Sometimes, it takes one manager to get something extra out of a player. That’s how Scott Twine feels about Bristol City boss Liam Manning.
Twine has played permanently or on loan for six clubs across the last four seasons. One of those campaigns sticks out from the others.
At MK Dons in 2021/22, when he was first introduced to Manning, Twine featured in all-but three of the club’s games en route to the League One play-offs and scoring 20 goals – despite playing as a No 10.
In the two years since he was poached by Burnley at the end of that season, he has played for three different clubs and kept up a decent enough goal-contribution record.
But nowhere has quite felt like home again until Bristol City, now managed by Manning, came calling on the lookout for a replacement for Bournemouth-bound Alex Scott in January.
The Robins had floundered in the final third for half a season without their £25m creative spark, and were looking for something new.
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Even though an injury-hit loan spell limited him to nine starts, two goals and as many assists, working under Manning again but also the feel of the club left him desperate to return – only permanently this time – this summer.
“I always wanted to come back, I think Burnley knew that,” he told Sky Sports ahead of the Severnside Derby with Cardiff this weekend.
“For my career, I thought it was better to come back here. Once I knew it was possible, I pushed for it – and it took it’s time, but it all worked out in the end.
“It’s always nice being settled somewhere, and it’s not too far from home, which is ideal for me and my family – but most importantly, it’s about the football.
“I fit in straight away with the lads, I felt comfortable and felt like I could do well here. I think we’ve got a great squad here, we can really compete and be higher up in the league than we are now.”
Twine has his doubters in BS3 in the slightly maverick existence of a creative player. Though he has scored just one single goal and made another this season, only three other players in the division have created more chances.
This is where Manning gets the best out of his man. “It’s a trust thing,” Twine explains. “He gives me a certain amount of freedom which I thrive off, that’s my game – where I can drift into spaces. I love working under him.”
Last season the Robins struggled to make chances, now they struggle to finish them. City have scored only nine in eight games but have the fifth-highest xG tally in the Championship, and not just from a scatter-gun approach – their xG per shot is also at play-off level.
Turning chances into goals is where things aren’t quite clicking. Only Millwall and Cardiff have a worse xG underperformance after eight games.
That can be forgiven, for a time at least, with an almost entirely new-look attack following the addition of forwards Fally Mayulu and Sinclair Armstrong, winger Yu Hirakawa and Twine on a permanent deal.
The latter could argue he would be getting better reviews if his playmaking were rewarded, but he can’t be too hard on his team-mates. His own xG underperformance is the highest in the squad, though only sharp-shooter Mayulu, Jason Knight and George Tanner’s numbers are in the black of the 16 players to have had a shot this season.
“I haven’t quite got the goals I wanted yet,” he admits. “But I’m creating a lot. I’m getting into good positions and I’m confident. The squad help me out on that front, if I get the ball I know where they’ll be.
“We’ve got different options in attack now, different ways of playing – it’s not quite shown yet, but obviously it’s a fairly new attack.
“I’m not worried about the goals not coming at the moment, over the season there’ll be games where we hardly create anything and score goals.
“It’s going to take a bit of time, but when it happens it’s going to really click, and I think we’ll end up being really strong this season.”
That inconsistency at one end has not helped with City’s inability to keep clean sheets, producing some particularly contrasting results in the opening eight games including heavy defeats at Derby and Blackburn.
They have dropped points from winning positions twice, and even blew a two-goal lead at home to Millwall before Twine’s late winner – in a game where they scored almost half of their goals to date this season.
The balance has still not been struck. A smattering of boos met the final whistle against Sheffield Wednesday in midweek where City were unusually resolute – and finally kept a clean sheet – but drew their first home league blank since March.
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Highlights of the Sky Bet Championship match between Bristol City and Sheffield Wednesday.
That came against the same Cardiff City side who visit Ashton Gate this Sunday with a far more significant scoring problem of their own, and sitting rock bottom of the Championship.
Having also conceded 17 times already, this feels like the perfect opportunity for their hosts to begin turning promising performances into goals – though form will always play more of a secondary role in this derby.
“There’ll be lots of ups and downs this season,” adds Twine. “It’s unfair to judge any team after eight games. The longer the season goes on, it’s about how the team’s improving.
“Obviously there’s certain things you can’t control, but overall the table does even itself out over the course of the season, and so I think we’ll end up in a higher place than we are now, and be in a really strong position.”
Watch Bristol City vs Cardiff live on Sky Sports Football from 2.30pm on Sunday, kick-off at 3pm.