THE 93:20 NEWSLETTER:- ISSUE 41

Author

Howard Hockin
May 24, 2025

Hello, and welcome to Issue 41 of the 93:20 Newsletter, an edition that would have been deleted had this week not shown a gradual improvement. Thank you Omar Marmoush, and especially, as always, Manchester United Football Club. You are truly the gift that keeps on giving.

There is a smorgasbord of stuff to discuss as always, so let’s get cracking. As always, thank you for your support (if you are reading this sentence, you are supporting us), and do check out the rest of what we have to offer. The end of the season is not going to end the drama at the football club, to put it mildly. An interesting few months awaits.

Let’s start with the lows. As you will know, I don’t do match reports in the newsletters, and you are probably thankful for that considering how last weekend went. I think I am ready to move on anyway.

Well, almost. You can argue all you want about how City needed to perform better (fair point), how Pep got the line up wrong (fair point), and a million other angles, but the fact is this: if City were not victim to the worst VAR decision Wembley Stadium (and thousands of other stadiums) has ever witnessed, Manchester City would almost certainly have won the FA Cup last weekend. And whilst many bemoaned the decision at the time, it could not be allowed to be a story that ran and ran, as that would ruin the fairy tale. Imagine if City had benefitted from that decision? Questions around be asked in Parliament, the yellow ticker tape news bar on Sky Sports News would explode from overheating. Sorry, that’s just me trying to combat the agenda again.

It was a cowardly decision made for the occasion, as the VAR was too weak to make a big call, even though the entire footballing world would have accepted and agreed with it. Shame on them, and I can guarantee there will be no consequences for those that made the decision.

Never mind. I am truly happy to see a decent set of fans celebrate the first trophy of their lifetime. Brought back memories, as you can never beat the first time, eh?

And never mind Part 2, as the week certainly improved as the week progressed.

It may be ridiculous to say, but qualifying for the Champions League was City’s priority for the remainder of the season, not winning the FA Cup, though we could reasonably expect as fans for them to do both. With that in mind, Tuesday brought more nerves, so those three points were very gratefully received, as was the general level of the performance, with a Goal of the Season thrown in for good measure.

But there was another story playing out. It was time to say farewell to the greatest player I have ever watched. Kevin De Bruyne may not be any great orator, not does he need to be. Maybe he would be if we had just let him speak more. But perhaps his words were tempered somewhat by the fact that his exit was not his decision, and what unspoken was as important. The nearly-full ground was the ultimate barometer of the respect and adulation all blues feel towards him. There could be a league title on the line and people would be leaving to beat the traffic. Not this time. It was late on a Tuesday evening by the time I got home, fighting the Bruce Springsteen fans at the Coop Live along the way, and a shambolic tram service, but it was well worth it. David Silva may remain my favourite, but Kevin De Bruyne has been the greatest. He was at the scene of pretty much every City triumph of the past decade.

And then exiting stage left were an unknown number of players for whom this was also their final game at the Etihad, we just can't say for sure. They won't get the big send off, the mosaic, statue, lifelong season ticket or road named after them. Perhaps they prefer it this way. But it's the way of the world that one of the most successful teams in the world over the past decade produces a plethora of legends, and they can't all have their moment in a setting Manchester sun. And none of them were Kevin De Bruyne.

I'll do a bonus newsletter on Kevin next week. He deserves his own space. It's going to be a different City next season, and I don't know how to feel about that. But all good things must come to an end. 

Above all, and I don't say or think it enough, all i will point out now is that it's been a privilege. Am absolute privilege. We have been blessed to see any of these great players, legends, let alone all of them. What a journey we have been on.

And so to my absolute obsession once more. No, not Manchester City Football Club, but as regular readers will know, Manchester United Football Club. Hated, adored, never ignored. They just make it impossible not to comment, as they stumble from one ravine to another. They are so terrible at everything they do in every single respect, I wonder sometimes if we are all experiencing one long fever dream.

This week’s match had a financial value larger than the Championship Play Off Final, a real sliding doors match for both teams. I had assumed United would win, because Spurs will be Spurs, but somehow they did not, and you would have to have a heart of stone not to collapse in hysterics at the potential consequences for United. That’s once you have spent 24 hours reading all the magnificent memes that resulted from this shit-off.

And despite all that, I fully expect Matheus Cunha to still complete a big-money move to United this summer. And, according to the transfer rumours, Emilio Martinez. 
Which begs the question. Why?

I think we all know the answer.

Proof that they are mercenaries, interested in one thing, and one thing only – a bigger pay packet. Should they be criticised for this? We would all take the best-paid path we could in life, but it’s a tad different when you are paid to play sport, as success is part of the process of deciding which path to take, a legacy is enshrined in the career. It’s not as if Cunha would not have his pick of sides across Europe. Sacrificing success for some bizarre fake love for a team is weird, and one day he will regret such a decision, like many before him now do. More fool him. A player in hos position has a rare opportunity most of us cannot achieve - the chance of happiness and money in his career. Just picking money is rather sad. If i was one of the world’s greatest football players (use your imagination), but City were languishing above the relegation zone, and broke, I would not consider moving there. My love for the club would not be enough.

I do have the faintest respect, or at least sympathy for United fans for having to endure such utter incompetence for over a decade. Some City fans love to think they would be more stoic, because of the dark places we have come from in the past. Absolute nonsense. You only have to look at the fallout after an underwhelming season to the news Florian Wirtz is probably going to Liverpool and the way some blues have written off City for the next five seasons to see how true that is. It has been frankly embarrassing- just maybe, other clubs have a pull too, City can’t just click their fingers and sign any player they like, and just maybe he prefers their style of play, which after some of the games this season, is plausible. Viana out.

Anyway, back to United, and a reminder it could be worse, and let’s end with a good laugh at just how staggeringly inept they have been. This is a team that has not won two consecutive league games all season after all.

0.92 - Ruben Amorim has won 24 points in 26 Premier League games, a points per game ratio of 0.92. This is lower than Paul Jewell's Premier League points per game (0.94), who managed 24 winless games at Derby when they finished on 11 points in 2007-08.

Philosophical Question

So which is worse? Losing 4-0 at home to Spurs, or losing 4 times to them, in a single season? 

As for Spurs – they are still a terrible team. The own goal of sorts was their last attempt, if that counts as one. Ally McCoist and a thousand others proclaim that the criticism of Angel has been over the top, and history is duly rewritten.

Let's cut to the chase here. The criticism has absolutely not been over the top, as Spurs have been terrible for much of the season. They are 17th in the table. Logically, Ange should still be dismissed. But I accept there is a moral obligation to let him remain at the club, considering he has brought a trophy to the club after a long drought. Not every decision has to be cold and clinical. But don’t be surprised if him remaining is little more than delaying the inevitable.

Ramifications

A word I rarely use, but I had it all planned out at the start of the week, about how a couple of certain ramifications, leading to a domino effect, could change certain clubs’ histories. But what I overlooked was that football can always surprise you.

The first ramification went as follows: City turn up to an FA cup final against their biggest rivals "hungover" and proceed to lose, gifting an appalling Manchester United a trophy. They qualify for the Europa League, go on to win it, qualifying for the Champions League, and thus are saved financially when on the brink of ruin, this result changing their history forever. And all because City players were still celebrating a league win and thus didn't perform in a particular match. 

But, it turns out that football's a funny old game, and United messed it all up at the final hurdle. They got £5m as losing finalists, and had to pay an extra £3.5m of that to Chelsea for fielding Mason Mount in the final. No last-gasp redemption, and the future is hilariously bleak. The next day, Offshore Jim was sacking another couple of hundred staff.

The 2nd ramification was as a result of THAT VAR decision last weekend in the FA Cup Final. I had it all mapped out, because I had no doubt that a red card for Henderson would have seen City prevail ultimately, even if it would have meant an even deeper block from Palace. But no red card, and so to the ramifications. City’s morale is destroyed by the defeat, they crumble against Bournemouth and Champions League football for next season is lost, with huge consequences for recruitment and finances, taking years to recover.
Turns out City were fine, and won. Now they just need to get over the line.

With Phil Foden being open about his issues off the pitch this week, and asking not to be considered for England duty, a reminder that footballers are not robots, and that criticism is fine but often we do not know what is going on in people’s lives, and it does not matter how much they are paid, that does not exclude them from life’s struggles. Fingers crossed for a fully-refreshed Foden for the start of next season.

Our shows this week so far (link below):

THE 9320 REVIEW – FINAL INSULT

Ste, Lloyd and Howard pick the bones out of a weekend of pure disappointment. There was a lot to discuss.

THE 93:20 REVIEW – KING KEV

Lloyd and Ahsan look back on an emotional night at the Etihad as city got the win that keeps them on course for Champions League football.

OPPOSITION FAN - FULHAM

Howard chatted to Ste McGovern after another solid season for Fulham, Silva linings, beaches and more.

THE WEEKEND SHOW - LONG LIVE THE KING

Howard and Lloyd are joined by special guests Noisy Neighbors to look back on another eventful week as the season draws to a close, in what is another bumper show.

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!