Bristol City keep the beach towels packed away as Twine shines to pose questions for summer

The unbeaten run continues after a thoroughly professional performance against an already-relegated Rotherham United team. Liam Manning’s players are clearly not on the beach and as the saying goes, you can only beat the team that is in front of you.

This was as comfortable a 2-0 victory as you are likely to see and only if I was being hyper critical would I highlight our profligacy in front of goal as we should have been at least another goal better off.

Rotherham are the type of team that we have struggled against this season but that was not the case on Saturday. Was the difference Scott Twine? I thought he was excellent, he was our 3 Peaps In A Podcast Man of the Match, scored a wonderful free-kick, created numerous opportunities, and linked the forward play well.

In the eight games that Twine has started, we have not lost, and I referenced last week just how well he plays with Tommy Conway. He is a clever player and spots a pass that others simply do not, unlocking defences with a killer ball. With a full pre-season and more time spent with Manning, the coaching team and the players, Twine could be a massive player for us next season.

However, let us not forget, Scott is not our player. If Burnley remain in the Premier League does that improve our chances of signing him? Will we want to spend or have the funds to spend the few million that the Clarets are likely to demand?

The minutes without a penalty website for Bristol City is no longer getting many hits. This was the third home game in a row that we have been awarded a spot-kick. Tommy took the keeper's contact and went down, albeit it had the look of it being slightly a delayed reaction, but he was caught, was knocked off his stride and it was a penalty.

The stand out moment of the game was Twine’s free-kick in the 57th minute. It was probably in the ideal position for him but he executed it brilliantly and probably stuck another half a million on his transfer fee.

Manning opted to play Matty James and Joe Williams in the centre of midfield and the two controlled the centre of the pitch. Both are out of contract in the summer and while I have seen reference to the club offering terms to Williams, I have not seen the same mentions about a contract offer to James.

It is a quandary. I have talked about James not having the speed or legs, but I think, if he were to leave, he will secure a Championship club and will play 30+ games for them. I do not want to sign players based on sentiment, but you also cannot under play the importance of having the right characters and experience in the dressing room. From a squad perspective I would like to resign both James and Williams but I do not think that we will.

At the end of the game the club held the end of season awards and unsurprisingly Rob Dickie received both the Player of the Year and the Players' Player of the Year awards. Conway picked up the Young Player of the Year award and the Champagne Moment for his goal in the FA Cup third round tie at West Ham United’s London Stadium.

Dickie was my choice but there were certainly others in the mix; it has been a brilliant debut season from Jason Knight and Max O’Leary has been superb, winning the club many points over the season.

At the time of writing this column, depending on our result in our last game away at Stoke City and other results for Coventry City and Preston North End, we still have a chance to finish in the top 10 and as high as ninth. It would be great to end the season extending the unbeaten run to eight games.

Our 3 Peaps In A Podcast 'Robins Review' player ratings were: Max O’Leary 6, Ross McCrorie 6, George Tanner 6, Rob Dickie 7, Haydon Roberts 6, Cameron Pring 6, Joe Williams 7, Matty James 7, Anis Mehmeti 6, Scott Twine 8 *MotM and Tommy Conway 7. For the subs, Nahki Wells 6, Mark Sykes 6, and Jason Knight 6. An average player rating of 6.43 and a season average of 6.22.

For Manning, it was a 7. The unbeaten run continues, and the gaffer got it spot on again.

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