THE 93:20 NEWSLETTER:- ISSUE 73

Author

Howard Hockin
November 21, 2025

Hello, and welcome to Issue 73 of the 93:20 Newsletter. This is the 2nd of two Newsletters in recent days, as I mop up my thoughts for the week – and there were plenty of them.

As always, thanks for those that have supported me – a lot of hours has gone into this week’s output, but I do it because I want to!

You can donate via this link, and help the content keep flowing, and aid my crisp addiction – Scampi Fries are getting more expensive.

Also – it’s just over a month until Christmas. The tree may not be up, but I’m going for it, as some people actually plan ahead, so do check out my books on Amazon. To be brutally honest – Twelfth Man and the book of Newsletter articles are the best content I’ve ever scribed, so do give them a go, and remember – the Newsletters book is not a season review, but a look at the world of football, so don’t be put off.

Let’s crack on.

Another week, another batch of tedious Overlap clipped content. Yay!

Mike Dean was this week’s guest, reminiscing about how QPR gave up against City, allowing them to grab that rather famous winner much easier – a fait accompli of sorts. It’s joyous how much that goal has scarred everyone of a United persuasion. Just look at the replies and quote tweets on the clip on Twitter. It’s wonderful. Conspiracy theories aplenty, mistruths, outright lies, bitterness that would sour the face of the best poker player. And no one is as bitter about it as Wayne Rooney – you can see how uncomfortable he is talking about it, and how open he is to suggestions not everything was above board. And with that in mind, it is time for an apology, as I am afraid I have got him all wrong.

Last season I spoke to a Plymouth Argyle opposition fan before we played them in the cup. Rooney had been and gone by then, but the fan acknowledged that Rooney had thrown himself into the role. When he first did some punditry, I was relatively impressed with the analysis he brought to the table. All-in-all, my opinion of him softened.

Yeah, I was wrong, I should have kept my mouth shut. His analysis since has been bang-average, so he has fitted in perfectly. His Overlap appearances as tedious as you would expect. However, this week, he truly surpassed himself.

Because this week, for Amazon Prime, he named his three best players of the season so far. First up was Antoine Semenyo, a perfectly valid choice. He then chose Bryan Mbuemo, and I can let that slide as he has played well and we should expect some United bias from Rooney. And then came his third choice.

Viktor Gyökeres.

No, seriously. A choice so bad, there is not much more I can say. Some cracking impartiality there, Wayne. Was there no one else that popped into your head that perhaps has performed a tad better, perhaps a fellow striker? Why on earth are pundits so ready to humiliate themselves in this manner? Is it simply ego, and a baffling lack of self-awareness?

A reminder of Erling Haaland’s statistics for the season so far- 32 goals in 20 matches for club and country in 2025/26.

Does he track back though?

The International Break

Wow. With plenty on the line, it certainly delivered.

I was cheering on Scotland - much better to have them at finals than a team I have zero interest or connection to (sorry Switzerland).

But I had to laugh at a comment I saw, two in fact, from an Ireland fan and a Scotland fan, besmirching England, claiming we could never have what they had, those moments. Yeah, there's a reason for that - because England have a much better team, so the qualification is a breeze. Those "moments" can only be created in adversity, when up against the wall, so in effect can only happen to "lesser" nations (in a footballing sense). And don't get me wrong, this is not me getting all defensive - club over country, I couldn't care less if anyone wants to pile in on England. 

But it did make me think about City - we're too good nowadays to have moments like that, partly because we've already had moments like that, and nothing beats the first time. The team have written so many unbelievable scripts, it is near impossible to reach such emotional heights again. And the only way they could, would be a damning 115 verdict that saw us having to rebuild from scratch - and whilst many a legacy blue claim they would welcome such an occurrence, an antidote to the soulless nature of modern football, it doesn't wash for me. I'd take seeing the likes of Erling and Phil leave rather badly, truth be told.

Liverpool and Diogo Jota.

Andy Robertson is a player that, as a City fan, is easy to hate, but none of that mattered (if it ever did) this week, with some emotional words about his departed friend Diogo Jota after the Scotland game, emotional and eloquent words, and a timely reminder to treat players as humans, not robots or caricatures for our gratification. After Jota’s tragic death, many put forward opinions on how it would affect Liverpool in the season ahead – either it would act as inspiration, or be too great a weight on their shoulders. They had lost a dear friend they spent every day with. And lost him very suddenly, at a young age. I think some of Liverpool’s current problems are tactical and strategic, but like City last season, issues can be many and varied, and we will never truly know the impact of Jota’s death on performances, and how many points it may have cost the team. But it has clearly had an impact, and that was always the most logical consequence - you can’t just shake off something like that, and it acts as a reminder to us all that life is fleeting and results and trophies are not everything. It’s a team that needs to be better assessed next season. I will of course always still take some joy from Liverpool failure, but I wish there were more standard reasons for that failure. And maybe next season, we will see that there are.

AND FINALLY….(ALMOST)

Sorry to mention Jude Bellingham again, and Ian Wright too. I don’t have the lived experience to provide expert opinion on such situations, and no one wants a straight, white male offering forth opinions on topics they cannot truly understand. There has undoubtedly been racism in play in media coverage on past players, and all blues know this because of Raheem Sterling. But we cannot assume that therefore any criticism moving forwards is also swayed by racism. Let’s deal with a hypothetical here – because I have never met Jude Bellingham, never will, and can never truly know the guy. But hypothetically, can we never criticise the attitude of a player of colour in future, will that automatically be racist? To reiterate previous comments, I have read enough from reliable sources that Bellingham’s attitude is problematic, and Tuchel has made that pretty clear. It is an issue for managers, and his skin colour is irrelevant. Nevertheless, the amount of coverage his attitude has received does make you warm to Wright’s opinion that there’s more at play. As always, there is a simple solution, but not one that will ever happen – just talk about the football, and treat all players equally for their actions. Hell will freeze over, or United will win the league, before that happens – you can get similar odds for both.

AND A FINAL “AND FINALLY”

One I would rather not do – the death of Mani was another punch to the guts in a shit year for Manchester. Another genius gone too soon, and a genuine great guy, and a genius bassist, another product of the city that somehow has produced so many, another legendary person that helped make the city global, made the city infinitely cooler, provided us all with treasured memories, and made the world a better place. Imagine being a major part of an album THAT GOOD, but never letting fame affect you. I cannot comprehend the pain of two teenage children who have lost both parents over the past couple of years. You may have picked the wrong football team, but you will be missed by all, and way beyond the city boundaries.

R.I.P.

WHAT WE HAVE BEEN UP TO THIS WEEK

THE HUB:- EPISODE 50

Ahsan and Sam are joined by Bailey to discuss a new full-back pairing, changes in the pressing structure and how else City have evolved this season.

OPPOSITION FAN:- NEWCASTLE UNITED

Howard caught up with Harry De Cosemo to talk all things Newcastle. A mixed campaign, squad issues, schedules, off pitch stability and much more!

THE WEEKEND SHOW

The usual bumper show, as domestic form returns, with a big game at Newcastle on Saturday night, plus a look back at the international break, and 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 10 minutes sample on Soundcloud, along with a full, free weekly Friday show, jam- packed with content. Give it a try!