THE 93:20 NEWSLETTER:- ISSUE 83

Author

Howard Hockin
January 30, 2026

Hello, and welcome to Issue 83 of the 93:20 Newsletter. A fun week, but I am keeping this one brief, as work has been so busy I have had little time to get wound up (over football).

Remember, you can help me sustain this newsletter by making a donation, if that’s agreeable to you. Do not worry, if not. And it may allow me to do more football-centric bonus newsletters – and the return of fake Whatsapp chats at United of course!

The Best Teams

The final round of games in the Champions League at least partially vindicated the new format, but any format that allows Spurs to finish in 4th must have serious flaws. It is preferable to the old format, which was tired and stale, though it does not appear to have prevented City playing Real Madrid every season. Most teams had something on the line going into the final game, and that can only be a good thing. The way the draw now works will lead to some inequalities, but there is no perfect system. I do hate the path of teams being forged already though, and a blind, open draw for the quarter finals onwards would have been far preferable.

I didn’t realise Benfica needed another goal at the end, so was flabbergasted at why their keeper was ambling up – were they that desperate for City to fail?! Now, I never like seeing Jose Mourinho happy, but moments like that are what it is all about, and to do it against Real Madrid, and their preening band of prima donnas and egos, was sublime, was sport at its pinnacle. Joyous stuff. Maybe Madrid will now boycott the play-offs?

As an aside, it was nice to see Leroy Sane and Ilkay Gundogan back at the Etihad this week, as long as they were on the losing side. But to be perfectly honest, it did not lead to a swell of emotion from me, I have moved on. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll always feel better for seeing Ilkay, but with one botched return, and life moving fast, it was not going to have the imapct it might once have done. Leroy Sane shone very brightly briefly, and was arguably a key component of perhaps City’s most complete squad, but he was inconsistent, was not at City for that long, once you take into account the serious injury, and did not have the chance to reach legend status. The fact he is plying his trade in Turkey by the age of 29 speaks volumes (no offence). He is a player that I suspect may have regretted leaving City, though his next club don’t do too badly. The next ex-City player I discuss below must surely also feel that way. Nevertheless, Ilkay and Leroy they both spoke beautifully, and eloquently, about City this week, and it was nice to hear. A reminder of the effect playing for City has on footballers.

Raheem Sterling

News broke this week that Chelsea had released Raheem Sterling, which is sad to hear. As I alluded to above, I suspect his decision to leave City is one he greatly regrets. He had the chance to move to a big club close to his roots, so I understood it, but I always felt Sterling (and I was a huge fan) had a higher opinion of his merits and his ceiling in the world game than reality suggested. I’m not getting into another debate over his plus points and his flaws, but City was the perfect place for him, yet he often felt affronted for not starting every game.

I did raise an eyebrow or two at Jamie Carragher chiming in with his opinions on the matter however. The buzzphrase accompanying the piece in the Telegraph was: “Sterling has never received the adoration he deserves”.

Why was that, Jamie, do you think? He is right in many respects, Sterling did not get enough respect for the numbers he produced for many years. Why that is, is hazy - complicated perhaps. He was clearly treated different by some of the media (and beyond) due to the colour of his skin. He ran funnily. He missed easy chances sometimes. Some City fans never rated him because of those flaws.

But there’s more to it than that, and the likes of Jamie Carragher are squarely to blame. Here are a couple of quotes from the man himself around the time Sterling was agitating for a move away from Carragher’s beloved Liverpool – and we all know what happens when a big player tries to leave that club.

“For a 20-year-old kid to be taking on Liverpool Football Club over a contract. To the pit of my stomach that just winds me up, it angers me."

"What did Liverpool do in the Champions League? Nothing. What did Sterling do? Nothing. To do what he’s done now. There’s nothing worse than that. You keep your mouth shut - get on with playing football.”

This week, Carragher has this to say:

Despite these truly elite levels, there was a sense Sterling never quite won the love of others. I am not sure how high he would feature on an all-time list of the greatest England and Manchester City players. My suspicion is that he would rank lower than he should.

Some unwarranted criticism has shadowed him and may explain why few Chelsea fans were worried about his recent exile and why most are happy with his departure.

Carragher acknoweldges in the article his own criticism at the time, of how Sterling handled himself when seeking a move to City. What Carragher and the rest of the Liverpool mafia will never acknoweldge or even remotely realise, is the effect that hatchet campaign had on Sterling. That he and others of his ilk were directly responsible for how Sterling was subsequently portrayed, even I suspect, by a minority of City fans. Sterling would be booed by visiting Norwich City fans, for no apparent reason. These campaigns work. Jack Grealish has received similar treatment. You tried to destroy his reputation because he wanted to leave Liverpool – own it.

All in all though, it is quite the fall-off for him. From elite to also-ran. He must look back and have regrets, but it is not too late to write a final chapter in his career. It is so long since he has performed at a high level however, that I wonder where that chapter could be written.

And Finally

Ah, bless. United are back, again, though the levels required for them to be “back” have become increasingly desperate with every passing year. Remember the likes of Gary Neville and Rio Ferdinand popping champagne corks around New Year time because United were "joint first" (i.e. - 2nd), before they inevitably tailed off and finished 6th? Never mind, another summer transfer window won and they'd be in the mix once more, if only they could unlock Paul Pogba. Nowadays, a couple of good results is all it takes. All hilarious, and all this under a caretaker manager who was sacked by Middlesbrough. They sacked another manager just a few weeks ago. Short, short memories. The strangest of seasons has allowed their rank averageness to be covered up, in the league table at least. They have some great players, and I maintain that their squad is a Top 5 one, but let’s not pretend they are contenders, or close to being so. They have benefitted from their past failures allowing them one game a week. Any competent club that had spent billions could have used this season to contest the title. But we are all still ruled by a media full of journalists desperate for their return to the pinnacle of English and European football, and who think football is poorer without that. Somehow though, the Premier League has managed to trudge along without their excellence.

WHAT WE HAVE BEEN UP TO THIS WEEK

A LOT!

THE HUB:- EPISODE 53

Spencer Mossman joins Bailey to discuss the struggles of Liverpool, January transfers in the Premier League, and why City signed Guehi and Semenyo.

THE 93:20 BUMPER REVIEW AND PREVIEW

Ahsan is joined by Chris and Lloyd for a bumper review pod. Looking back at the win over Wolves, dissecting the refereeing controversy, previewing Galatasaray plus loads more.

THE 93:20 REVIEW – TURKISH DELIGHT

Ahsan is joined by Bailey and Dom to look back at the win over Galatasaray. They discuss the tactics, individuals, the importance of finishing in the Top8 and loads more!

OPPOSITION FAN – TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR

Howard chatted to Theo Delaney about a season of contrasts for Spurs, Frank, recruitment, hoodoos, the weekend game and more.

THE HUB:- EPISODE 54

Joel Parker joined Bailey to discuss the development of Michael Kayode and how City signings Donnarumma and Reijnders have performed.

THE WEEKEND SHOW – SPURSY

Howard, Lloyd and George talk Oscar Bobb, look back at the week’s two wins, preview Spurs, talk 2nd halves and much, 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!