THE 93:20 NEWSLETTER:- ISSUE 63

Author

Howard Hockin
September 26, 2025

Hello, and welcome to Issue 63 of the 93:20 Newsletter, the 2nd piece in two days – you lucky, lucky people! This is a mop-up issue, with more stuff to discuss than I could fit in one newsletter.

If you missed yesterday’s Newsletter, you can click the link below, as a United legend moves on.

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 the content keep 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 inevitably 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.

Away we go……

Rules Are Rules – And Some Appalling Segues

This week, we saw the latest player receive a yellow card for taking off his shirt, and you can no doubt work out who I am referring to. I agree it is on the surface a rather ridiculous harsh punishment, but it has now evolved into what is essentially a stupidity tax, Darwinism in action. Every footballer knows the rule (law?), so can hardly complain when it is applied. Just how difficult is it to keep a shirt on? Ekitike would be better served removing the chips from on his shoulders, they’re getting very cold by now.

Speaking of mard-arse footballers, a reminder that Casemiro wore gloves for the Manchester derby last week. It was sunny and extremely mild, once the rain cleared. Game’s gone.

Speaking even more of game’s gone….

Extending the Play Offs in the Championship 

Now, let’s not lose track of reality and compare this to other dangerous developments such as 64-team World Cups and games being played abroad, to name but a couple. Nevertheless, for me this is a very dangerous precedent, and a slippery slope to diluting the sport further – both its fairness and its integrity.

Let’s cut to the chase – play-offs are inherently unfair, but they have added drama and entertainment to leagues across the globe, and have been a part of English football for 30+ years (since 1987, to be precise), so am long past decrying their existence. They are an acceptable compromise to make leagues more interesting and maintain interest for more teams at the business-end of a season. I still maintain the current system is open to improvement – the team that finished 3rd should progress straight to the final, but I imagine there’s less money in that idea.

Now, there are calls, and with strong club support (quelle surprise) for the Championship play-offs to be extended to cover the top eight teams.

What this means is that a team that may have finished 30 points above another team has to participate in the same play-offs for the chance of Premier League football (there was a 24-point difference between Sheffield United and Millwall last season). At least there is some sanity prevailing in the proposal, as it would include eliminators for the opportunity to play the 3rd and 4th placed teams, giving those two teams an advantage they should always have had. But how far down the table do we have to go to make football “more entertaining”? Last season, most of the division still had something on the line with a few weeks of the season left. The only changes required are to provide a bigger advantage the higher you finish in the existing play-off bracket. As clubs are backing it, and the EFL want to introduce it across all three divisions, then expect it to come to pass.

Play-offs often do not go according to how the final positions suggest - 3rd placed teams have a worse record than what you may assume. Sunderland, in 4th , were promoted after defeating 3rd placed Sheffield United last season. Often momentum, form, and very fine lines are of greater importance. We have already seen two seasons of the promoted sides in the Championship going straight back down. Imagine the scenario of an 8th placed team if they managed to win the play-offs? The only chance they would have would be to spend way beyond their means, jeopardise their future, and no doubt fall foul of PSR.

Children Are Our Future

If, like me, you spend too much time online (or even if you don’t), you may have seen this letter circulating in recent days.

I have tried my best to fact-check, and it appears to be genuine, though I cannot be 100% sure. Would it surprise you though, this being the same school that Newcastle offered tickets to for the Barcelona game, before frantically back-tracking?

If true, I am baffled at the motive. City are a global club, they do lucrative pre-season tours to attract fans, is giving a school some tickets going to make any noticeable difference, both in attracting future fans or in the club shop? It’s the equivalent of throwing a bucket of sand onto a beach. They would of course be better served offering to the local community, though working in education I am well aware that City spend a lot of time in schools under numerous schemes every week of the school year. Regarding offering tickets, a Carabao Cup game would not have raised a murmur, but there will be no problem selling out the Liverpool game, and we already know how restrictive it is for fans to get tickets, without the added obstacle of batches being flogged to schools in another country. It more begs the question of who these companies are who hold clumps of tickets, and re-opens the debate over City’s use of nine external ticketing companies, legalised touting, whilst trying to shame and block any City fan that just wants to send his ticket to a friend when they can’t attend.

So, to my story. Caught out by City playing on a Thursday night, I could not make the Napoli game due to a meeting. My friend, who has a season ticket, but is not on the cup scheme, wanted my ticket and that of my friend who sits next to me, who could also not attend, so that he could take his nephew to the game. My friend strongly linked his season ticket in his account, and transferred the ticket. I tried to do the same, but apparently you can only be strongly linked to one person. Never mind, I’ll just transfer my ticket via friends and family. Nope, an error message wrongly stated, for five days, that the recipient had too many tickets in his wallet, which was not true. Eventually after much communication, and failed phone calls, a free membership was set up for the nephew. The club stated I could send the ticket to that account. Except I got a new error message, as did everyone else for two days who tried to transfer a ticket. Finally, two days before the match, I got to send my ticket.

One solitary ticket, to one friend who sits behind me at matches. This is not good enough, City.

And Finally…..

Your weekly dreary Overlap update.

This is what Roy Keane said on the show, this week, talking about Pep complaining about fatigue (which he didn’t, but that’s never stopped them before).

“The (trophy) parade….there’s hundreds of staff drinking champagne, all spraying each other, doing dances, hundreds of staff, so Pep, you’ve got hundreds of staff, so can they help you deal with their fatigue? So if you win the league next year, whenever they win it, don’t get a hundred staff on the pitch celebrating. You complain about that all the time!”

Gary Neville, Jamie Carragher and Ian Wright burst into uncontrollable laughter.

You could read Keane’s words a hundred times, and it would not make any more sense, though the forced laughter from Neville et al is hardly a surprise. Keane seems to be suggesting City should play some of their staff in matches to help with fatigue. There’s no other rational explanation for the drivel that came out of his mouth.

I’ve largely ignored Keane’s PR reinvention, and I respect he is at least honest with his views, unlike others. But his “angry at everything” schtick was boring five years ago. And for Keane, the less said about Pep as a manager, the better, would be my advice. There’s a reason you’re sat in a podcast studio, and Pep is on a touchline, attempting to win his 40th major trophy. And integral to that success has been the staff that supported him.

It seems clear to me that Roy Keane got little joy out of his success as a player, so clearly feels no one else should either. It probably feels unprofessional and amateurish to him for players to display emotion. Bore the **** off.

Meanwhile, Paul Scholes slags off Marcus Rashford, to gain clout for his new podcast. When are the Class of 92 going to finally stop hogging the airwaves with their hot views and wistful nostalgia? You’d think with time they’d be eased out of the spotlight, but this is an unfortunate consequence of United’s repeated failings since 2013. There are no new heroes to replace them, so the nostalgia becomes all-encompassing.

WHAT WE HAVE BEEN UP TO THIS WEEK

THE 93:20 REVIEW – BALLS

Lloyd and Ahsan look back at an eventful and tricky game against Arsenal that ultimately saw City walk away with a share of the spoils. Also, wider reflections on the week as a whole.

OPPOSITION FAN:- HUDDERSFIELD TOWN

Howard caught up with Kosi from the “And He Takes That Chance” podcast, to talk all things Huddersfield. Instability, inexperience, promotion pushes, beer and more!

THE 93:20 REVIEW:- YOUTH OF TODAY

Ahsan and Bailey chat all things Carabao, Huddersfield and our academy stars.

OPPOSITION FAN:- BURNLEY

Howard catches up once more with Claret Rich Steele, to assess Burnley’s Premier League return – a rejuvenated Walker, solidity and optimism aplenty.

THE WEEKEND SHOW:- CLARET AND BLUE

The usual packed show, with Ben, George and Ste. A look back at Arsenal and Huddersfield, youth, Phil, City’s rivals and a preview of the weekend match – plus much more!

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!