THE 93:20 NEWSLETTER:- ISSUE 13

Author

Howard Hockin
November 15, 2024

Hello, and welcome to Issue 13 of the 93:20 Newsletter, and welcome to a rush of new subscribers this week, thanks to the biggest mass migration of blues (from Twitter to Bluesky) since many of us travelled to Istanbul for a Treble party. This is not going to be the longest of newsletters, which is no bad thing, as I have spent most the week following people on social media platforms. And there is the small matter of City not playing, which is no bad thing either. So here are some quick hits, and the usual update on what we have been up to and have planned moving into next week. There’s a free book for everyone too! Spread the word….

We must start with David Coote. I guess City fans should send him our thanks, as previous international breaks have been quite eventful, usually surrounding City, meaning we got little rest. After recent performances, I want a break from City for a couple of weeks, unless Pep is renewing, and time is ticking by on that one. So thank you David for stepping in and filling the void.

I am not going to give you my full opinion on what he has done, he was clearly foolish, however factual his comments may appear to you, and naïve and stupid to be caught on camera, and with new videos emerging, he is clearly toast. He will not referee in a professional capacity again.

And so the key point is this – is that not enough? Is the pound of flesh that those participating in faux outrage have received not sufficient? Or do we now need to utterly ruin his life, disregarding any duty of care for a human being who has erred, and no more than most of us have in the past? David Coote will lose his job, his careers in tatters. But that won’t be enough for some people. Further videos will be drip fed into the news cycle, each one worse than the last. Maybe you think he deserves it. But what precisely is “it”?Because when the video emerged, my first thought was not the content of the video itself, but the dawning realisation about how all this would play out, and how sad that really was, a perfect storm for the modern world. And some will not rest, and I do not say this lightly, until David Coote is suicidal. Enough is enough. Anyone who sells videos to the Sun is scum, pure and simple. The fact that videos may periodically be released now to turn the screw on a vulnerable human being tells you all you need to know about the newspaper releasing the videos, not that I’m telling you anything new there.

Still, at least we can say with confidence the Liverpool fanbase will take the revelations this week, in a calm and measured manner. Of all the fanbases to target. He could have opined that he felt the new ground extension at Anfield was not to his liking and he'd have lost his job and received death threats. He had no chance with this, he was doomed the second the video surfaced. But please, that is enough punishment. The damage is done. Leave him alone. If I had that video in my hands, I would have deleted it. That’s my moral guide deciding for me, that is how I was brought up – the shame of destroying someone’s life would hang over me forever. I feel like an outsider for feeling this way sometimes.

Last week, there was opprobrium and opinion pieces were actually written over the horror of Noel Gallagher on co-commentary for the Sporting game. I agree in principle that a line was crossed, but this was not the moment for the lightbulb to go off above people’s heads. I agree that a co-commentator should be impartial, neutral, but if you haven’t rallied at fanboys like Neville and Carragher on co-commentary, then you can’t do it for Noel Gallagher either. It’s hardly as if that old mantra of “if you’ve never played, you can’t comment” has much baring on a co-commentator, if past examples are anything to go by. Imagine thinking this was the moment the “game’s gone”. I look forward to the other articles on Neville and Carragher on commentary duties. Just because they used to play does not make it any more acceptable than Noel Gallagher being there. Either way, anything beats Andy Hinchliffe or Robbie Savage.

Last week I commented on the idea of a post-Pep world being nothing to fear, and change being good, and something later occurred to me. I have passed the half-century this year (<raises mug towards a pavilion>), and in all my time as a supporter, I have never seen a manager reach four years at the club, prior to Pep joining. Perhaps that fact remains in my sub-conscious, in that it is ingrained in me still to expect change. Even the successful managers have not lasted that long. No wonder then that I am quietly buzzing at the thought of change. It’s nothing to do with Pep, it’s just genetic, part of having sky blue blood.

Jack Grealish has not done his City future much good in the past week. I am not sure why he has got quite so much criticism, though clearly the optics were not good. I feel he is a kind, simple guy (not meant as a put-down), and I would wager he did not think about how bad those optics were by making himself available for England. Anyway, he’s back in the fog of Manchester now, tail somewhat between his legs. What really grinded my gears however was the regenerated conversation amongst blues over how underwhelming he had been during his time at City. Why are we talking about that Grealish now? The opinion that he has not contributed to City enough is valid and open to debate, but it’s a debate that seems to have sprung up once more because he has dared recover from injury ahead of the perceived schedule laid out by Pep Guardiola. And so now he is getting it in the neck. That is unless you believe the rumours, and unless you know them to be facts, you should not. Judge him on what you definitely know.

Footballers are human beings, not robots. We all have different ideas on what constitutes acceptable criticism, finding that balance between them having lives away from football, and the responsibility of being very highly-paid sportsmen playing for a generational manager, for a hugely successful football team, once of the best in the world, that naturally comes with very high expectations. Those expectations from fans are often that players are robots and should never expose flaws. Wait until Jack plays some football before returning to determining his worth.

So City are in crisis, right? With that in mind, isn't it crazy that we have an unbelievable injury crisis, an ageing midfield, small squad, uncertainty around our greatest ever manager, changes to the structure higher up, distractions around the ATP case, unknowns over the 115 and the prospect of relegation or worse, and compensation claims that could bankrupt the club, fatigue from multiple games and 7 trophies in two years, a jinx caused by Oasis reuniting, a rejuvenated Liverpool, and competition from billion-dollar squads.

And we’re 2nd , 4 points clear of 3rd . Some crisis.

"I think it's an absolute shambles, the FA and Thomas Tuchel are to blame." The Sun's Charlie Wyett and The Mirror's John Cross are unhappy with eight players withdrawing from the England squad. It was this week’s prime example of terrible opinions from terrible journalists, and it’s all rather tiring, as always. You have to wonder how John Cross gets through a day if he is genuinely incensed at a number of injured footballers pulling out of the England squad ahead of two Nations League matches.

“November is a challenging window, in the past we’ve had eight or nine call-offs. I know the Under-21s and Under-20s have had a lot of players pull out as well, so I think it’s definitely that period of the season.”

Lee Carsley

Carsley is right – there are regularly large numbers of withdrawals in this month, for obvious reasons in a brutal schedule. Let’s cut to the chase. England’s next manager is German, and that has got the veins throbbing on the forehead of much of Fleet Street’s old boys network, and any spurious reason to attack him will be fully grasped, as we see with this week’s performative outrage. Tuchel will not get the same coverage as Southgate, because of where he was born. It really is that simple. Some journalists will be gutted if England win the World Cup.

Manchester City produced the iconic and infamous “Welcome to Manchester” Carlos Tevez billboard fifteen years ago. It is 2024, and still some United fans can’t grasp the joke. But then I guess you would have to be from Manchester to truly understand, ahem.

FREE BOOK FOR ALL!

As part of my weekly book promotions, there is another book available for all on Kindle – it should be free on Amazon for the next couple of days or so.

And it is one of my favourite season review books – the Centurions season. No spoilers about the ending from me. Check it out, give it a read, and please leave a nice review if you enjoy it, authors rely on them…

What We Have Done This Week

Opposition Fan

In case you missed, it, Howard spent a brilliant hour chatting to Kiernan Maguire from the Price of Football podcast. A must-listen.

The 93:20 Review:- Fumes

Howard, Lloyd and Ahsan look back at another defeat, why it happened, the role of players and the need for clarity on the future of Pep.

The Market:- Episode 27

Ahsan and Lloyd deep dive into the issues Hugo Viana & Txiki Begiristain need to resolve in the coming transfer windows.

Favourite England XI

Ste and Howard pick their favourite England XI, with some interesting reasoning.

What Is Coming Up

The Friday Show

As always we have a packed show, reviewing Greece v England, a tough lead-up for Lee Carsley, David Coote, City and recruitment needs, plus a whole lot more.

Ahsan and Chris will be taking another look at refereeing, PGMOL, and troubled times for match officials. Howard will be hosting a huge show – Iconic Scorelines. The panel will try and agree on the most iconic City match for every possible (almost) scoreline! Plus, the usual content, as the return of proper football draws ever closer.

If you are not a subscriber to our player shows, then enjoy some free samples of what we are about. Every show we do will have a 15 minutes sample on Soundcloud, along with a full, free weekly Friday show, jam- packed with content. Give it a try!