THE 93:20 NEWSLETTER:- ISSUE 62

Author

Howard Hockin
September 25, 2025

Hello, and welcome to Issue 62 of the 93:20 Newsletter. An issue so big, it is also Issue 63! Now, don’t worry, the 115 charges decision has not been made and you missed it, it’s just that there happens to be a lot of little things that I am keen to comment on this week. I think there’s a limit to the amount of scrolling you are prepared to do without risk of injury, or just sheer boredom, so consider this Part 1 of the week’s content. I hope you enjoy my random thoughts.

The usual reminder that the Newsletter cannot survive without your support. As has been the case for many years, there has never been a greater need for independent coverage of City – without bias, but WITH emotion.

You can donate via this link, and help ensure the content keeps flowing:

But above all, we all know a certain legal decision is imminent. And when that decision is made, there is only one place where you should be taking in the inevitable huge fallout, whatever the decision may be. There will be A LOT to unpack. That place is on the 93:20 Player, of course. If you are not already a subscriber, this is the time to change that – you’re going to get even better value over the next month.

From City, to the play-offs, media stuff (obv) and a lot more – let’s crack on!

The best thing about the Arsenal game is that it is now in the past. We don’t have to deal with their “opinions” and “analysis” for a while. This is modern football, where the real drain is the noise around certain fanbases when matches approach and take place, rather than the stress of the game itself.

For Arsenal fans the circle continues. Now, the weekend approaches, and I’m not in a bitchy mood, so I will not comment on the nature of many Arsenal fans, and additional issues that may bring. The frustration of the crowd was noted by many in the media as the game progressed – and the difficulty of getting over the line, and winning something for the first time (essentially, it’s been decades after all), is clearly a factor in whether Arsenal will win the league in the coming years. They have the tools, but the pressure to do so, and whether that feeds into Arteta’s methods, continues. Like no other, the team and fanbase expends emotional energy, which equals fatigue, physical and mental, on and off the pitch. And the patience is worn thin because time waits for no man (or woman). If City don’t win the league again, there will be a glorious decade to fall back on and remember. For many of Arsenal’s fanbase, they have never experienced a league title. Arteta bigging himself up post-match after grabbing a late draw, can hardly help. Walk the walk before you talk the talk.

Nico Gonzalez

As Bailey pointed out on WhatsApp, if Pep spends half an hour feverishly explaining tactical stuff to a player after a match, that is a GOOD thing to see as a City fan, not a BAD thing, and not an example of Pep playing to the camera, as I am sure Ian Herbert will suggest in his next eagerly-anticipated opinion piece. As Pep alluded to post-match, he offers advice to those willing to learn – and as he made quite clear, not all City players have been willing. You can make your own mind up as to who he was digging out. So for Nico Gonzalez, who Pep stuck to like a limpet, no doubt still explaining matters long after the floodlights had been switched off, be thankful for the personal training session.

Savi(nh)o & Bobb

More hot takes resulted from a game that was akin to a training exercise, with little short or long-term to take from the match, though the youth aspect is obviously something to produce pride in me as a City fan.

As for our wide men, Savinho got stick online almost from minute one, and whilst Bobb was not immune from criticism, he got a much easier ride, despite not performing any better than his teammate, who would of course go on to score.

This is entirely logical, but still tedious to witness. Savinho’s summer antics (the finer details of which we may never know), assumed by blues to be open to a move to Spurs, has left him persona non grata to many blues, because that’s how it works. He kissed the badge after scoring though, so I forgive him. He can of course patch things up, players have come back from much worse, and he never publicly spoke out against his employers, but the only way to redemption is to provide numbers moving forward. And show willing, and bust a gut to get back in everyone’s good books, especially Pep’s. The early signs of the season did not suggest such willing, but more of a sulk, but let’s wait and see.

Bobb was not great, but you do not make conclusions from a Carabao Cup game against League 1 opposition. I have seen this type of game play out a hundred times down the years. The same game played out for Spurs and Arsenal the same night. Fans genuinely think this is an opportunity for players to “send a message” to Pep, but I would hope he is well above judging players off a non-event like this game. Another low block, a player finding his feet after a serious injury, with time on his side. It’s not fair that Savinho gets more criticism after the Huddersfield game than Bobb, but that’s because my preference would be for neither to have any. Maybe if some of their teammates ventured into near-post positions occasionally, we would be judging their performances rather more positively. Let’s give them time, and see what happens. There’s zero patience within a section of our fanbase, and that has only been exacerbated by an off-season.

Ultimately, the noise comes from a minority. Look, we all know people who you only hear off to complain. City win ten consecutive games, scoring 67 goals in the process, and conceding two? Not a peep from them. One player they have never liked misplaces a pass? Seven WhatsApp messages. It’s their oxygen, best to leave them to it.

As for another wide man, Jeremy Doku - that’s quite the meteoric rise, to reach a point where Pep tells you not to travel for a Carabao Cup tie. Exalted company he now keeps.

Samuel Luckhurst

So, United’s Manchester United correspondent at the MEN has scarpered, to the Sun. It seems from my research (regular rubber-necking on Red Issue) he was not popular amongst many United fans, though the core reason seems to be due to negativity, and calling out managers. What positivity were they expecting over the past decade? Nevertheless, as you will see from below, Samuel was more than capable of absurd optimism and turd-polishing. Especially when that turd was Jose Mourinho.

Still, as a non-United fan, I could see the low standards he set. He even indirectly referred to me in a derisory manner in an article once, after I had retweeted him, and it remains one of my proudest achievements.

I do not like bullying, insults, or punching down, sideways or up. I have called out some journalists for individual opinions, and will continue to do so. But I hope it is measured when I do. And I’m not going to be insulting anyway – often, it’s best to let their own words do the talking.

So, without further ado. Take it away, Samuel.

No great loss, and better to have him ensconced at a paper no right-minded person would read. He replaces a man in Neil Custis who didn't come up with a decent opinion or story in 15 years, though we'll always have THAT Phil Foden tweet. 

Another great reason he is no great loss to the MEN, is because there's little to be lost. Should you have the perseverance to defeat the tsunami of advertising and pop ups, then what is there left to greet you? The MEN has gone the way of most other sites, desperate for clickbait content, in any form. The City and United sections have become increasingly tribalistic. Should the United correspondent of Manchester newspaper be slagging off City on a regular basis, as part of his remit? 

Good riddance. 

As for the MEN, they are owned by Reach plc. Or, as Private Eye calls them – Retch plc. A newspaper that serves as a prime example of the move to churnalism and the slow death of high-quality, local journalism.

Salah not winning the Ballon D’Or, as expected, was perfect bait for Cult FC and its fanbase. Best to stand back and let them exert their energy for a player who did not have a defining impact in the Champions League, so was never going to win. Them’s the rules.
To be honest, they may have a point considering the actual winner scored only four goals in the knock-out stages of the Champions League, but hey, no one should care that much about this nonsense. I only cared about Rodri at the moment it was announced he had won, as it suddenly dawned on me the gravitas and enormity of my lickle football club having a Ballon D’Or winner, and more importantly, it really pissed off Real Madrid and Vinicius Jr - and that’s as good a reason as any.

Miguel Delaney Tweet

A tweet so bad, you can’t debate it.

You can imagine the scene at FIFA, as they announce that no PSG players will be nominated this year, as they play in a farmers’ league and are really wealthy. Real Madrid would probably still flounce, for no discernible reason. 

And Finally, For Part 1 - The Quest For Silverware

I say this only partly in jest – for some managers, not taking the Carabao Cup seriously should be a sacking offence. 

You see, there is a sweet spot for those I reserve my greatest contempt for. This is the template – an established Premier League club, highly unlikely to be relegated, highly unlikely to finish the season in a Champions League position, are not in European football, haven’t won a trophy in decades, if ever, but are a big enough club, with good enough players, to hold their own. For such a club – and I present Everton as Example A – there is simply no excuse for their manager to do anything other than go all out to win the trophy, especially when many “bigger” clubs will be doing heavy rotating of their own. Example B would be Crystal Palace, and we all know the effect their FA Cup triumph has had on the club and its fanbase. I saw online many Everton fans fuming after their meek surrender to a side that have not gained a single league point this season, and they were right to fume. Everton do not play until Monday night, and David Moyes surrendered his club’s best chance of a trophy to rest a few players for a game five days away. It’s a disgrace.

As an aside, I have caught up with Burnley fan Rich this week for the Opposition Fan podcast - Scott Parker has a stronger argument for rotation, with Premier League survival the clear priority - but he changed the entire team, and they crashed out at home to Cardiff City, and missed out on another tie against an EFL team in Wrexham. Rich was not fuming like Everton fans have been, but there was still frustration in going out. Managers need to understand the importance of cup runs to fans, and stop assuming they are damaging to their league campaign.

That’s it - for now! But there will be another Newsletter out tomorrow (Friday), with a few more things still to get off my chest.

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