THE 93:20 NEWSLETTER:- ISSUE 54

Author

Howard Hockin
August 21, 2025

Hello, and welcome to Issue 54 of the 93:20 Newsletter. A new season dawns, and the football world is providing news stories on an hourly basis. Plenty to get our teeth into.

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On with the Newsletter!

First off, some reverse-ferreting from the nation’s press. Everything changes, yet some things remain the same. City cruise to an opening-day win, a new star is (hopefully) born, and suddenly muscle memory kicks in. City have generally been amazing under Pep Guardiola, and a knee-jerk reaction would be to suggest they will be again, using this small sample size. Durr, how did we forget this when making our season predictions, eh?

We all flip-flop with our opinions as football fans, it is entirely normal. But what is most laughable about the “rebirth” of City (which Spurs could soon dampen of course, as they often do), is the tiresome reinventing of narratives. For the majority of time over the past eight years, we have been inundated from the likes of Delaney, Liew et al about how City were too good, anti-competitive. Now Liew is predicting City to finish 6th .  Hang on, I thought state-owned City had ruined football for everyone, and given us an unfair advantage. Funny how it didn’t prevent our competitors spending a billion pounds this summer. And City’s sudden decline that has some pundits announcing the arrival of a Liverpool-Arsenal era (the latter having not won a league title for decades) was literally one single off-season. It’s almost as if football is cyclical, and no one team can dominate forever considering the wealth contained within the Premier League and its club owners.

Predictions can be wrong, as I have stated. But I’m not talking about harmless pre-season predictions. I’m talking about sweeping statements written by pseudo-intellectuals bemoaning the state of the game because Pep is a genius. Why should we trust anything they say in future? Why were such intellectuals incapable of realising City could not win everything, were never going to, but were not going to slink back into mid-table either after things did not go their way? As always, if you want proper analysis, ask those who know best – fans.

Just don’t call them fanalysts as Sky Sports did this week – it actually made me retch.

Savinho (if that’s really his name)

It’s hard to gauge my feelings for the many Savinho rumours, as I have no idea what my preferred outcome is - I am really split down the middle. Rodrygo is seemingly an upgrade, but there are so many caveats. Some of his stats, rather than focusing on Champions League reels, are underwhelming. Is it really THAT big a step-up? Savinho is young, and I lean slightly to the preference of him staying at City and practising his shooting. It’s another transfer that could bite us in the backside in coming years – little surprise there is doubt in City’s hierarchy too. But as I said, I am not sure what to think – I’m not even sure if I am using his correct name. Is it Savio this week? There’s no guarantee he is replaced either, and that is definitely the worst-case scenario. So keeping Savinho seems preferable, but now Arsenal have SWOOPED for Eze, Savinho leaving becomes more likely, as the dominoes fall, all starting with a Havertz injury.
The important thing is that City make Daniel Levy suffer, as much as is humanely possible, and screw him for an exorbitant price. Otherwise, call the whole thing off now. City hold the cards here, and should use them wisely. Savinho is a far better footballer than some City fans liked to portray last season, and his ceiling is very high. But if he really hasn’t bothered to learn English, then off he pops. I find it staggering footballers do not learn the language of where they play – how difficult must it make life? They’re probably too pampered for it to affect them, but how does training work? How does communication with his teammates? Didn’t seem to do Sergio much harm though, did it?

But credit to Spurs though for losing out in a one-horse race for Eze – that is quite the achievement, even for them.

As for Rodrygo, he did not get a minute in Real Madrid’s match this week. He clearly needs to go somewhere, and it will be interesting to see if he remains on the bench for their Sunday evening match.

Jack Grealish

I wrote in the last newsletter that any Everton fan expecting Jack Grealish to be the Messiah would be in for a rude awakening, and it has only taken one Everton game for him to potentially question his life choices. And I am hopeful he will still do very well there. But taking out tribalism and prejudice, it’s hard to want any Everton side of recent times to succeed, because they are just so desperately dull. And the latest Moyes incarnation seems no different. The idea that Jack can transform this side is laughable.

United are BACK

Yeah they lost, but stop splitting hairs. The thing about United is that they have had plenty of games like the one at the weekend down the years, so this is nothing new. Even during their multiple nadirs, they have often cobbled together competent performances, especially against the “big boys”. So to herald this BRAVE home defeat as a turning point is as laughable as all the other turning point claims down the years. They were not desperately unlucky. They lost because they deserved to. They lost due to an error, but that error was entirely predictable as they bought shiny baubles once more and overlooked key areas that need improvement in defence. The mistake was one you could easily have seen Onana make if he had been playing. They also did not put the ball in Arsenal’s goal, so I fail to see where the bad luck comes from.

Whole media departments are dedicated to unearthing signs that United are improving, that they are on the road to being “back”. There are three reasons why such dedication to the cause is necessary. Firstly, to sate the fans, of which there are many, and thus who are a cash-cow for clicks. Secondly, because it serves the myth that the Premier League NEEDS a good Manchester United for the brand, despite the last decade proving exactly the opposite. Thirdly, because it would actually be news for United to get their act together – they have been woeful and mismanaged for so long now, even I am beginning to get bored. The Premier League does not need a resurgent Manchester United, the news cycle does.

Aleksander Isak

In news that will surprise no one, we have the ludicrous situation of Liverpool fans defending the actions of a player who does not play for them, because they expect him to in the near-future.

The facts as I see them are simple. Isak’s behaviour has been a disgrace, and his pitiful reasoning should be ignored. Should have got it in writing. His agent needs to be sacked, as he is clearly incompetent. Liverpool have made the situation far worse by unsettling a player, making a derisory bid and then shuffling back into the shadows, clearly reasoning that if they unsettle the player enough, they will get him eventually at a lower fee than Newcastle demand (and they may be correct). They deserve unlimited criticism for how they have acted this summer, and it’s not the first time they have been in this situation. As expected, many of the Liverpool fanbase have acted as expected, exposing the sheer hypocrisy in how they view players Liverpool want to sign, compared to players who leave.

But ultimately, the biggest mistake for all of this was made by Newcastle United, if I dare suggest so. If we take emotion out of this, the best thing for Newcastle was to sell, even if that amount was a “mere” £110m. The book profit would have allowed then to reinvest players on amortised contracts totalling hundreds of millions of pounds.

Maybe that misses the point. Maybe principle trumps all of that, and do not get me wrong, I am so happy they have stood their ground on this. But ultimately, clubs act in a way that benefits them. And keeping Isak doesn’t really benefit Newcastle United. He won’t be at the club in a year’s time, one way or another.

Nathan Ake

A rumour I did not approve of (nor believe) was Nathan Ake being linked to Everton. This is a move that makes no sense. I know Pep likes small squads, but it would not take much misfortune to leave the squad short again.

Ahsan noted on WhatsApp how Ake is never referred to as an “unc”, that term that so riles some blues. That’s because he isn’t one, not in the traditional use of the word for some City players. The term refers to senior midfielders who many of us accept have seen their best days long gone. Ake, and Stones with him have their own issues, but it is not that their legs have gone, it is that their whole bodies often fail them. They may have hit their 30s, but if (IF) they could stay fit, them remaining at the club is much less of an issue – and for me, a risk worth taking, as they are both top-class defenders, but ones that need to be protected.

Which reminds me of Tommy Tuchel sniffing round that training complex last week – we all know John Stones is going to be destroyed whilst on England duty.

I cautiously dabbled with AI this week whilst compiling a quiz, and somehow got Copilot to produce this piece of information when asking for historical football facts.

🔴 2025 – Liverpool Draw 2–2 with Manchester United at Anfield

On October 19, 2025, Liverpool hosted Manchester United in a high-stakes Premier League clash that ended 2–2. Federico Chiesa opened the scoring with a curling effort before Marcus Rashford equalised. Mohamed Salah restored Liverpool’s lead from the spot, only for Bruno Fernandes to snatch a late equaliser with a deflected strike.

The match was played in front of a packed Anfield, with tension and emotion running high. A 20th-minute tribute to Diogo Jota saw fans raise scarves and sing “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” honouring the forward who tragically passed away earlier that year. The gesture united both sets of supporters in a rare moment of shared grief.

Though the draw meant Liverpool missed the chance to go top, the match was remembered more for its atmosphere than its outcome. It was a day of rivalry and remembrance—intensity on the pitch, unity in the stands.

I assumed they had got the year wrong, but obviously when you read it in full, it refers to the game due to take place in a couple of months. It seems AI is now not just sentient, but psychic. May be worth placing a pound or two on 2-2.

I wonder who remained top?

Anyway, I asked AI to devise a photo of Pep stressed at having too big a squad, and it came up with this.

WHAT WE HAVE BEEN UP TO THIS WEEK

HERE WE GO:- EPISODE 3

Howard and Ahsan take their latest look at the media, from PSR, season predictions, United and Jack the saviours and much more. The feedback for this one has been good!

IT’S LB SHOW

A new show, and a new host!

LB is joined by Ahsan to chat about the week in City world. Wolves, Ederson, Donnarumma, Savinho, Rodrygo and Spurs all in the mix!

THE WEEKEND SHOW

The usual bumper edition as Ste, Ahsan and Lloyd look back at the week that was, talk transfers and squads and preview a big game v Spurs.

OPPOSITION FAN PODCASTS

The start of the week saw us finish our pre-season series, speaking to 18 opposition fans across 11 days. A must-listen for all football fans.

The Spurs edition with Theo Delaney will be made available to all on Soundcloud prior to the weekend game.

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 10 minute sample on Soundcloud, along with the full, free weekly weekend show, jam-packed with content. Give it a try!