Thetownend.com

Good piece on him here.

https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11751/12140244/scott-twine-interview-newport-midfielder-on-loans-regular-playing-time-and-enjoying-football-more-than-ever

Probably worth putting him straight into the team for Saturday. Nothing to lose.

Clearly a player in form, who knows, could be the one to get the goals & assists that will keep us in the division.
Plus the "shop window" opportunity in font of an expectant TV audience of 10's if not 100's.

You're right Bob throw him in at the deep end as he can't do any worse than the players on display against Franchise

He won't be a Swindon player by Saturday, he will be a perm signing for Newport and playing in the FA cup 3rd round against Brighton on Sunday as Newport get a nice wedge yet again for the cup run that will easily pay for his transfer fee.

Does he want to come back here though ? he's getting regular football and is seen as an important player in their team, comes back here he has got to try and fit into our style and hope for regular football, not sure our current, non footballing style will suit his game.

With rumours of Newport wanting to buy him, he needs to do what is best for his career, and signing for Newport with a good chance of promotion and getting himself noticed at the same time would be better for his career than coming back here.

He may have been recalled but that will push clubs to put an offer in for him, and hopefully stfc have the foresight to include a decent sized sell on clause.

Well, he’s definitely been recalled.

Hes back at Swindon training with the first team today.

(https://i.postimg.cc/Vs7PzT4D/135790527-3945202312186251-8705700793977897422-o.jpg)

Nixon reckons he plays for Swindon - not for sale.

Selling him for peanuts to the taffs makes no sense.

I'm sure he'd rather be a regular in our team than Newports. Show the same form he has done already and he'll get his chance to play at a much higher level.

Newport have started to play football this season rather than hoofball - will Twine fit in a Sheridan direct team

As I said previously. Take a look at him during January. If he continues to impress then keep him here. If not look at options on the table.

I still think if we were to let Newport buy him, then a swap for King to me seems not out the question. A nice bargaining chip. Basically if Newport rate him that much, they'll either pay or agree a swap is good for all parties.

In other news, can we lump this new Twine thread into the existing one(s) at all?  :)

Who the fuck is King?

He’s their keeper

Ah. More Bamboo Bollocks!

So L2 Newport (a club Town are potentially going to do transfer business with) and their current second choice keeper coming to Town is a load of bollocks, to  even have the mere suggestion of it happening?

Meanwhile, 3rd place Championship team Bournemouth's second choice keeper is a full on go-er?!

Fucking hell  :crash:

Pretty much

Don’t take on so, Mary Poppins!

There has been zero suggestion of first scenario happening, there are multiple reports of 2nd scenario happening

I’ll know where to stick my money

Yeah, people backed it at the point of it closer to happening more or less.... It's not so hard to back a horse that has actually crossed the line is it? And then pretend that was the only option ever thinkable  :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

In any case, my suggestion is hardly that wild a one. Further, we need two keepers. Travers will probably "fall through" like Day. He'll sign for someone like fucking MKII Franchise

I like the world you live in, never change

Within the current climate Travers (TBC) and Archie Matthews might be the ticket.

Dont understand the outcry from Swindon fans across Social Media that we've had the audacity to recall Twine. We need options whether he starts or not.

That’s the Swindon way surely?

Possible but being fair to Matthews. Would not want to call upon him for a relegation battle.

I have no idea either. Town were always very likely to recall Twine with the minimum of taking a look at him. He is, as it stands a Town player.

Am i right in thinking he can't play for anyone else this season now apart from Newport? Can't see them signing him so what do we think the likely scenario will be?

I would imagine the best we can hope for is that he is sold and loaned back

He can’t play for anyone else but I don’t know whether that means he can’t sign for anyone else either or whether someone could sign up and loan him back to either us or Newport.

I mean first and foremost we need to put a new contract in front of him. If he signs then we have more flexibility with regards to playing him, keeping him and choosing when to sell him.

If he doesn’t we know now is the time to cash in.

What club would buy him now, unable to play him this season when they could get him for free in June?

Non starter scenario

Stolen from Twitter nowt to do with me.

I mean it was close...

How was that bet a loser?

Outside the wrong penalty area, obviously.

17.00,   time of bet or 17-1 ??. Weird. Get on the phone. Looked outside the box to me (only  just) !!!! How can anyone deny that bet ??.

No one will get him for free in the summer as he is under 24. Infact the recent press and the spotlight he seems to be under may be enough for a club to want to avoid a tribunal in the summer when you consider how desperate clubs are for cash. I am sure many clubs will see him as a good option for next year and to leave him with us on loan

Think he could sign a pre contract now he only has 6 months left.

Tbh, what on earth would persuade him to stay with us?

Well if deemed not being good enough for us in L1 and being sent on loan to L2 has taught him anything - it’s that he needs to be playing regular football for his development.

Even if he just signed a one year extension and went this time next year he’d probably be a better player for it.

I think you mean ‘not good enough for Wellens’

Only with foreign clubs. English clubs would have to wait until June to offer a contract.

Sent from my XQ-AD51

Whatever way you look at this full credit to Scott Twine and he deserves both recognition and success.
Went to Newport and cast aside but he buckled down, gained confidence and believed in himself.
Nothing wrong in proving yourself, in the case proving to Wellens that he was worthy of a squad number. Clearly an asset to Newport, where Brian Flynn has supported him.
Let’s hope his heart can be directed to Swindon again and he becomes a valuable player to us.
I for one will never get tired of watching that strike and a tonic that every Swindon fan needed.

Anyone got a clip of his goal? I want to download it and send it to “a friend”

https://twitter.com/SoccerAM/status/1347994538531500032

He can but still be here for 6 months and we will still get a fee wherever he goes

Agree, I wasn't sure about him, to be honest, and if we had got rid in the summer I would not have been bothered at all and I think being honest not many really would. What I was more impressed with was his work rate and his use of the ball, he looks technically a much better player already than I have seen in previous years of him. It would be great if he stayed i just can't see it apart from the loan back i mentioned as i think unfortunately many clubs will not be in a position to refuse quick cash injections

I imagine Twines agent has either had to turn his phone off or been up all night listening to offers

Cheers but can’t watch that outside uk

Yep, just a case of whether Twine would rather play here or sit on the bench / player u23 football for a Championship club because I can’t imagine any of them would buy him to go straight into their XI.

Obviously it’s his career and he needs to maximise his earnings and I understand that. Also might be a case of strike whilst the iron is hot because he’s not going to have many opportunities to score bangers on national tv

For Twine, I think the best solution would be to sign a 1 year extension here. Play regularly for us and either go in the summer or even next January.

I would like him to sign another contract here so that the club can capitalise further if/when he moves on. Hopefully that will be a win/win with the club and player (who after all is a Swindon youth and fan).

With players we have in the squad is a core group of quality players that we could build upon into a promotion challenging squad next season. With Twine and DJ pushing in the middle and on the right, sign a similar exciting LW player and defences will be turned inside and out.

https://twitter.com/QuestTV/status/1347987108833734657?s=20

Any better, or is it a Twitter issue?

Either way he won't be free in the summer. We'll get a tribunal at least.

https://www.trollfootball.me/videos/view/ipswich-town-1-2-swindon-town-scott-twine-67-great-goal

Hope this works Mex.

I wonder if Flynn switching him to play as an attacking midfielder rather than as a striker made a big difference too? Hopefully serves as an example to young players that sometimes they just need a bit more game time to develop, and to fans come to that as well. As Shrivvy Road says, lots of us had written him off last summer when all he really needed was a few months of regular 1st team football. Fair play to him for grabbing the opportunity with both hands.

yup, Twine is doing well no thanks to most of us.

wherever his future lies, good luck to him. Hope it's with town for a bit. well I guess it has to be us or Newport this season

I think the Twine conundrum was summed up very well in the LSPOD my11 with Terry.

Those castigating Wellens for not knowing what he was doing by letting Twine go lout on loan, should really be praising him for getting him loan time at a league club, because that is the main reason that we have the opportunity with Scott Twine now that we now do.  The loan to a league team is the key point here and if he had been shipped out to Chippenham or even a National league side again we would likely have missed out on the opportunity to either extend his stay or cash in on an obvious asset.

Typically our youngsters go on loan to a non-league team or local club, and although it get's some of their wages off of the wage bill, it rarely gives us any benefit.  Even if they set the world on fire there, they rarely come back and are able to impact the first team because of the gulf in levels.  The fact that we managed to get a loan move for Twine to a league club is the thing that has transformed Twine, not only in terms of quality, but more importantly confidence and belief that he quite obviously has in himself now based on his performance at Ipswich.

I have seen numerous fans on the usual platforms saying "see, i said we should give Twine a run in the first team based on his pre-season, Wellens knows nothing" and there maybe some truth in that, but the reality is that over the past 2 or 3 seasons Twine has done well in pre-season, but has just not looked strong enough, confident enough or have a real belief in his own abilities to be able to dominate in the Swindon team.  He needed that move to a league club, out of his Swindon bubble, to stand on his own two feet, where nobody at the club had a preconception of his abilities based on 10 years as a youth, reserve and first team player, to show what he could do.  Scott knew it was his chance to prove any doubters at Swindon wrong and fair play to him he took it.

The reality was, at the start of the season, Twine was not going to break into our League 2 winning side and make the same impact that he was able to make at Newport.  This loan move needed to happen to allow him to express himself and make a player of himself.

I am one that was a big doubter for him coming back and being part of the team for the rest of the season.  Yes I wanted him recalled, yes I wanted him offered a new contract, but yes I wanted him to go back to Newport and finish the season with them, continue to grow his stock and hopefully get a promotion under his belt and come back and really push on next season with us.

The player I saw last night changed my mind on that, not because of that goal, not because of his decent build up play for the first goal or quality cross field passes, but because of his composure and confidence on the ball, lack of panic and distribution of short passes when under pressure - this said to me that he has grown up and found his feet at this level and can go on to a higher level.

I know that is a lot of words and is a bit Bamboo, but every time I see a "Wellens didn't know what he was doing" or a "those that didn't think Twine should be recalled can fuck off" tweets etc. it gets me wanting to respond.  So I thought I would just put my thoughts down on here..

You can continue with your day now, my thoughts are set free..

I think we need to see how he performs over the next few games. He isn't going to get a wonder goal every game. But, what I saw yesterday wasn't too much different to what I saw in pre-season.

If he can have a similar impact in the next few games then we may well have a player on our hands - I really hope that we have!

He was shipped out and another manager knew what to do with him and where/how to play him.

No kudos for Wellens there. Ditto Palmer.

Reading between the lines Wellens had fallen out with Palmer and he didn't think Twine was strong enough for league one

I think Wellens had fallen out with a few to be honest

Wellens publically came out and said in a pre match interviewback in September that we sent Twine to Newport because although he has high levels of talent he was not physically strong enough for our first team yet hence the loan to Newport.

Palmer he said he was very disappointed with his training levels and his overall attitude and expected more and better from such an experience professional, hence his loan to Wigan.

Thats an under statement!

Yes I think that may have been the case

Wellens certainly came across as a bit of s hot head JJ on & off the pitch and down the tunnel😁

Agree with your first para (although whether that was genius or luck on Wellens' part, we'll never know, but someone at the club take credit for ensuring the loan was to a league side) but slightly disagree with the second. The loan move to a non-league side can be a vital step in the progression to the second loan to a Conference/L2 club which then sees a player ready to go into our 1st team. It's a big step from U18s football to men's football, never mind professional football, and if Twine had initially been loaned to a Conference/L2 side straight away, he might not have had the success he did at Newport without that first loan to Chippenham to get him used to playing men's football first

I'm not sure about the Wellens credit bit. We also have to remember he says a lot of things that aren't necessarily true. Surely if he didn't think Twine was physical enough to get into the Town squad, how in hell's teeth would he have been physical enough to get into a Welsh L2 squad?

Personally I think Newport needed a body and Town (Wellens) were looking to offload. I don't think there was much strategy going in "Oh we'll send him there because it's a little less physical". I also don't really believe RW gave too much of a shit and he's not that intelligent. Newport might easily have ended up with Palmer and Wigan with Twine? Similar build of player.

Said it already but chuffed as mustard for the lad Twine, and Palmer to some degree. The rest is history.

I agree with the rest of your statement though Berni but yes, it was a bit 'Bamboo' wasn't it?! Feels good though, to have a literary blow-out ey?
 :D

I guess ultimately very few people will truly know if Wellens sent Twine out on loan to get game time & develop or to get his wages off the budget to bring in some of the garbage he/we recruited.

I think that’s what irks.

Last season Twine wasn’t getting in our team, no chance so getting him out on loan made sense. We lost our whole attack in the summer and recruitment was sluggish, slow and a lot of unknown.

Add to the fact Twine had a decent pre season (not always the best indicator but the only one we had) I think many felt he deserved a chance. There is no way he could have done any worse than some Of our attackers performance this season.


Like Wellens whole time here - due to the short nature of it, we won’t ever know whether this was a master stroke by Wellens to get Twine game time and the plan was to always bring him back into the fold or whether Wellens got it wrong by deeming him not good enough.

Master stroke me hairy arse. If Wellens thought he had a player on his hands - even one he thought needed a loan at Newport - he’d have badgered Power into extending his contract instead of being willing for Twine to see out his last year in Wales.

There’s only 1 person to thank for Scott Twine - Mike Flynn

Agreed.

Not forgetting Scott himself

Whatever the truth behind the loan deal you can be sure of one thing. At some point there will be a few people taking the plaudits and shouting about ‘their’ master stroke of a decision to send him there.

Richie Wellens saying ‘I made his career’

The contract situation is a great shout to be fair.

Having seen Twine perform in pre-season I thought he may have given him the chance from the start of the season but glad he has come back as he’s deserved his chance. People have to remember he’s still young and learning so I thought people weee too harsh on their judgement previously. Problem is now he only has 6 months left on his contract & I noticed him talking to Wolfendum after the game Saturday maybe ha was talking about his options then as a number of championship sides after him now and knowing LP he will cash in or maybe he won’t sign a new contract.
Wellens could do a Sherwood and say it was part of his master plan to give him a kick up the back side by sending him out to Newport but personally I don’t think Wellens rated him that’s why he sent him on loan and also treated Broadbent like crap & maybe Wellens is a good manager but maybe Wellens level is L2.

Bit of a stretch on a chat between two former team mates.
He might have just been saying ‘alright mate, how’s it going’

Or maybe if Clem is pulling the strings financially as has been suggested he won't let Power sell Twine on the cheap and wants him tied down on a longer contract?

Not forgetting the Barry/Standing % of club/transfer profit conundrum.

Wasn’t the general vibe pre-season that he was probably not good enough to crack it here at League 1 and a loan spell away was almost his last chance to prove himself? I’m think a lot, if not most, agreed with what Wellens did at the time

Seems to be a bit of standard revisionist history going on amongst some people

I’m thanking Wellens now for that decision, whatever the unknown reasons behind his decision

I think it was very split. Those of the opinion you posted and other suggesting because he had, had a good pre season and we were looking extremely short up front he was at least worth a chance - even if it was just for say August and we got him out on loan at the end of the window.

Maybe, maybe not.

But the buck falls with the person making the decisions, not fans who aren't paid to get it right and don't see players in training.

there is also a bit of assumption that twine has made it in league 1. He was very anonymous for much of the 90 mins but he took his time with passing and in general looked tidy.

If he hadn't have scored that goal and we lost then the reviews would be substantially different. I am potentially very excited for him and for us to have him but we know how quickly football can change.

I take it you didn't see the superb ball he played out to Thompson to help set up the first goal then?

He was far from anonymous and kept possession very calmly and very well. Even without the goal I thought he played very well.

Of course we’ve seen plenty of players have one good performance and never do the business again.

I think you’re right and I’m probably talking about my opinion at the time as much as anything.

My opinion was formed due to the “Dossevi” rule I adopt in pre season, I was convinced Twine was National League standard and I’m delighted that I am probably wrong about that

He did show great vision to see Thompson bombing down the wing in acres of space.

I thought it was Matt Smith who played that ball when I watched it live. Absolute corker of a ball

Given players can play for 3 clubs this season, still a good chance of Power cashing in this month and Twine heading up to the Championship

Since when?

I thought it was still 2 clubs per season.

FIFA changed the rules to allow players to register for 3 clubs this season, due to the potential for overlapping seasons with different seasons being extended etc but you can still only play for two clubs, unless the issue of overlapping seasons is a factor. From the EFL regs

Guidance

"Registration of Players - FIFA Article 5.3 - Three & Two Rule

In accordance with FIFA Regulations a Player may be registered with a maximum of three clubs during one season. During this period, the player is only eligible to play in official matches for two clubs. As an exception to this rule, a player moving between two clubs belonging to different associations with overlapping seasons (i.e. start of the season in summer/autumn as opposed to winter/spring) may be eligible to play in official matches for a third club during the relevant season, provided he has fully complied with his contractual obligations towards his previous clubs. "
https://www.efl.com/-more/governance/efl-rules--regulations/section-6---players/

So this would only apply to Twine if our season got extended into the summer and he moved to a club abroad where their new season was just starting while our extended season was still going

Interesting I hadn't read that, cheers Paul.

I think "Interesting" might be stretching it a bit, but actually cheers to Boeta because I wasn't aware of it either until his post prompted me to check

Twine's movement off the ball was just as good off it. The reason he had so much space for his goal was that he'd made the space initially. You see him move earlier than anticipated towards Thompson. Basically he was letting him know "there's an opportunity to create something here, give me the ball". What is great is that from the way we've seen Thompson play he instantly recognised this.

The movement was kind of Gerard/Lampard esque, in it's intelligence. It caught the defence off guard, had the extra couple of yards and boom. He knew exactly that he could hit a "matchwinner". Not just any kind of player can do that. Intelligent play and I will easily watch that on loop until someone (or Twine) scores one similar/better for Town.

Could you have imagined the scenes had there been an away Town faithful? We need to cherish moments like this, as we all know for Town they really are quite a "spotters badge". Let's enjoy it rather than analyse whether Twine will now kick on or not. He'll be remembered forever for it now and backing him will only encourage him to keep doing so on the pitch.

Ah ok, I saw Nixon tweet something about it earlier (not in reference to Twine). Thanks for clearing it up Paul

Has any player ever won goal of the season for 2 different Leagues ?

He scored a few corkers at Newport and I'm sure Sat's will be in the running also

Strange you mention that. Depending on how things go...we could have a player to have a GoS in two different divisions and a manager to potentially have been the manager of two relegated sides from the same league in the same season  :eek:

We're a shite league one club with a small squad. The idea that we ever send any player out on loan for any other reason than "Melksham town is probably your level, sorry mate" is a stretch.

Sometimes that can be the case, especially toward the end of a player's 1st or 2nd year pro contract when they're clearly not going to make it and it can help them get out and get seen but mainly it's to get young fringe players who aren't currently pushing for a 1st team spot experience of playing men's football. As has been referenced many times, we don't have a reserve side or an U23s so if we have fringe players who we think have potential to develop but aren't ready for the 1st team it gets them out and playing regular football. At Championship clubs these lads would be in the U23s or also going out on loan to non-league sides.

Fun Scott Twine fact (well, it's from Wikipedia, but let's assume it's fact).

He made his debut coming on to replace Islam Feruz. Islam fucking Feruz! How long ago does that feel now!

I had a similar experience earlier when I realised that Charlie Austin is bloody 31!

IIRC it was a triple substitution Feruz, Iandolo and Jess Starkey...the last player being one I had totally forgotten even played for us!

At the Valley wasnt it? Last game of Luke Williams.

It was, we played a very youthful side.

What a line up!

(https://i.postimg.cc/13rpXcXH/Untitled.png)

Jess Starkey? I’m going to have to google him!

I was there with the old man. Early kick off and we forced the pub to open! Already down. Sang our hearts out for 90mins.

Dont bother, he was a midfielder signed from Brightons youth team via Gills, absolutely dire, now still only 25 and plays for Worthing, about his level.

That squad was/is a sad indictment of how the Powers that be wanted to take the club in that direction.

Shameful

You are right that side and squad really was a shameful excuse for a Town side. Rarely matched in submediocrity all round.

Sherwood picked the team that day i think

Discussions started on a new contract.

Importantly, Town don't need him to sign that contract (even though that would be nice to, as I previously mentioned "tie him down" to one) as now they have or are offering him a new deal, that is all that is required in order for us to get a fee via tribunal (if someone doesn't pay higher for him).

This is also different to just a "bit of development money" too, it takes into account all of his time at Town including simple things like the length of time, apps made and so on, including development, so time at Newport will also come into the development of the player.

Of course depending on things, he might well want to stay at Town but from TWs words, it seems like the club have been instructed to sell if a club meets Mr Power's valuation. Be interesting to know what he thinks he is worth currently.

I would say leave it until the end of the season because Town will get a fee for Twine anyway, whether he now signs a longer/newer/better deal and Power/Town can give guaranteed reassurance that a minimum of £xxxxxx will be generated from the sale of Twine. At Town's level, the "more for a player in Jan" rule isn't quite as prevalent as further up the chain.

Bollocks to that. We should be doing everything we can to tie him down now. Wouldn’t trust the tribunal process as far as I can throw it

Picking him over the next few weeks might sway him.

According to Alan Nixon, this rule has been "relaxed" but the changes have not been published.

Exactly this.

Of course, Town would love to tie him to a new 2+1 deal or something but the player (as previously stated before) has some power here. He doesn't have to sign a new deal. My point is that even if he doesn't Town won't be without a fee.

I would say not all tribunals are bad...here's one from a previous link I shared regarding U24s and would make similar reading for someone like Twine if he were not to sign a new contract. He's made a total of about 100 apps (inc development loans) to date and has about 1 goal in 4 for a AM;

"Aaron Cresswell had made 70 or so league appearances for Tranmere Rovers when, aged 21, he rejected a new long term contract offer.  He signed for the Championship club Ipswich Town on a three year contract.
The PFCC decided that Ipswich Town should pay Tranmere Rovers an initial compensation fee of £240,000.
An additional £45,000 was ordered in respect of the player making 15, 30, 45 and 60 appearances for Ipswich Town.
 An additional £100,000 was ordered should Ipswich Town achieve promotion to the Premier League in the next 3 seasons.
Tranmere Rovers are to receive 20% of any profit made by Ipswich Town in selling the player to another club at any point in the future."

Tranmere got
£240k initial
+
£45 @15apps
£45 @30apps
£45 @45apps
£45 @60apps
=
£420k
plus 20% when sold to West Spam 3yrs later.
@
£750k
=
£1.17m

That was in 2011, I wouldn't say it was terrible business. Even before the £750k windfall. He reached his 60 apps only a season and a half after the transfer. Would not be fussed if this went a similar route. Cresswell is a LB so at this current standing  Twine has got to be worth around £250k to Champ clubs at least.

I am not averse though that if he is sold in Jan, that Town could get more. Would be good to keep him though. My thinking is, would you rather keep him and he help us stay up and allow a reasonable tribunal pay for him in the summer or would you rather maybe get £100k more for him now and us potentially go down?*


*Appreciate that other variables are available.

Nixon now saying Luton likely to make a bid in this transfer window.

Reading, Luton, Bournemouth, QPR and Brentford all interested according to Nixon

Sell him to Brentford i say and get a nice sell on.

QPR will just be a favour to Les Ferdinand i suspect

Brentford & Bournemouth would both be good clubs to join but would he get in their first team squads at the moment

Big decision for Twine. Stay with us and get game time this season or jump to a championship club where that is less likely.

Twine will go asap.  Works for both club and player.

What if they are offering him similar money and can't guarantee him a starting slot? that wouldn't work in his favour at all, what if they are offering a small amount up front and sell on clauses based upon appearances? that wouldn't really work for the club either.

Its all guesswork.

What if Scott wants to stay?

Christ almighty... Nixon has not said Luton are likely to make a bid in this transfer window :doh:

He's merely said that they are keen and that we're keen to hang on to him for as long as possible.

You are right. Of course it's a given that this is all guesswork. I am not sure that many opinions on the TEF are informed by anything of substance or inside knowledge.

It has been said that the club is operating on a hand to mouth basis. If that's correct, some upfront cash is likely to be beneficial.

Does he want to stay? I have no idea.  Would moving on to a 'bigger' club be beneficial to him? I consider that it would be.

Ideal situation is we get a decent six figure sum with a big sell on and they loan him back for the rest of the season

I agree with the first part but I doubt we would use a loan up getting him back for the rest of the season as we are actively after 2 loan strikers which probably means the rarely used Tyler Smith will go back. Otherwise we will be overloaded with loan players and only 5 able to be in the matchday squad.

More likely if he leaves he will sign back at Newport on loan until the end of the season than coming back to us I think.

Maybe as his confidence will soon drop playing under Sheridan

Judging by the way Sheridan was shouting at DJ all game, moaning at him for not playing well and constantly berating him that may well happen to DJ as well.

I know I have come under an awful lot of flak for my opinion on El Shezza but I've stuck to my "what I know" the whole time. I can see many turning now and realising he isn't good enough. When it comes to man management, they guy just is not equipped with the versatility to manage varying levels of character in the modern workplace. As well as being  tactically devoid of ideas (and nope I don't just mean making subs - most of these are planned beforehand).

Players are not exactly his biggest fan; that's slightly moot though because as PdC once said 'You don't have to love me, just follow me and together we will win' and whilst he was at Town that largely rang true. But in El Shezza, if you're going to be a bastard, you still have to be a "good" bastard and good at what you do.

Embarrassed laughing after a loss is never going to bring much understanding and cohesive feeling to the average fan; whilst I'm sure several can understand that the comments/reactions are fresh and in the moment, it can give a little context to quotes later used. Although claiming you don't call out individual players in defence to a relatively obvious question and then following that up with, 'I will tell players, you can hear me on the touchline...if I need to single them out...' isn't going to convince fans either. Especially when he has publicly singled out players previously too.

It is a shame that the penny will drop the hard way for some.

I’ll be the first to admit I didn’t think Twine was ready this season and he’s proven me wrong and looks like he will have a good career.

This situation is what has annoyed me even more about the Curran farce, we don’t offer long term contracts even to a player with decent potential so will probably end up getting a minimal transfer fee, but yet out of nowhere Curran gets a 3 year deal.

I agree, my only problem with Scott is that he is still too easily knocked or barged off the ball due to his lightweight build.

That was all too obvious yesterday when he was flattened several times but because he is lightweight he doesn't put up a struggle when challenged he is basically pushed flat, and in the refs eyes that is going to ground to easily, which in fairness to Twine he actually isn't making a meal of it, he is genuinely being fouled.

If Scott could build his strength a little more that he actually looks like he COULD stay on his feet and not go to ground the ref will give those fouls all day long.

To be fair a club focused on developing players will work on the strength side of things, that’s much easier to develop than teaching someone technical skills. We just seem to have a black hole between youth football and the first team where no development or focus.  Someone like Brentford would be ideal for him.

But if that's your build, that's your build.  Gym work will add a little extra muscle, but it won't do anything to your frame.  We all bulk up a bit as we get older, and Scott T will as well.  But he's never going to be as big as many other players.  He'll adapt his game accordingly.

I would agree whilst in L1 & L2 this would be the case but he's also done ok so far. Higher up the food chain that won't matter so much. As an attacking player in the Champ or Prem you only have to be capable of replicating a convincing "gate vault" to win any decision  ;)

Absolutely, young footballers are often signed for their athletic ability above footballing ability.

We have seen that recently in Tyler Reid and Jordan Stevens, both incredible athletes and strong but neither have an ounce of even Scott Twines footballing ability.

The same was levelled at Billy Bodin when with us and hes turned into a decent career at Championship and even an appearance at international level.

No but they work on how to use your body and how to take advantage of you extra agility, all that comes with experience and someone with a good U23 set-up will likely have coaches able to work on exactly that.

I think Rooney was the exception being so strong at 16/17 and getting into the Everton first team

This is simply not true.

Significant gym work will increase his bulk and strength massively. It would take a pretty long time mind and I don't really know if it's worth it for the type of player he is.

release the inner akinfenwa

Maybe he could get in touch with Bryson Dechambeau's fitness coach?

The difference being of course, if the rumours are to be believed, that Curran's 3 year deal hasn't cost the club anything. Agree with your point in the main though

Trent at Liverpool is a prime example of this

Its cost us our dignity.

Same thing with Agombar. That was just plain wrong if you ask me

I wasn't suggesting it was a good thing, just pointing out there's a difference. On the negative side, it also blocks a place in the squad that could be used for one of own young players that has been sent out on loan. Although, again for balance, they may benefit more from getting regular game time there than sitting on our bench for the sake of a few minutes here and there.

Based on subsequent career I would possibly say Anton Rogers may have also been another.

Well I'd say as he's getting minutes on the pitch in the league now it is costing us money as it's increasing our chances of getting relegated...

Plus there's the potential to lose what makes him Scott Twine if he gets too big. Also probably not easy to do during the season, Matt Ritchie managed it over a summer and it basically set him on his way.

Sent from my CLT-L09