THE 93:20 NEWSLETTER:- ISSUE 90

Author

Howard Hockin
March 20, 2026

Hello, and welcome to Issue 90 of the 93:20 Newsletter. As always, random stuff to discuss, including the fact that City are now a CRISIS club. How long until a cracked badge appears on the back of the Sun newspaper?

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I’ve always had my “lucky” trainers, and the Treble season was no different. Same trainers every match day, irrespective of whether the club was doing well. In my head, in a world of nonsense superstitions, any change to the routine would be disastrous. The treble was duly won, and my trainers saw the team over the line, no doubt about that, not that I got any thanks. The trainers would therefore be retained for the next season, but at some point around mid-season, one foot began to develop a squeak, that only presented itself for the 2nd half of each match day. The squeak got gradually worse, and one friend told me in no uncertain terms that he would rather City were liquidated than hear the squeak one more time, during the usual walk from stadium to town. I promised that at season-end they would be disposed of, and I would film myself burning them on a pyre as evidence. City won the league, and once more the trainers were why. But change was necessary, for mental health reasons.

New trainers were purchased – and we have all seen the consequences. So, I offer my apologies for the downturn in form, this one is on me. Yes, some may argue Pep’s tactics, recruitment and the changing world of football are to blame, but deep down, I know it’s because I changed my trainers.

Thing is, I never made that video, because I never disposed of the trainers. They remain at home, in a cupboard. So, on Sunday, I shall don them for one final time, to try and turn things around. I hope it’s worth it. And advance apologies to all the cats of South Manchester for the deceptive sounds you may hear.

Pep & Legacies

Another Champions League exit, no more anthems to boo this season and naturally talk has turned to Pep’s “failure in the competition”. This is a divisive issue amongst blues, as some are really down on our manager right now, whilst some will defend him to the death, when as always, nuance is required. He HAS underperformed in the competition as City manager, but there are caveats aplenty.

All managers make mistakes. But make them in a cup game, against elite opposition, and you really pay for it, and the mistakes will be remembered, forever. But the nature of a cup competition is that victory cannot be guaranteed, whatever the manager does, whatever tools he has at his disposal. Only if his team is leagues ahead of the competition should victory be expected. Pep’s Barcelona team hit that criteria for a couple of years. It’s probably fair to say that Pep oversaw a City team for three years of the past decade that were the best in Europe. But cup games are decided on moments and minute details – there is only so much a manager can do.
So where does Pep take the blame? This season, plenty. The Leverkusen line-up was professional suicide, that led eventually to City scraping into the knockout stage and drawing Real Madrid, though the severity of a draw is often down to luck and chance. His lineup for the first leg in Madrid was disastrous, and made little sense. Overthink had returned, and once more the team paid the price. Last season was a disaster overall, and I can write that off as a burn-out season. I have mellowed slightly on the Champions League final loss to Chelsea. The line up, from Sterling’s inclusion to no Fernandinho or Rodri made little sense, but the latter two were hardly tearing up trees at the time. The game was settled by one moment, and neither team truly excelled, but Chelsea did not need to. Pep messed up, ultimately, not getting the most out of the squad at a pivotal moment. A selection that caused many an argument, the 93:20 review abandoned half-way through due to in-fighting!
Lyon was a disaster, no doubt about that. But there are instances when the players must take more responsibility. The collapse in Madrid (another birthday ruined) is one such example – it is up to the players to protect that lead for ten minutes, not Pep.
Ultimately, there has been nuance to every exit. City rode their luck for twenty minutes to eventually win the competition, so I can take some bad luck too. Many an exit review felt the same – the team did not perform well enough, but also things went against them. But as I pointed out that week after the 3-0 defeat, Pep would have been better served trusting his strongest team on these pivotal days, and he must take much of the blame for City’s record. And that’s ok, it’s fine to offer some balanced criticism, he is not a deity. He was never going to be perfect. It’s not an easy competition to win, and some clubs, like Real Madrid, just have that little extra nouse (and ability to cheat), that City do not. League titles are the acid test, and he’s done bad with them.

The exit has also resurrected talk of Pep leaving. I am at the point of wishing he would, so that we no longer have to debate him leaving. The fact talk is resurrected because of a result provides all the evidence you need on the seriousness of the “news”. That said, the shirt he wore at the Etihad this week certainly suggested someone planning for retirement. I’m relaxed about the situation, because as I have repeated numerous times on these pages, I do not know where Pep’s transition of this team ends. Get Anderson and a right-back in, and I think we will have an excellent squad next season – younger players with an extra year behind them, newer players with extra experience and Pep tutoring gained. But that does not mean Pep has settled on the next reiteration of this team. He is not spent, or washed, or a fraud, I’m just not going to naturally assume as I always have in the past that he will find a new way that conquers all. It’s a wait and see for me, but I am happy for him to remain so we can find out, obviously. He’s Pep, after all. I do feel he’s not sure on what the future holds for football though. These are changing times, and it may end with even him embracing long throws. He could just concentrate on corners – if we were any good at them, we’d be deep in a title race still. Might even still be in the Champions League too.

Anyway – be careful what you wish for. I love the idea of Pep’s successor being an exciting young buck, doing great things in Europe. Cesc Fabregas intrigues me, but any manager of his ilk comes with huge risks, and will the club and more pertinently, the fans, have the patience to allow him to succeed, especially if it comes off the back of an underwhelming end to the Pep reign? There will be a natural clamour for a plug-and-play manager.

But Maresca?  I am not convinced by the rumours, or don’t want to believe them. It’s nothing personal, I assure you, but boy would he be underwhelming. Look, many City fans are apparently bored and uninspired right now, for many reasons. We’re used to success, we’re sick of being priced out of matches, even bored of sideways passing. If there is a need to enthuse the fanbase, there’s no worse choice than Maresca. Now of course, the decision on Pep’s successor should not be made for PR reasons, but for logical, footballing reasons, though the desire for an exciting appointment is backed by the need to compensate for the end of the Pep era, which will hit hard. An underwhelming end to the Pep era actually makes life easier for his successor, as there’s less to drop off from, except the muscle memory of better times, But, you can see why City would have Maresca on their list, as he offers continuity. And it’s hard to assess his Chelsea stint, because – well, Chelsea. But is this really the best option? Or is it a buffer between City’s greatest manager and City’s hopefully next great manager? A David Moyes tribute act.

The obvious answer is Vincent Kompany. He ticks every box. Is he gettable? Is he more gettable in three years’ time? If so, maybe Maresca makes more sense in the meantime, with Vinny under contract until 2029. But as fans, we need something to raise the spirits, always have. And that can only come from a manager who excites with his mere presence, and from the football he espouses on the pitch. Otherwise, City bigwigs may have to really rethink their pricing policies.

Or maybe we’ve all got this wrong -  it’s time to finally get Big Sam in, and shore up that defence.

AFCON

Amazing news emerged this week, as Morocco were awarded the AFCON title after Senegal flounced off the pitch during the final, refusing to return for quite a while.

Now, strictly speaking Senegal deserve what they have got. But months down the line, is there much point changing the result now? This was a decision to be made immediately, not in March. And for Senegal fans, will they care about what the history books say? They’ve spent two months celebrating their team as champions.

It got me thinking about City, and lived memories. As we know, City’s rabid rival fan bases have wet dreams nightly over the prospect of City having titles wiped from history due to their systemic CHEATING. Spoiler alert – not happening.

But let’s say it did. So what? I don’t celebrate City’s achievements for Wikipedia pages and Overlap discussions on who is the greatest. Every trophy was about the journey, the destination, and the shared experiences, which lead to the memories ingrained in my head until I shuffle off this mortal coil. NOTHING will change one iota of that. It’s happened, I lived it, I even bought the occasional T-shirt. If I was a Liverpool fan (perish the thought), I would be embarrassed to celebrate a league title awarded a decade later because a tribunal had found the actual winners had moved some money around accounts. Rewrite the history books all you want, everyone knows you did not warrant those trophies.

What’s more, as Chelsea have got away with offences they admitted to and which clearly provided them with a sporting advantage, it would be rather unfair to overly punish City. Separate cases of course, different scenarios, but only one party admitted guilt, and only one party has thus been proved to have cheated, as it stands.

As an aside, I have long wanted Pep to summon his players to leave the pitch and refuse to play after another horrendous referee/VAR decision. That of course would be a terrible idea, but I’d love to see it. What a buzz it would give.

NO WORDS NEEDED

Ok, just a few words. This level of analysis is symptomatic of the standards of much of the British press. As Jill Scott proclaims on the Overlap that Sadio Mane was better than Neymar, here Mark interprets a ropey five to ten minutes on Khusanov’s debut as him being “lost” after he arrived at the club. And it’s not just Ogden – all blues have noticed this weird fetish of virtually all the English media to portray Khusanov as having had a difficult and prolonged journey to where he is, when the truth is he turned things around after ten minutes. It is so, so weird, as if they are desperate to portray a magical story of a man overcoming adversity, when he’s been class from the almost-start. Sorry if that ruins a thousand narratives to say so.

WHAT WE HAVE BEEN UP TO THIS WEEK

THE 93:20 REVIEW – BUBBLES BURST

Ahsan and Adam look back at a disappointing draw at West Ham and discuss all the wider issues around the team at present. From Pep’s tactics to Erling’s form. Everything is covered in a bumper review!

THE KNOCK OUTS:- EPISODE 2

Ahsan and Lloyd chat about this week’s Champions League fixtures, including City.

THE 93:20 REVIEW:- MAN DOWN

Ahsan is joined by Jordan to talk about the defeat to Madrid, what the bright spots were even in defeat and loads more. They end by of course, discussing Pep’s future too after another raft of media stories suggesting that he’s leaving this summer.

THE WEEKEND SHOW – ROAD TO WEMBLEY

Howard, Adam and Lloyd book back at a disappointing week, and preview another cup final!

 And over the international break - our usual non-football shows, the return of Hot Potatoes, Media Show, Catch-ups with non-City fans 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 15 minutes sample on Soundcloud, along with a full, free weekly Friday show, jam- packed with content. Give it a try!