THE 93:20 NEWSLETTER:- ISSUE 76

Author

Howard Hockin
December 12, 2025

Why

Hello, and welcome to Issue 76 of the 93:20 Newsletter, and I have a LOT to say, which may be good news, or potentially bad. Unfortunately, as Wolves are such a pitiful football team, we can't even have a laugh at United on this week's newsletter. Rob Edwards deserves all he gets, and hopefully Middlesbrough get promoted, so they can wave at him as they pass in the night.

As always, thanks for those that have supported me - you can donate via this link, and help the content keep flowing – every December seems more expensive than the previous one. I know it’s not the best time to ask.

Xmas is almost here, so do please do check out my books on Amazon. Twelfth Man and the book of Newsletter articles are the best content I’ve ever scribed, so do give them a go, and remember – not a single copy has been sold this month, but hey, I may as well mention it for one final time.

Let’s crack on.

Boycotts

If you managed to watch the entire World Cup draw programme, then I offer both my congratulations and condolences. You are clearly a person with powers of endurance I can only dream of.

There was an understandable outcry over proceedings, for reasons I do not need to go into. Rio Ferdinand displayed the warmth of some long-forgotten peas at the back of the freezer, and it all finished hours after it needed to. 

Many have expressed their disgust by proclaiming their intention to boycott the Finals, the equivalent of announcing your exit from a WhatsApp group before flouncing. Just do it, no one cares. Don't get me wrong, the reasoning is honourable, it's just pointless. What precisely will such boycotts achieve? Nothing. Billions will watch the finals, FIFA will make huge wads of cash, corruption and sycophancy will continue apace and nothing will change because Martin from Aldershot watched Homes Under The Hammer instead of England v Panama. As always, the only hope is empty seats jolts a few empty heads at FIFA, but they probably know how much they can extort fans and get away with it. What it needs is the power of FAs behind the cause, and I wouldn’t hold your breath on that.

Because, we're all powerless aren't we? There's nothing we can do. Infantino has a power base, like his predecessors, that's essentially untouchable, like a tin-pot dictator. How can we hold him to account, as fans? The only way is to hit FIFA in their pocket, and boycott sponsors, but again, it won't change the tournament’s success, or football thereafter. Cut off your nose to spite your face if you must, it's fine to have morals, it just feels like we lost the fight many years ago. Much of football stinks, but opening a window (to it) will not remove the odour.

Defeatist? Yes. Realistic? Absolutely.

Cracked-badge club

It is of course wonderful to see a crisis or three unfold at Liverpool, though unfortunately their problems are solvable, and no doubt will be in time. As you will know, Mo Salah burned his bridges last weekend, and all hell broke loose. As a result, another Liverpool player walks alone, joining an increasingly long queue. For Salah, it just means more (to leave).

A lot of people had a lot to say, naturally. Liverpool fans were split, when for me there was little to be split over, because you need to separate behaviour from past performances. If Erling Haaland did a BAD THING tomorrow, I would state so. Thus, analysing whether Salah's arguments had merit misses the point. The point is not what he said, rather that he said anything. He put himself above his club, and showed the world what he is. A self-centred, selfish cry baby. What Salah has done is arguably worse than anything Trent Alexander Arnold did, but will not attract anywhere near the vitriol. Salah rarely speaks to the media, so when he does, you can be sure that every word has been crafted to within an inch of his life.

Does he have a point though? He claims promises made in the summer have been broken. I very much doubt he was promised to be selected for matches in perpetuity. That would be very foolish for any club to do, for any player, as form can never be guaranteed, and a week is a long time in football. The truth probably lies somewhere in between - Salah will have received assurances he was still a key 1st team player, the main man, but to reiterate, that should never guarantee selection irrespective of form. Dropping Salah was a tactical decision, due to the huge gaps he was leaving behind him in midfield. It makes sense, and subsequent performances have at least partially vindicated the decision. Salah essentially stated that he expected to be picked, irrespective of form, and it is telling to hear him say it publicly. Ultimately, Salah put himself first, over the team.  He proved his ego comes first, a week before he was away on international duty anyway, and unavailable for selection for what may be over a month.

Imagine Kevin De Bruyne, David Silva or Vincent Kompany acting in this way. Well, you can’t can you? Yaya Toure perhaps, but then his behaviour has tainted his City legacy (with some). And he at least knew the right way to go about things as a disgruntled player - with leaks via the media or through the mouthpiece of a **** of an agent. Save it for after you have left if you are so precious you need to have your say. Or for the explosive autobiography. At least do an interview in Arabic to a foreign newspaper, so that you have the fall back of claiming you were mistranslated should you later lose the power of your convictions. But of course Salah knew exactly what he was doing, and the consequences – essentially issuing his football club an ultimatum. And it’s a war he was never going to win, so effectively he has done this to accelerate his exit from the club. Classy.

To make matters worse (or better), Jamie Carragher was name-checked by Salah, so soon entered the chat, as was inevitable as a guest on Monday Night Football. He went in more two-footed than Valverde on Jeremy Doku. Carragher contradicted himself multiple times, saying he had never criticised Salah on the pitch, two weeks after he said his legs had gone. He said Salah's brilliance allowed him to be selfish, whilst criticising him for not passing more. Carragher's palpable anger will no doubt be interpreted as being due to Salah's disregard for Liverpool football club, but I suspect it's more down to Carragher receiving criticism from Salah, as we all know he has a short fuse, and does not take criticism well. He would have been better served destroying Salah simply on speaking out, criticism he fully deserved, rather than letting his emotion close his judgment, leading to some spurious arguments.He has plenty of detractors at Liverpool club, not just elsewhere, and it’s not difficult to see why.

Still, if Liverpool now get £50m+ for Salah rather than letting him leave for free last summer, then perhaps this was the plan all along, and worth a few months of exorbitant wages. They’ll be spending that transfer fee for decades to come. The net spend kings once more.

Sunderland fans

It was a great win over Sunderland last weekend, an enjoyable afternoon. Sunderland brought numbers as expected, and as they became resigned to defeat, the inevitable chants over atmosphere and attendances were rolled out. Not without any validity, atmosphere-wise, and a book could be written on why that is at City and elsewhere, but the chants are still tedious.

For Sunderland fans, we will be in their sphere of criticism because of our owner as expected, as they will understandably be calling out Newcastle fans for theirs, so we will fall naturally into the same basket for them. If they wish to act as moral guardians, so be it, it’s a free world (for some). Line many a fan base, a moral backbone is often suddenly discovered when it suits.

However – on attendances – they can do one. You all know the score, the predictable chant that goes up at the Etihad, because opposition fans can never decide if our ground is empty, or full of glory hunters, hence the chant “where were you when you were sh*t?” And as always – and it is ALWAYS – a quick glance at the record books will show them up for their absolute staggering lack of self-awareness – though I guess analysing chants is a tad pointless.

So, for the record.

In 1995/96, Sunderland’s average attendance was 15,374. The following season, in the Premier League, it was 20,959. In the 3rd tier, they averaged 11,340. So, Sunderland fans, where were YOU when you were sh*t? Or even when you were quite good?

All fun and games, and I like their fans, and know a couple in the Manchester area, who are always great company. And having said all that, someone posted match highlights of an old match v Sunderland on a WhatsApp group prior to the weekend, that City won 3-2 in 1991. And Sunderland brought A LOT of fans that day, many in very dubious fancy dress. Simpler times, when no one cared about an empty seat.

(21 minutes, so you may want to skim through)

AND FINALLY

I very much enjoyed hosting a wonderful Real Madrid review podcast on Thursday, as expected, after a victory over an easy-to-hate club. That Ballon D’Or is not getting any closer for Vinicius Jr.

There was one key point I wanted to make, one thought that popped into my head when I was writing the agenda. You should very much listen to the show, I think we did a great job of covering all angles, but sometimes as a fan, performance does not matter, does it? You win at the Bernabeu, then it does not matter if they had players out, if we were sloppy in the opening half-hour, if we need a right winger. Sometimes, you just have to step back and drink it in, because I remember my mood in the pub after the final whistle, and you can’t buy or manufacture that feeling. Only sport can deliver it. Issues in defence that may prove costly? That can wait until next week. When the whistle goes after a win, nothing else matters but that feeling.

WHAT WE HAVE BEEN UP TO THIS WEEK

THE 93:20 REVIEW – CHEEKY CHERKI

Ahsan is joined by Joey and Mulv from the Noisy Neighbors podcast for a bumper review of the Sunderland match. The boys have a quick chat about Leeds and Fulham too, a little bit of title race things, and lots of Cherki love.

THE 93:20 REVIEW:- GRIT

Howard, Jordan and Ste look back at a stellar win at the Bernabeu, what it means, what we learned and much, much more.

OPPOSITION FAN:- CRYSTAL PALACE

Howard caught up with Richard Foster to talk all things Palace. Glasner, Europe, Wharton, a big weekend match and much more.

THE WEEKEND SHOW – ROYAL WEEK

The usual bumper show, as Howard, Adam and Ben look back at a successful week, laugh at Liverpool and preview a tough trip to London on Sunday.

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 Weekend show, jam-packed with content. Give it a try!