THE 93:20 NEWSLETTER:- ISSUE 87

Author

Howard Hockin
February 27, 2026

Hello, and welcome to Issue 87 of the 93:20 Newsletter. As always, random stuff to discuss, and the lack of midweek City games has not changed that.

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It’s been nice having a couple of midweeks off from watching City, a chance to partially unwind and watch others suffer instead. I’m not sure watching Atletico Madrid v Club Brugge just because “it’s football, and it’s available to watch on my TV” is where I saw my life going to be honest. Good game though. Thankfully the gap was filled with more media dirge to get us all enraged. Or just bored.

Sigh – The Overlap

It's weird, considering how much rival fans don't care about City, what a small club they are, and how any success doesn't matter, how often City are used to garner clickbait content. It's almost as if you all do care, in fact you care you the point of desperation, in the hope that England's most successful club of recent times, led by the world's greatest manager, who is about to reach a decade at the club, get their wings clipped. That gives your team a greater chance of future success, with the added bonus that you can pretend that City’s past success was all one big fraud. In fact, you don’t even need to wait for a panel’s judgment for such views.

The clips on social media platforms this week from the latest dreary Overlap episode got me thinking about Kieran Maguire, who appeared on the show to offer his financial expertise to the City situation, and other matters. The other matters were not clipped for hits, naturally. Kieran is the excellent co-host of The Price of Football podcast along with Kevin Day, both of whom are regular guests on the 93:20 podcast, as Opposition Fans, and always entertain. They’re also real fans who have always been impartial about all things City. Kieran spent many years living in Manchester too, so has a soft spot for the city. I did feel for him this week though, as his words were once more used to create content across vast swathes of the internet.

Kieran was asked what potential punishments may be if City were found guilty (no one is interested in the idea of City being innocent), and his answer was spat out across said internet in a series of sensationalist headlines portrayed as “115 update provided” by the endless number of tedious, theft-based sites that couldn’t write 100 words of content themselves if their lives depended on it. Football Joe, Football Funnys (sic), Goal, even Fabrizio Romano’s Facebook page. The latter two have tens of millions of followers, and along with thousands of other content thieves, used a hypothetical answer to a hypothetical question about a hypothetical situation on a podcast/show to churn out the same pathetic “what if” sensationalist bullshit to feed the rabid fanbases of various clubs that are not Manchester City. There was no news this week on the outcome of City’s charges, but there doesn’t need to be. Jeez, City fans are as fatigued and frustrated as anyone at this interminable delay, but do we really need to Groundhog Day our way through the entire period? Please give a verdict, so this can all end – not that it will of course. It never will.

Kieran knows the deal of course. He knows how modern media works. He is a regular guest on numerous media outlets every week, as part of his job, as is his right. Everything he says will be churned for content in the same way Gary Neville farting would be. But if there is an insistence on periodic coverage of the 115 charges, at least do it properly.
Let’s get Judge Judy on the case. Full courtroom, a jury of peers, such as Matt Le Tissier, Rory Jeninngs, Troopz, Richard Keys (video link), and more. Pure entertainment, and like Edmund Blackadder’s trial for the murder of Speckled Jim, General Melchett’s beloved pigeon, the verdict would be a done deal. Guilty as charged – no smoke without fire, after all.

See, a week off football has still left me grumpy. It’s a winter thing. If it ever stopped raining, I may cheer up. May.

Which brings me to another matter. You see, Dan Burn's offside goal has been playing on my mind more than is natural or necessary. One question in particular has been sitting on my mind. Are fans being intentionally dumb to fuel their tribalism, or are they just dumb? 

There are a hundred little laws that no fan can be expected to know perfectly, especially as interpretation and wording changes so often, fueled by VAR. And then there are laws that plankton in the ocean should be able to grasp and understand, especially if you're watching games every week. I mean, it helps to have a basic idea of what's happening in front of you. There was no real controversy in the disallowed goal, but fans of losing teams will always search desperately for validation for such losses, and there is clearly a City premium on such events. Does the truth even matter anymore? Is perception more important, is it more necessary to develop victimhood and believe that your team have been cheated and other teams are cheats? As part of the coping mechanism for habitual losers, where Pyrrhic victories are more important than actual ones. What a shame that Bluesky did not take off, as it’s the only chance left for some normal discourse.

As an aside, do check out this week’s Media show for more similarly sad reflections on social media in the modern age. It’s easy to forget that Twitter used to be really fun back in the day.

The Special One

A brief addendum to last week’s shameful scenes at Benfica. Jose Mourinho was banned from the touchline for the return leg, and cancelled his media duties, so was nowhere to be seen. Cowardly, but suits me fine to be honest, as I’m happy not to see or hear from him for a while. Twenty years would suit.

After releasing last week’s Newsletter, I was still thinking in the days after about Mourinho’s angle on all of it. Many people regularly say, as Mourinho did last week, "why always him?" when talking about the racial abuse that Vinicius Jr faces, the intonation clear that he brings it on himself.

Well, last weekend alone, police confirmed that they are investigating racial abuse directed at four different Premier League players. On Monday Rangers said that two of their players, Djeidi Gassama and Emmanuel Fernandez, had received racial abuse on their Instagram accounts after Sunday’s draw with Livingston, and that the content had been reported to Meta and would be reported to the police. So, as you have just read, it's not always him, and it’s about time we all realised that. He's just one example, one of the most high-profile players in world football, one you see more of than most others, and one who regularly speaks out against the abuse he receives, which no doubt becomes self-fulfilling and makes him an even bigger target for bigots on the pitch and the world-over.

And Finally….

Anyone know much about our next opponents in the Champions League? There’s not much information out there, to be honest.

The natural reaction to the draw was a slump of the head, and to resurrect that well-worn Roy Hodgson gif. But ultimately, I am not sure there is much difference in who we got. Real Madrid clearly have the far superior squad to Bodo/Glimt, but they are performing far worse – they are simply more dysfunctional, whilst Bodo, who are in between seasons, are clearly far more energized right now. For further evidence, City have of course already played both sides this season.
Bayern Munich in the quarter finals is hardly ideal either, but this is the price to pay for just qualifying, and it beats having to face Arsenal – not just because we can’t beat them, but the narratives, discourse and general vibe is always terrible when coming up against another English side. I’d rather face a slightly superior foreign one. Expect more 115 chat should we meet a fellow Premier League side.

Either way, I would not over-analyse City’s path to Champions League glory, as said glory is unlikely. This is a team no the up, but it’s got a way to go. I can’t honestly see us winning the Champions League, and we’re fortunate to still be in a title race. The good times will be back – but maybe not just yet. Should still beat Real Madrid, mind.

WHAT WE HAVE BEEN UP TO THIS WEEK

THE 93:20 REVIEW:- SMALL PROFITS

Lloyd and Bailey look back on the win over Newcastle. The mostly good, the bad, star performers, why this was a different 2nd half, and much more!

HERE WE GO:- EPISODE 4

Howard and Ahsan take another look at the media, from title race bias to 115 memes, Man U's importance and more.

OPPOSITION FAN:- LEEDS UNITED

Howard chats to Andy Peterson, about all things Leeds – a rather different picture since the last time they spoke.

THE WEEKEND SHOW

The usual bumper edition. Ste is joined by George and Ahsan to chat last week’s Newcastle win, the CL draw, 115, plus a preview of Leeds away. 

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!