Toumani Diagouraga was already a Brentford player well before it was even imagined dreams of finally breaking out of League One could actually come true.

Brought in by Andy Scott, initially on loan, in January 2010, the Frenchman, whose long legs and tricky feet mesmerised Bees fans on countless occasions, quickly established himself as central figure in the middle of the park.

He joined permanently from Peterborough United that summer and, when Uwe Rösler took over at Griffin Park, he recognised the midfielder’s ability, too, with Diagouraga playing a part in 89 games across the German’s first two seasons in charge. He was part of the project from the very start.

But the one season where that long-desired promotion finally came to fruition, his role was greatly limited.

Granted, Rösler had an embarrassment of riches in midfield in 2013/14 - Alan McCormack, Jake Reeves, Jonathan Douglas, Adam Forshaw and George Saville - but until the end of 2013, Diagouraga made only seven starts.

“Yes, it was frustrating, but I knew I couldn’t feel sorry for myself,” Diagouraga explains.

“I always was a player that backed myself, so it was just about turning up for training every day and making sure I got that spot back.

“There was healthy competition and everyone was forced to step their game up because we knew how strong the group was, so if you wanted to be in the team, if you wanted to play, you had to make sure you were up to the standards.

“Once you start feeling sorry for yourself and you stop working as hard, there is only one outcome. I just had to get my head down and do everything I could.”

Mark Warburton had taken charge by the end of the year and chances were even more limited under him, so a loan move away was the only option he had in order to maintain the match fitness levels that would be required if he were to be called upon later down the line.

On 17 February 2014, Diagouraga joined League Two side Portsmouth on a month’s loan, with Warburton stating he was “a very important member of our squad”, when his temporary departure was announced.

“That was an interesting time,” Diagouraga adds. “I went from being involved to kind of being frozen out. Mark had an idea of what his midfield should look like, which is understandable. Sometimes a manager might not see what they want in you, so it’s up to you to work hard and try to change their opinion.

“We never had any issues or anything, it was literally just a footballing decision that he wanted to make.

"From my point of view, it was about how I could change his mind. I’ve always had the mentality to try and prove people wrong, work hard and try to earn my place back.”

He played the entirety of all eight games he spent with Pompey, which prompted Warburton to ensure his spell at Fratton Park was not extended.

Diagouraga admits that, had it not gone well on the south coast, his future might have looked a lot different.

“Everyone made me feel welcome at Portsmouth and playing week in, week out after missing out on so many games for Brentford was really good for me,” he recalls.

“It was a boost and also an opportunity because, had I not performed well there, I would probably never have gone back to Brentford.

“It was very clear to me that I thought I was good enough to play in the team at Brentford, but now I’d been sent out on loan, I had to prove - not in a bad way - I was too good to be there and I could come back and help achieve the end goal.”

Brentford were flying upon his return, but he still managed to make seven more appearances and started against Sheffield United, Notts County and Swindon Town, as well as making a late cameo on the day automatic promotion was achieved with a 1-0 win over Preston North End. It was a full-circle moment.

“When I joined the club, we were just a League One team that was bottom half, top 10 maybe. To turn that into losing the play-offs and then getting promoted, we had turned ourselves into a top League One team. It was amazing,” he says.

“Had we gone up the year before, it might have been a year too early. Yeovil got promoted that year and look at where they are today, the same with Doncaster. I suppose we will never know, but I think it worked out the way it should have worked out.

“I know football is a game of opinions and sometimes you’re going to be in the good books, sometimes you’re not. It’s just about how you respond to it. Yes, I wish I’d played 46 games that year, but I could easily have not been part of it at all, so I’m just grateful I was.”

The Frenchman re-established himself as a key player under Warburton in the first season back in the second tier, so much so that he won Supporters’ Player of the Year in 2014/15, and was one of the first names on the teamsheet during the first half of 2015/16.

Then, in a flash, he was gone. 10 days after what turned out to be his final appearance in a 3-1 home defeat to Burnley, on 25 January, he signed a two-and-a-half-year deal at Leeds United.

“To cut a long story short, I was meant to sign a new deal in summer 2016, which I was happy to do,” Diagouraga explains.

“After six months of the deal having not been signed, I wouldn’t say I got bad advice, but once the wheels were in motion about me leaving, it was hard for me to make a U-turn.

"I was in a position where I didn’t actually want to leave and go where I went, but how did I make a U-turn? I was between a rock and a hard place, put it that way.

“It was definitely hard to leave - and if I could turn the clock back, I probably wouldn’t have left.”

His debut came the day after… against Brentford: “That was a very awkward, tricky situation. There was a part of me that was looking forward to a debut for another team, then there was another part of me that always wanted Brentford to do well because that’s the club where I enjoyed it the most.”

Diagouraga went on to play until last summer, when, shortly after his 36th birthday, he called time on an 18-year career following time at Ipswich Town, Plymouth Argyle, Fleetwood Town, Swindon, Morecambe and, finally, Rochdale.

It was his own decision - something many professionals do not get the luxury of - and one made for the benefit of his future in the game.

“For the last two and a half years I’ve been coaching at my own private academy in Harrogate and, prior to that, at Morecambe, I was helping out when I could with the youth team,” he says. “Coaching has been in the back of my mind for four or five years at least.

“When I got told about the Middlesbrough job and I applied for it, I had a couple of offers to play this year, but my mind was set on calling it a day if I got the job.

"If I didn’t, I might have played another year in League Two or the National League. But to me, going into coaching made more sense at this stage in my career.

“I knew what I wanted my career after football to look like, so to get that opportunity was something I couldn’t pass on.

“A lot of people ask me if I miss playing and I say I’m okay due to the fact that I’ve decided to stop rather than being stopped.”

The Middlesbrough job he mentions is one as individual development coach for the club’s under-14s to under-18s teams.

It is part of the Professional Player to Coach scheme, a joint venture from the PFA, EFL and Premier League, which provides up to six coaches per season from a Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic background with a 23-month work placement at an EFL club.

“I’m really enjoying it,” he adds. “It’s a chance to sharpen your tools and you get loads of support to get you on your way to becoming a coach or a manager.

“I’m still involved in games and training and taking sessions, but my focus is more towards the individual development of players.

“In the long term, I want to be coaching teams, but I definitely think this area is something I’m interested in and I’m learning every day how to be better and build relationships with players and all sorts of different characters, which are some of the characteristics I think you need if you want to be a good manager.”

Could he be a future head coach in west London? Watch this space…