Scott Twine: Why Bristol City playmaker underpins hopes of ending 46-year wait for top flight football

It is curious that when asked about his changing role this season, Bristol City's creative lynchpin Scott Twine should focus more on his work without the ball than with it.

His first year under the high-octane philosophy of head coach Gerhard Struber has seen 26-year-old rocket up the rankings to produce among the league's best returns for goal contributions, and only three other players in the Championship have created more chances in open play.

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Compare and contrast that to last season, under the more patient build-up of Liam Manning, where his final goal contribution arrived in mid-January and you'd have to scroll down to 68th to find him on the chances created list.

Beyond Twine's own output, City's style has unquestionably undergone rapid transition between the two head coaches.

Struber's City have seen a greater drop in the number of final-third passes needed to produce a shot than any other Championship side between seasons. Just like his former Barnsley side, the Austrian plays vertical football at a high tempo.

Sometimes it's still the little things that you can't measure so easily. Despite those obvious changes, Twine has felt a more acute change to his own game out of possession.

That has certainly changed too. The number of team pressures City have attempted per game has increased only marginally, Twine's have risen between seasons by almost a quarter.

"I think it's a lot of the same ideas with the ball, just with slight changes," he tells Sky Sports. "A big thing this season has been about the off the ball pressing, high up, fast, and then looking to win the ball and score as quickly as possible. That's something I've enjoyed doing.

"I've adapted my game a bit over the years from different experiences, being at different clubs and with different managers. I don't know if it's the right word but I feel like I've got smarter with my pressing. I'm definitely more switched on than I used to be five years ago."

City were and remain built in the image of their head coaches. Manning, whose coaching apprenticeship came through City Football Group, were a possession-based side focused on build-up and control - and imitating Pep Guardiola, aimed to stifle the opposition in their own half - while Struber, a student of the Red Bull conglomerate, practices a high-pressing vertical game where transitions are king.

It was around this time a year ago that Manning's side turned another forgettable campaign into one where they almost made history with a run of 26 points from their final 15 games to sneak into the play-offs for the first time since 2008.

There are still hopes that Struber can mastermind another late push, though 14 points from 11 games since Boxing Day have tempered hopes of a first top-flight season in almost half a century in the balance, though victory over Watford live on Sky Sports this Friday would seal welcome back-to-back wins for the first time since mid-December.

Sky Sports' Gary Weaver wrote in his preview of Friday's game that the Robins are "indicative of the Championship" and Twine is inclined to agree. "Any team in the league goes on runs, four or five wins from six or seven games and you're suddenly going up a fair few positions in the league," he says. "That's just this division in general."

But is there a deeper explanation as to where this gradual decline has come from, after such a bright start? Struber's physical demands coupled with the fewest line-up changes of any team in the division may play a part.

The head coach made no secret of his thoughts on the club's strength in depth with such a lack of rotation in the first half of the season, and it was little surprise a number of players were moved on temporarily in January to save warming the bench.

A couple of upgrades looked the tone of a positive month in the winter window, but the unscheduled departures of Anis Mehmeti and Zak Vyner, both of whom had entered the last six months of their contracts and could have left for free in June, was a blow they could have done without.

Struber even suggested the frustration of losing last season's top goalscorer Mehmeti had a knock-on effect on the dressing room following a 5-0 defeat by Derby that month.

Though Twine has a different view - "I've been in enough teams to realise that players are going to get bought and sold, I don't think it had much of an impact" - he does not deny the boost that the duo's replacements have added to the squad, when they finally arrived.

Tomi Horvat was one of those, arriving as the top chance creator in the Austrian Bundesliga for Sturm Graz and having scored against both Old Firm clubs in the Europa League group phase.

He has hit the ground running with two assists in his first four games, and there are already signs of a bond forming with Twine, who as joint No 10s are tasked with providing the creative heartbeat of the squad.

"Anis and Tomi are both slightly different," Twine says. "For a start, one's right footed and the other's left, but Tomi's bought into the team philosophy straight away and that's why he's done so well.

"We have a lot of chats together and I know where he wants me to be when he's got the ball and vice versa."

Though both players complement one another well already, Horvat may prove a capable rival for Twine's role as free-kick taker.

No player across the EFL can come close to matching Twine's 17 goals from dead balls since his first in December 2020, though if he wants to keep the Slovenian at bay Friday's game may prove a good time to replicate his strike in the reverse fixture in November, his last free-kick to hit the back of the net.

"I'm still practicing them," he says with a smile. "Maybe it's time to get another one soon."

Watch Bristol City vs Watford live on Sky Sports Football from 7.30pm on Friday, kick-off 8pm

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