Maghoma admits he had to leave Spurs for the "penny to drop".
Now 23, the midfielder recalled to Brentford's website: “I don’t really talk too much about my time at Tottenham. I have myself to blame, in some aspects; I was immature, I had a bad attitude.
“I regret some of the things I did at Spurs when I had a good chance to stay and develop there. But I didn’t see things for what they were back then. I was young and I made mistakes.
“Everyone will agree that I’m quite lively and a bit loud; I like having banter, but it’s about knowing when the time is right.
“There was one time at Hotspur Way, I had just turned 18, we were in the first-team gym and, for about 45 minutes, I’m just messing around while I’m meant to be getting on with my gym programme. I’m doing my exercises half-heartedly - for a set of 10, I’d do three and then just start dancing or whatever."
Dumb and stupid
Maghoma continued: “This was a week before I was meant to go on a pre-season tour with the first team and, a couple of days later, we had a meeting and John McDermott (Tottenham’s head of academy coaching and player development) got the CCTV and made us watch the footage, highlighting who did it properly and who wasn’t.
“Back then, I didn’t think it was that big of a deal, but I look back and just wonder what I was doing - it was so dumb and so stupid. That cost me going on tour with the first team.
“I got angry about it and, after that, I said I didn’t play for the club anymore. From August until December, I played no football, I was on the bench, and I didn’t care.
“I do regret that and sometimes I think, ‘Imagine if I’d listened to him earlier’.
“I’m lucky enough to, now, be here at Brentford in the Premier League, I’m so grateful for it but, to my younger self, I would tell myself to listen to him more, take his advice, and implement it into my everyday life.
“But the penny drops when the penny drops and, luckily, it has dropped for me. I’m getting to the stage when I’m much more mature and, mentally, I have grown so much.”