THE 93:20 NEWSLETTER:- ISSUE 16

Author

Howard Hockin
December 06, 2024

Hello, and welcome to the sunlit uplands that is Issue 16 of the 93:20 Newsletter. There was no issue 15, as I mistakenly published two Issue 14s, not that anyone, including me, noticed. Looks like I am cracking under the weight of supporting a club in crisis.

Elsewhere, I’m working on my next thriller script, which this time is set in the Anfield area – think Jilly Cooper mixed with John Steinbeck and a dollop of Frederick Forsyth, but City are not returning my many calls. Sometimes, I wonder why I bother.

Anyway, City have won a football game, so for a few days at least, we can relax. With no defence left for the Palace game, I am not sure how long that will last. But United have had three managers since the last victory, so we should cherish these sweet moments. Anyway, no overriding theme, just some quick hits, and another brief stream of consciousness.

The Etihad was not full for the Nottingham Forest match. This got some people in a lather again, but I am not sure why. It should be telling for City that the match did not sell out, and they should take a look down the road, where the behemoth that is United cannot even sell out, due to numerous factors, and some issues that they share with City, namely exorbitant pricing. But empty seats at matches before Christmas is perfectly normal for City too, and there’s no need to carry a post-mortem on the attendance figure. City will learn the hard way that should lean times come, they will very much regret pushing out the long-term fans for a quick buck, and in the meantime, those that want to go will go, and those that do not, will not.

A quick word on the curious case of Kyle Walker. His personal life is a mess, not helped by his inability to pee in a toilet like the rest of us (well, most of us), but as long as he performs on the pitch, we should not concern ourselves with people’s private lives. Unfortunately, his performances on the pitch are worse than his performances off it, and it is clear to most blues now that his time is essentially up. He has been quite terrible, sorry to say, legendary as he has been in the past, our best full back of the modern era (though we’ve only had three). This has led to some bemoaning him being captain, but what is the point of moaning about that? He was chosen by the players, that is the system. He is not going to be stripped of it, unless he goes on a killing spree. Nor should he. The issue is psychological, in that we are triggered by his poor performances. Thus, when he does the normal things you would expect a captain, or any footballer, to do, like give post-match interviews about players needing to stand up and be counted, they carry very little weight, and actually offend, when they come off the back of a succession of poor performances by him. So my advice is don’t listen to him. I’ve never listened to footballers anyway, words are meaningless to me. He has to speak to the media, he has to be bullish, you can’t be offended by him doing this. What should he say? Deep down he knows he is not performing to the required standard. I don’t think he’s not trying – I just think his body is not up to the job anymore, like a few around him.

That podcast can do one, though. At least try and keep a low profile when times are tough. Or talk about flowers and cute cats.

It has been a huge week of cup draws, he says sarcastically. If I ever got onto Room 101 (unlikely), the first thing I would banish would be cup draw preambles. There is nothing more boring than presenters talking to various people from the footballing world before a cup draw. Nothing, not even Andy Hinchliffe delivering a three-hour TED talk on the roll of full-backs in zonal marking at corners. Or anything else he may say. The TV companies know what they are doing – they have our attention. We all know that the draw is not happening at 7pm, when the programme starts, or for a minimum of fifteen minutes thereafter, but can we really take the risk of missing out? The only thing worse is aggregators on social media posting which Group City are in for a European draw. Lads, it doesn’t matter. Anyway, great to see Arsenal v United come straight out the hat, and the tension of City still being there when only a few balls were left and another big team hadn’t been drawn either, was soon dissipated by drawing United-lite. They’re not really linked to United of course, but a few timid blues seem panicked at the thought of it kicking off. If you’re scared of Salford City visiting the Etihad, I’d never venture out the house. Those grey squirrels can be pretty vicious you know. I look forward to City’s competitive pricing. All this reminds me of the worst crimes humanity has ever committed. The FA Cup draw was once hosted on BBC with a fan from every team present. When the teams were drawn, the two relevant fans would come up and shake hands. A new low for TV, and perhaps for civilization as a whole. JUST DO THE F*****G DRAW. I do not want a 37 minute montage of Ronaldo played out to interpretive dance before discovering that City would once more be playing Shakhtar Donetsk.

It was great to see Kevin De Bruyne back starting a football match. His aura lifts the team before he even kicks a ball in anger. Good to see him score too, making up for almost costing City a goal just before. I guess with that pass, he didn’t see Wood for the trees. I’ll get my coat…. #taxi

As blues, we don’t want to really look back on most of the last few weeks, but I thought I would finish by looking much further back instead. Modern life does make me pine occasionally.

Finally - Things I Miss In Football

I hate nostalgia. It is very overrated, though I used to be a big fan. But the other week, pub talk turned to how football isn’t what it was, which is misty-eyed to say the least, as I can guarantee no blues enjoyed City being rubbish. I mean, just look at us right now for guidance! Nevertheless, there are many aspects of modern football that leave me cold – many are mentioned in previous newsletters. But rather than dwell on those aspects, I thought I would finish this issue by looking at some things I genuinely miss from “the old days”. I’ll explain what some of them are for our younger readers.

No “Live” Social Media

Message boards have always been fine. But then other things developed, and here we all are, reading newsletters by email and arguing as matches take place. In 1997, there was undoubtedly a young edge lord sat at home who one day decided that David May was better than Cannavaro, and had stats to back it up. Thankfully, you would never know about these thoughts, because he had no way of telling the world that he was a buffoon desperate for attention. Simpler times.

You see, there was much less tribalism back in the day. My dad used to go and see City one week, and United the next. That was normal. Nowadays he’d be outed on Facebook. Not that he knows how to even turn his phone on, so he’d be safe.

Commercialism

Football clubs didn't release eight kits per season. Imagine if City had released a 4th kit in 1999 to mark the 20th anniversary of the release of Unknown Pleasures. And ultimately, it is commercialism, and an unbelievable thirst for revenue under the lie of “remaining competitive” that has, and will, drive many long-term football fams away from attending matches. Football as a business rather than a sport has a lot to answer for.

Player-managers

Like white dog poo, they seem to be a dying breed. What happened to them?

Football Pink

The antithesis of the modern world, a time free of clutter and noise and arsehole know-nothing grifters edgelording their way into the national discourse. The joy of waiting for this newspaper to come out about an hour after full-time never dimmed for me. Scanning the divisions for scores and reports, and the chuckle when the tight deadline inevitably led to the odd match report ending abruptly. I love having all the world’s information at my fingertips, all the time (subject to battery life), but I do miss the simpler times every now and then. The anticipation, when information had to be gleaned.

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What We Have Been Up To This Week

The 93:20 Review:- Drifting

Ahsan is joined by Ste and Bailey to look back at the disappointing defeat at Anfield and talk about the wider issues around the squad.

The 93:20 Review:- Trees Company

Howard, Lloyd and Ahsan look back as City finally win a match, and consider why that was. Plus, new injuries, old issues, and moving forward.

Coming Up

The Weekend Show

The usual bonanza of content, looking back, forward and sideways in what has been another hectic week.

Opposition Fan

It’s not nailed down, but hopefully a special guest will be available to chat about all things Palace. Fingers crossed!

And as usual, next week sees the return of Champions League action and a big game, so there will be reviews, previews, and more.

As work eases down for me before Christmas, the aim is to ramp up the content. Maybe even have a show for the Twelve Days of Christmas, plus a quiz, History shows, special guests, the Hub and much more. No slowing down!

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!