Bristol City verdict: Manning gives off Twine signs, King stands tall and Dickie deserves it all

People dressed as bananas and vikings, a conga line, three pitch invaders including a schoolboy swiftly followed by his father and then, later on, a man in a ill-fitting but still fetching tutu, Andy King replacing Scott Twine with nine minutes remaining and then assuming exactly the same attacking midfield position; this game had a slightly unhinged, little bit surreal and decidedly end-of-season quality to it.

Which isn’t wholly surprising given (duh) it was the 45th match of the Championship campaign and the last at Ashton Gate in a competitive context for three-and-a-bit months, between a team safely ensconced in the middest of mid-table ranges and one who were relegated three weeks ago.

As Rob Dickie admitted, it was “comfortable” but as Liam Manning assessed in his post-match press conference, without using that specific adjective out of respect for the opposition and Steve Evans who he engaged in long conversations with both before and after the game, City ultimately made it so with the intensity of their performance.

Tommy Conway and Scott Twine were the goalscorers in each half, with missed chances around the former’s penalty and the latter’s delightful free-kick, as City bumped themselves up a place in the Championship table and extended their unbeaten run to seven. Here are the talking points from Ashton Gate…

Getting the job done

A 2-0 victory over a severely limited Rotherham side, bound for League One, with six of the starting XI either on loan or out of contract in two months and who knows how many of the other five will be around for next season, isn’t the brightest badges of honour for City but, then again, it was a game that still had to be won.

These times of the year tend to produce odd, out-of-step results, often down to such factors as mentioned above where concentration and focus slips as the feeling of consequence around the game is diminished. But the scoreline very much went to form, City were efficient in securing the three points and, outside of the strange goings-on as mentioned previously, there was never any real danger of the Millers ending the Robins run.

You have to temper the praise to an extent for this game alone because, ultimately, Manning’s side were expected to win and win they did, over a low-level opponent, but it does speak some volumes - and maybe Twine, Conway, Joe Williams and Ross McCrorie wish to turn it down - around things like character and determination, that they were able to do so.

Just like Norwich City last weekend, and even Huddersfield Town prior to that, this could have been mentally discarded as nothing special. Just another game to get to the summer when the real work starts. And had these last few games gone that way, no doubt that would be the overriding narrative.

But in a wider sense, this side have shown themselves to be made of substance with how they’ve approached this conclusion to the 2023/24 campaign, and let’s hope it continues at Stoke City next Saturday.

Yes, the pressure has been off. Or, at least, it looks that way in a simple sense because, if anything, they’ve played themselves into a position whereby they’ve actively had to alleviate the tension. Post-West Brom, it was a horrible atmosphere, and that feeds through to the staff and players, no doubt.

The international break allowed for a release but even with that pause, results still needed to be attained and Leicester City rolled into Plymouth Argyle and then onto Sunderland. Seven games unbeaten, and the Robins are 11th, having exceeded last season’s points total by three, achieved one more clean sheet, and are on pace for their best finish, position-wise, since 2019.

These games have very clearly mattered for this squad and that is largely down to their mentality and professionalism but also the work of Manning and his coaching team who have created a sense of purpose for this squad.

More fool those who proudly and confidently declared, without a shred of evidence, this dressing room had been lost some time ago. They are now surprisingly quiet with those particular takes appearing as cold as the surprisingly biting wind that swept through the stadium over the 90 minutes.

Beating this version of Rotherham in these circumstances may be no great shakes, but bar when Haydon Roberts misjudged the bounce of a ball, mistiming his jump and allowing Tom Eaves to test the strength of Max O’Leary’s wrists at his near post, it was never in doubt.

City confidently stroked the ball around the Ashton Gate turf - 70.6 per cent possession is a season high - and although that nagging lack of a killer instinct at times came to the surface, the opening goal seemed a matter of when rather than if.

Conway shunned Twine’s run to his left on 11 minutes as he advanced on the Rotherham penalty area and elected to shoot rather than pass, with Dillon Phillips making a strong but straightforward save. As was the case when he dived at the feet of the City striker after Twine had clipped a ball into him at close range and again when saving with a straight arm, after Conway had played a 1-2 with Matty James.

Anis Mehmeti then meandered his way past the keeper, lost his footing, dribbled some more, shaped to shoot, was starved of space and then just as the goal looked to be opening up, had Phillips leaping at his feet.

But then any concern, which there wasn’t really, disappeared when Twine sent Conway past Phillips and although the dive was a touch theatrical and delayed, with the ball running ahead of him, there was enough contact to deem it a spot kick and the boy from Taunton doesn’t tend to miss from there.

It was only 1-0 with 32 minutes played but that was that, really, as the Millers offered next to nothing to trouble the Robins defence, hence the conga line and ironic cheers from those who had made the journey down from Yorkshire.

They would have at least had a good view as Twine made sure with a glorious free-kick on 57 minutes. There was little power, just pure technique as he produced the right amount of spin, drift and turn to leave Phillips clutching thin air as he scrambled across to his near post.

Nahki Wells twice got beyond the Rotherham defence but couldn’t quite set-up Twine, and Elijah Morrison had a day to remember with his debut as City played out the remaining 33 minutes with total and utter ease.

Straightforward it may have been but it still required the necessary focus, application, teamwork and commitment to get it done. You could almost describe them as behaviours.

Fine Twine-ing

Another one of those b-words is, fittingly, bravery and if there was one individual who personified Manning’s interpretation of that word on Saturday then it was Twine.

There were first-time back-heels, one which nearly set up Conway and another that sent Cam Pring free, one touch flicks around the side as he feinted to take the ball into stride, fooling defenders and releasing Conway into space and the constant outstretching of arms, signalling to teammates, as he moved into the pocket to make things happen.

Twine has many strengths - and when was the last time a direct free-kick was sent into the top corner in front of the South Stand? - but his spatial awareness and ability to read the opposition is one of them. The way he just takes up that position, in between defence and midfield or just ahead of full-backs that makes them think about swinging and often missing, leaving areas for others to exploit.

There are numerous other factors around this but it’s still worth highlighting, in the seven games since he returned to the starting XI, City’s expected goals per game have been 1.38 (admittedly slightly juiced by Blackburn, but also reduced courtesy of the swirling rubbish at Sunderland). In the seven fixtures prior to that it was 0.75, and that includes the 3-1 win over Southampton.

Rotherham possess the worst defence in the Championship but it was still impressive to see the amount of knife-through-butter passes Twine delivered to set Conway either 1vs1 with a defender or clear into areas that led to shooting opportunities.

His touch and awareness of what’s around him make him a kind of infield outlet, which reads like a bit of a contradiction, but finding Twine is increasingly a safe pass because, worst case scenario, what he then tries to do at least makes opposition defenders and midfielders second guess or work to win it back, potentially leading to an action in broken play where Joe Williams or someone else can jump on.

He gives the City team shape and significance in an attacking sense and the growing chemistry he has with Conway is evident. As gifted as Mehmeti is, and you have to say this season has been a definite step forward, his unpredictability is not only frustrating for fans but also teammates given nobody is quite sure what’s coming next.

For a striker making runs in anticipation of a pass, they need to know it’s coming. And Conway gets that with Twine.

In the seven games with Twine in the No10 spot from the start, Conway has had 14 shots, 2.0 per game; his average for the season in the remaining appearances he’s made without Twine lurking behind him on the field from the opening whistle is 1.26.

It’s slightly simplistic analysis but still tells us something and leads to sighs, firstly, at that eight-week period where the 24-year-old’s quad was troubling him and games against QPR, Southampton, Sheffield Wednesday and possibly even Coventry City could have been decided by him. But also produces groans that deepen in frequency at the prospect of him lining up for Burnley next season.

Manning joked that he hoped nobody outside of Ashton Gate saw his free-kick and performance, because while Twine’s future at Turf Moor is uncertain - he admitted as much himself a few weeks ago - the conversation around where he’ll be playing his football next term may not be as simple as Bristol or Burnley.

As small a sample size it may be, and whatever additional reasons you want to bring into the debate as to what’s fuelled the Robins renaissance, it’s hard to avoid Twine’s role over the whole piece. Should he be made available in the summer, and should the price be right, Manning knows they won’t be the only ones looking to sign him.

Generational shift

Manning straight-batted any questions around Andy King’s future after the game but given the veteran midfielder was having pictures taken pitchside with his children just before kick-off, before receiving several warm embraces from staff and teammates, and conducted the lap of honour at the end with definite moisture in those eyes, before you even check the Instagram activity of Mrs. King, we all probably know where this is headed.

The fact he was permitted to play out those final nine minutes plus injury time in the position representative of his shirt number is a nice touch by the head coach and everyone in the team was probably on Mission: Set-up Kingy. Alas, it never transpired.

And while King will more than likely depart at the end of the season without having tasted success in BS3, as the man who brought him back to his boyhood club three years ago stated last week on the No Tippy Tappy Football podcast, success can be measured by more than just trophies or wins and losses.

King has been a hugely influential figure behind the scenes at the HPC and on matchdays; a go-to confidant for so many players, a constant setter of standards and just an extremely high-level professional who, in his mid-30s, could be winding down what has been a hugely impressive career, and perhaps even get annoyed, given his reputation, at a lack of first-team involvement, but that has never once happened.

No doubt, he’d like to have made more than his 64 appearances over three seasons but it’s unlikely he’s ever let it show. And the raft of young players making the transition from academy to Under-18s and 21s and into the first-team can look to him as much more than just Andy King: Premier League winner.

That accolade is important, of course, but it’s also not where you’ve come from, it’s where you’re at, and King has consistently been the example for others to follow; ask Conway, Cam Pring, Sam Bell, Alex Scott, anyone else, for that matter.

The concept of culture is a difficult one for fans to stomach, as they deal almost predominantly in the X’s and O’s of wins or losses. But King has been central to keeping the dressing room on an even keel throughout a period of significant flux. Boring it may have been as a perennial lower mid-table side post-Covid, it’s required a certain mentality to form the necessary foundations throughout the club that lead us to this point of optimism.

Managers and coaches need players to understand what they’re saying to enable it to work, and sometimes not all the information gets from point A to B without the aid of an individual such as King to provide the bridge from office to dressing room.

On a personal note, he’s lived the dream, having grown up a City fan and slipped on the shirt in a capacity beyond being a supporter. Even once that would have been cherished, that he got to do it over three seasons surely made it extra special. And while there were no silverware, should he move on soon - as it seems - there is still success to be claimed and pride to be found in the work he's conducted.

As King seemingly edged towards the end of his City career, one was just beginning with Elijah Morrison, 17 years his junior, making his debut in the closing stages. A key figure in City’s run to the FA Youth Cup semi-final, he’s been around the senior set-up before and has been talked about in excited tones at the HPC for some time, but those first steps will be cherished by the winger, just as King’s last ones on Ashton Gate will be.

Manning spoke eagerly about Morrison’s potential prior to the game, telling BBC Radio Bristol: “He’s been really impressive in the games I’ve seen him in and he’s played with us a few times now. I like his personality, his character. He produces wow moments. You see him do things that are extremely high level.

“As for most young players, it’s now how do you back those wow moments up with the trustworthiness, the reliability, those bits, so it’s finding that balance which, with young players takes time, but it’s a big part of the club.”

Trustworthiness, reliability, finding a balance… Andy King in a nutshell, no?

Dickie richly rewarded

Jason Knight spoke through a wry smile in the build-up as he declined to reveal who he had voted for when it came to City’s Players’ Player of the Year. But given he, who was clearly in the conversation, felt there was one clear, unanimous candidate, it’s fair to guess he voted for Rob Dickie.

The centre-back scooped both the Players’ Player and overall Player of the Year after an excellent season in which his performance levels have rarely dipped below a seven, and often have been much higher.

Those three desires by Manning, as quoted above, with reference to Morrison, could also equally be applied to Dickie whose presence on the ball never elicits concern or anxiety, just the total opposite. He has a calming quality but also a creative one as his passes from deep positions has been a joy to watch.

He’s achieved all this after being something of an outlier in terms of City’s transfer policy, with investment tending to go on those aged 23 and under offering resale value. But Dickie has displayed the value of signing Championship-ready players who are plug-in-and-play options and within a few weeks already look like they’ve been at the club for several seasons.

Outside of the injury he sustained at Plymouth and the suspension at the start of the campaign against Birmingham City, he’s been a constant in the heart of the Robins defence, and he’s had to be given it’s essentially been him and Zak Vyner for the vast majority of the campaign.

What sort of pickle would they be in had Dickie not been so damn consistent in his availability and the quality of his displays each and every week? He’s been an absolutely foundational player for the team and in a defence which, in terms of goals conceded, ranks as the joint third-best overall in the Championship.

It’s also easy to forget that he arrived in the West Country having been effectively discarded by QPR after a challenging last season in Loftus Road. But a change of scenery can do wonders for players and the responsibility he’s been given and the status as the focal point of the Robins backline has brought out the best in him.

Whether in a two, on the left or the centre of the three, he’s been dominant in the air and secure on the ground with the only truly genuinely alarming moment being against Leeds United when Daniel Farke’s front four looked to have flames coming out of their boots.

There weren’t too many other forwards who got the better of him, plus the fact the 28-year-old has produced some big goals with winners against Coventry, Sheffield Wednesday, in that Swansea game, which incrasingly seems a pivotal result, and the second against Southampton.

He's been Pat Mountain’s muse when devising attacking free-kicks, whether being the initial target or occupying the more physically gifted defenders to create space and opportunities for others.

It’s also important to note that only Southampton have conceded fewer than the Robins' seven from opposition free-kicks and corners. They have remained resolute for much of the season in that capacity and Dickie has been the centrepiece for such.

Jordan Hugill and Tom Eaves probably didn’t provide the toughest challenge of the season for him, but they remain awkward forwards to play against, all body shoves, elbows and contested headers, even when they don’t look like winning them. But each and every time, Dickie was security personified, helping earn that 13th clean sheet.

A solid season for City overall which has become a defensively-outstanding one, Dickie is a worthy and symbolic winner of what's largely taken place on the field over 2023/24.

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