I’m not sure if it’s an age thing or a Gowers thing, but the older I get the less I care about what Norwich City’s new kit of the day looks like.
Or it could just be a grumpy old git thing.
Either way, I’d have had no problem with Brentford’s ongoing two-year approach, which includes announcing that their new kit for 2023-24 will also be their kit for 2024-25.
In the midst of a cost of living crisis, that, to me, seems a very reasonable and humane approach, albeit I also understand such an approach comes at a cost to the club.
But, with many of us struggling to pay bills, I respect such a gesture, as I’m sure do the fans of the Bees. Not PR for the sake of PR, but something that will literally save fans from forking out a large chunk of money they can ill afford.
Not that Norwich City offering the same gesture would have saved yours truly £55 – not only do I not have anything like £55 to spare, but also haven’t actually bought a City shirt since 2005-06. That was the point at which middle age really started to get hold, and when me and football shirts ceased being a good combination.
But I get that for many, the new shirt is a must-buy, as will be proven on opening day when the ground will be positively flooded with bright yellow shirts with narrow green hoops.
I say bright because they really are but what was interesting was how, as part of the launch, the filtering of the images gave an impression of a much more subtle (and, in my view, likable) yellow.
Exhibit A:
Called me old-fashioned, but if it was necessary to use a filter to make them look cool and edgy for the launch pics, why not manufacture them in that colour in the first place?
But, before I get accused of having another moan, that’s just an observation rather than a complaint. I’m old, I get that – I have no concept of style and/or the world of digital imagery.
Any anyway… of far more importance than what the kit looks like is how David Wagner’s men perform when they wear it.
We’re still at a stage of pre-season when what happens on the grass on matchday is of less importance than what occurs on the training fields of Colney, Germany, and Austria, but there’s been enough so far to encourage those who do still prefer to pass immediate judgment.
What is, perhaps, a little surprising is that the squad overhaul that we were promised has, as yet, failed to materialise.
We were told to be patient and that any activity that would involve spending money will likely occur after July 1, when most players’ contracts expire, but so far nothing doing.
Exhibit B:
I’m guessing this is directly related to the fact we have to sell in order to spend, and there’s of course still time, but in terms of integrating new players into the group, I’d imagine Wagner – maybe even Stuart Webber – would have preferred to have done more business so far than just four freebies, one of whom is unfortunately out until October.
That, in itself, is very Norwichy, albeit just borne of very bad luck.
Our summer spending was, by Webber’s own admission, reliant on the sale of Max Aarons and Andrew Omobamidele and if there are no offers or at least offers that the Club deems acceptable, then there will be no sales and therefore no income.
That is where we are. I’ll leave it there.
At the moment we’re being outspent by that lot and I’m not sure I like it 😊
What I do accept is that Webber and Wagner will be making use of the Premier League loan market and for that, we have no option but to sit tight and await the finalising of their squads, which naturally occurs at the very back end of the window.
While, for such signings, provisional plans can be put in place, the nature of that market means it becomes very much a scrum with loads of teams vying for the same players and offers and counter-offers flying to and fro. And we know what usually happens when we end up in anything akin to an auction.
So let’s not pin our hopes too much on unearthing a Premier League gem. We could end up with the next Billy Gilmour.
So, still plenty of work to be done, at least there is if we’re going to be delivered the major squad overhaul we were promised. Perhaps, for reasons beyond their control, W&W have had to U-turn on that Utopian dream.
Time will tell.
And at least those who were sweating over the look of the new kit can finally offer their critique and then, if they chose, give Wagner an unknown proportion of £55 towards a new signing.
You will NEVER get a more subjective issue than this, but I dislike it intensely and won’t be buying it.
A kit is a kit, it’s an opportunity to support the club or have a moan.Fair play to anyone who is prepared to be a walking advertising board for the sponsors.
Perhaps the third kit will be the fashion piece.
Yeah but I don’t to look like a complete wombat wearing it.
Simples
Did the club not think about fans of a certain age whose days as prime athletes are long past that, aesthetically, our bodies are better suited to vertical stripes !
Very good point, Tom. Hear hear!
Speak for yourselves gentlemen – said the guy was told by an N&N consultant hematologist exactly 12 months ago that he can never drink again and therefore rapidly lost his beer gut!
Now, where did I leave my Celtic top?
🙂
Grr!
HePatologist!
Sounds like my boss at work Martin. I remember typing one of his letters shortly after his arrival and thinking you can’t say that. But it works. He had got a lot of people off alcohol.
Hi Jane
The guy in question, Martin, is very realistic and his graphic descriptions of liver disease are black humour on cruise control!
He is a City fan as is the oncologist I also see regularly [Tom R] who is an ST holder in the River End and knows our Gary G en passant as they sit near to each other!
Absolutely no melodrama but these are the geezers who have kept me alive for the last 12 months.
Not unnaturally I salute them and the NHS 🙂
From an interview in Germany:
Wagner stressed after the midweek German tour friendly win over Darmstadt they are still ready to act, and further incomings do not hinge on the expected departures of Milot Rashica or Max Aarons this summer.
“No, this is not the case. At the minute it is quite quiet on the transfer window front,” he said. “Obviously we have our ideas in our head. But sometimes, and in Germany we say ‘one stone has to fall before the others will fall as well’, and we are in a great position to wait, because in every transfer window the stones will fall.”
Not sure which way to take this utterance – have the finances improved so that we can spend before selling? Or is this just to keep the noise down?
As for the new kit, not my cup of tea but I’m sure I’ve seen a similar design for another club and I think they are supplied by Joma.
Good point well made, Gary.
Not certain anybody welcomed the pyjama/baby elephants/splodges from 1992/93/94 as seen above but finishing 3rd and then the night in Munich has made it an iconic item.
I seem to remember that at one time clubs were only to change kits every 2 years, which in part brought about the “need” for 3rd shirts!
Gerry, interest point the shirt‘s success will be linked to the club‘s success. A good cup run or league champions and the shirts will sell by the truck load, a poor season and they‘ll be quietly consigned to the recycle bin.
Brentford’s average attendance is around 10,000 below ours. Market research may well have identified that, in the current climate, demand will fall. So why spend time and money creating a new kit with smaller production runs to absorb the set up and publicity costs, and risk getting stuck with unsold stock? It may even be they still have plenty of last year’s to shift.
So actually it does sound like PR for PR’s sake. Pretend to be doing people a favour when they know very well fans are quite capable of deciding for themselves they won’t bother this year. “Save fans from forking out a large chunk of money they can ill afford”? Seriously? Give me strength!
That anyone can even think of their team’s shirt as a “must-buy” (i.e. a necessity) shows what a remarkably affluent society we’ve become.
Blimey, Keith.
Didn’t see that one coming.
Believe it or not, some fans buy the new shirt when it comes out *every* summer. And so, by my reckoning, if there’s no new shirt to buy, that person will spend £50/60 less that summer than they would otherwise have done. That’s all I was trying to say.
Am really very sorry for coming across as so simple and idiotic.
Jeez.
Lol. Simple and idiotic, you? Nah.
But what you were saying did sum up what a lot of people’s attitude to their “right” to this and that is. Anyway presumably those “struggling to pay bills” don’t include the 20k+ City season ticket holders who as far as we know have renewed.
I’ve still got the scarf my granny knitted me in 1966 (though it doesn’t go round me twice these days…) so i’m fine.
Why should the Brentford set-up HAVE to apply just because their attendances are somewhat lower than ours?
I can remember when we were trail-blazers (“kids for a quid” anyone)……so why can we not be the first of the division 2 teams to set the kit for 2 seasons.
Oh; I forgot….it’s not too long ago when we were the trailblazers, and the “little” clubs like Brentford followed our lead.
Now?? We’re so far behind them thanks to the intransigence of certain people, that I fear we’ll not be playing them again any time soon!
OT B C
P.S. Hoops are never a good idea once you follow football rather than play….
Fair moan in my book Gary.
I’ve never been one to sport the colours during my 48 years since Ted Mac hung on the net ( 75 I think ) , Dad shielding me on my milk crate. But feeling guilty at the Millennium Stadium ( which for me despite defeat was a fantastic place and day ) I invested in a street traders scarf which then reappeared at Wembley and has been moth balled since. Supply and Demand and all that. Until adults resist their kids pressure to buy, plus adults don’t buy for themselves either, then they will not reconsider that they are pricing. Can’t imagine we sell bucket loads to overseas fans, I could be wrong. Not those forgetting the cheeky add ons for numbers and letters too !
I wonder how many we’ll sell in Finland this year?
O T B C
Um adults do buy. My besties the black keepers kit from the mid 2010’s.
Now i know why the rather good away kit came out first.
so we can console ourselves that the team will look good sometimes.
If I were given one of these shirts I would hide it at the bottom of a cupboard. But I expect there will be those who find it attractive. Tastes obviously differ.
I suppose there‘s a limit as to how many changes can be made to a shirt of the same colour. The most bizarre kit change they came up with was the Ra Ra type shorts.
I wait till the end of the season reductions before I purchase. Even in the days of 2 year cycles I seem to think some clubs had their home shirt on a different 2 year cycle to their away shirt which still meant a new shirt every season to tempt the money from your wallets. I must admit this years away shirt is miles better than last seasons purple abomination.
Free transfer, free transfer, free transfer…..expect free transfers, loans and much lower transfer fees than it used to be if Norwich has plans to limit their squad. Only the absolutely best english clubs and saudi arabian clubs are able to pay higher transfer fees. Outside that market is dead and it seems that the same thing has become to english league football too. 1 of the reasons in England is your brexit football rules.
I had a good laugh seeing that Besiktas had plans or even made an offer for Arsenals horror defender Rob Holding who will live forever as an extremely hated player by Arsenal fans . Offer is claimed to be 2 million, in Arsenal they felt that it was a disrespectful offer. Was it really disrespectful in todays football market? Yes, it was because Besiktas or any other turkish club does not in reality have money to pay transfer fees.
Something very positive about football culture happened a few days ago. The happiness of FC Larne fans travelling to Helsinki to see their club playing the champions league game was fantastic! Larne population is less than 20 000, this is what football is! HJK won 1-0 and after that HJK sacked their manager. It was not just that game, HJK has scored only 2 goals in the last 8 league games which were not penalties. HJKs goal against Large was a penalty goal again. Haka and Crusaders played the next day 2-2 draw, Haka is a small town club and their home ground name Factory Field tells all. Nothern Irish league players were physically way more fit, they dont have foreign players really. The playing style is so different, they play direct football which was way more entertaining than finnish league games. Im 100% sure that both northern irish clubs go all in right from the start next week when they play at home. That can be a trap, especially against HJK. Haka on the other hand is a club which tries to avoid relegation, so playing european cup games is a big surprise. This is the overall best parts of european cup games. No one knows the opponents level surely and different playing styles clash all the time. For fans and to many players these are once in a lifetime experiences.
I like us having a new kit each year as I find, as I get older, it’s the only way I remember which season I’m thinking of 👍
🤣
Hi Gary I like the new kit. I don’t buy it for myself but with two granddaughters who want everything NCFC, I will no doubt get it for them. Yes it’s expensive but what isn’t? I see my lovely girls as future fans.
When you look around CR most of the people there are older than me. I want to see thousands of new fans there. Certainly kids but anyone who wants to live a dream. Both my girls play football too, and buy into meeting players and buying stuff from the club shop.
My supporting origins were more humble, but I’d rather buy them a shirt than go out for a meal which I could make better myself. It’s all about choice. I can’t wear that nylon synthetic stuff (maybe the club should make one for menopausal ladies and make a lot of money), but wearing a replica shirt does feel good standing in the Barclay. I’d rather the home kit was the paler yellow but you can’t have it all I suppose.
I wouldn’t bet my shirt on promotion this season let alone buy one of those – especially as my gut needs vertical ‘look thin’ stripes not beer gut hoops! On a more serious football note I was disappointed to see McLean appointed club captain – not for him but for the reduced opportunities his selection gives on of the few real ‘ballers at the club, Jakob ‘Lingi’ Sorensen. Out of contract at the end of the season and I would bet on him joining the ambitious under-achieving players with much greater potential at Rangers. Comments from Dowell indicate Norwich is too soft a place there is much more pressure to perform up there. Pity McLean isn’t ready to take that route yet. Money?