I’d love to keep working with Scott, says boss Manning
LIAM Manning would love to keep Scott Twine at Bristol City but accepts there are too many moving parts at present to definitively say whether a permanent deal for the Burnley playmaker is possible.
Twine scored a wonderful freekick to secure a 2-0 victory for the Robins in their last home game of the season as they saw off alreadyrelegated Rotherham United to extend their unbeaten run to seven matches.
Twine claimed his second goal in a City shirt, to add to Tommy Conway’s penalty, bending the ball past Millers goalkeeper Dillion Phillips from 25 yards. His first came three months ago against Watford but the 24-year-old’s loan spell has been interrupted by a quad injury, which has limited him to only nine appearances.
Just as Twine looks to be reaching his expected levels, as he delivered a strong showing against Norwich City last weekend, his loan is coming to an end with next week’s trip to Stoke City, as it stands, his last appearance in a Robins shirt.
City’s loan agreement doesn’t contain an option to make it into a permanent move with Burnley valuing the Wiltshire-born midfielder at £5 million prior to the January window, while the Clarets are in the midst of a Premier League relegation battle which means they’re not in a position to plan for beyond this season.
It leaves City, Manning and also Twine in a slight state of limbo, as
they wait to see how the next few weeks play out and whether the stars align around Twine’s availability in the market and then at a price that works for the club.
“It’s tough, ultimately he’s not our player,” said Manning. “It’s one of those where the discussions have to happen for me to see what it looks like, whether it’s possible. Burnley might not want to do it, there are so many permutations to it that, at the minute, I have no idea.
“I’d love to work with him. I think he fits the club and profile of player we’ve got but there are so many challenges that go into it. For me, he’s been great; I think he’s got another level he can go to, I think he’s starting to show that and he fits what we’re trying to do.”
Twine was at the centre of much of City’s attacking play as they were ultimately too strong for a committed Rotherham outfit lacking in quality. His partnership and understanding with Conway is growing with every performance and the Scotland Under-21 international
was the beneficiary of Twine’s invention in the pocket on a number of occasions. After being slipped through by Twine, Conway won the penalty he then converted for his 12th of the season as he skipped past Phillips before being clipped by the Millers No 1 and falling to the ground; a contact which visiting manager Steve Evans felt wasn’t worthy of a spot-kick.
Phillips had repelled several City efforts prior to that but he could do little to stop Twine’s party piece as the former Swindon midfielder stood over the ball and then almost passed it up and around the wall, the ball tucking into the near post.
“I brought Twiney in, because I know what he brings and you saw that today,” added Manning. “He’s just a different profile to what we’ve got. He knits it together really well.
It doesn’t surprise me a couple of chances Syksey’s had recently, it’s off the back of Twiney sliding it through.
“Tommy’s had more chances in the last few games since Twiney has been there to slide him and they’ve got a great little understanding. I knew what he’s capable of, I knew the level he can hit but unfortunately for us he missed six to seven weeks with injury and he’s now, over the last two, getting back to what I expect of him and gradually getting to that level and he’s great to have.”
City’s encouraging late-season run means they’ve now exceeded their points total and clean sheet record from last term with one game remaining. Despite being nestled comfortably in mid-table, Manning admits it’s a mark of the mentality of the squad that they were able to dispatch Rotherham in a game which, at times, very much had an end-of-season feel about it with three pitch invaders, while Andy King finished the match in an attacking midfield position and 18-year-old Elijah Morrison made his debut off the bench at left wing-back.
“You’ve heard me talk a lot around behaviours, if you’re a winner you can’t turn them on and off,” said Manning. “It’s being relentless, being ruthless and having it ingrained. I’ve said before about putting runs together, you can only do that if you’re at it every single day and then it becomes habit.
“The lads, since we set the challenge of eight to go, let’s really push, they’ve stepped up and today was a real professional performance.”