THE 93:20 NEWSLETTER:- ISSUE 94

Author

Howard Hockin
April 17, 2026

Hello, and welcome to Issue 94 of the 93:20 Newsletter, the issue that is full of nerves ahead of the weekend. Probably spending half the weekend in the bathroom, truth be told.

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On with the football chat.

Not much chat though, as mostly this episode brings you lucky blues a world exclusive, a leaked WhatsApp chat that is eye-opening, and also acts as a distraction from the actual football. So just a few bullet points before we get to that.

I obviously wish City were still in the Champions League, but there was a certain comfort to be taken by putting my feet up and watching the games play out over the past two mid-weeks. There’s enough domestic activity to keep us occupied anyway. So with that in mind, I found myself finding old, established reasons to be annoyed this week – thanks to Paul Merson and Henry Winter.

Paul Merson was once more on Soccer Saturday, struggling to pronounce the names of established Premier League players, and I surprise myself at how much it winds me up to see him continually employed. His football knowledge is non-existent, tired, cliched drivel, and insults the intelligence of all football fans. Henry Winter seems like a decent chap, but it baffles me how he has become such a giant in the industry. Take this gem for example.

Max Dowman – Young Player of the Year. Jesus wept. The kid has played about 100 minutes in the Premier League, and Winter thinks he should be collecting awards ahead of the likes of O’Reilly, Cherki, Kroupi and more. Embarrassing.

After Wednesday’s bore draw v Sporting he was back with another banal long tweet bigging up Arsenal’s resolve in getting through. Client journalism at its most extreme.

It’s that that time of year again, when a Bluemoon forum poster bemoans how embarrassing it is that City's semi-final opponents, visiting Wembley for what is usually the first time in a decade or two, have sold more tickets than City. You can set your clock to it, just like the November faux poppy outrage, or the fuming at Easter not being on chocolate eggs. 

It'S eMBaRrASsINg.

Bore off.

Maybe one point worth mentioning however is the theory that City have spent so much time and energy in growing the international fanbase, but not so much the domestic fanbase. There may be an element of truth in that, but there are plenty of fans in the UK to take up the allocations when regular attenders feel the strain, but the cost, hoops to jump through and lack of cohesion in bringing the next generation through to attending matches at the Etihad and beyond now displays the consequences. They may not be obliged to, but with the potential of three Wembley visits this season alone, City could have made a gesture for travelling blues to ease the financial strain for this match, the least appealing of the (potential) three, but naturally chose not to. City will not sell out, Southampton fans will post cringy tweets online, and the world will move on. 

Finally, back to the thrilling midweek Champions League action (not you, Arsenal). Real Madrid once more showed they are the world's most gracious losers. What a joy it was to witness. And if the likes of Henry Winter are baffled by why Jude Bellingham may not be an automatic starter for England, apart from the underwhelming performances, well the reason was staring you in the face this week, and Tuchel is well aware of it – hey, he’s said it out loud. His attitude stinks, and that is bad for team morale. I’ve heard enough stories to know how deep this issue runs, and successful teams are not forged by simply picking the best players.

The classic match in Munich was naturally used as a stick to beat the Premier League with, whilst overlooking the fact that it was built on a number of goalkeeping errors. But more than that, it feels like other leagues feel the need to entertain more than get results compared to the Premier League. Few low blocks in the Bundesliga, allowing the superior Bayern to swat aside team after team, scoring on average over three goals a game, strolling to another title, but hey, it’s entertaining, for Bayern fans at least. The issue is not the likes of City, but the teams they come up against refusing to play an open game – and I cannot criticize them for that, the stakes are high, it’s their best chance of getting a result. The stats for the Premier League do make for grim reading this season however, but maybe it’s nothing more than a snapshot in time. The sport loves to make wide-ranging conclusions from single seasons, and that can be very foolish.

WORLD EXCLUSIVE

As promised, here is the exclusive I promised. A leaked WhatsApp chat from inside Arsenal this week.

WHAT WE HAVE BEEN UP TO THIS WEEK

THE REVIEW:- IT’S ON

Howard is joined by Ahsan to look back at what may have been a pivotal weekend in the Premier League, as Arsenal faltered and City triumphed at Stamford Bridge.

THE MARKET:- EPISODE 53

Lloyd and Ahsan are back to run the rue over the week’s biggest transfer stories. Eichorn, Conceicao, Maza plus a look at the potential futures of Victor Reis and Claudio Echeverri.

HOT POTATOES:- EPISODE 8

Howard and Ste tackle more general hot topics, from LinkedIn managers and Arsenal’s woes, caring about City and much more.

THE KNOCK OUTS:- EPISODE 4

Lloyd and Ahsan look back at this week’s Champions League action, and inevitably thoughts also turn to the weekend.

THE WEEKEND SHOW:- ARSE GONE

Howard, Lloyd and Chris look back at the week that was, the Bernardo era, and of course focus on a huge, huge match on Sunday.