years at the club.
Sportsmail was there for that 1-1 draw with Blackburn, in which the 19-year-old missed an early chance. We did not disagree with the idea of Toney being a useful player to have around the youth set-up, but little more.