New Kits For The Wrong Reasons?

    This week has seen the arrival of two new kits to the 2007/2008 collection. The home kit stays the same, the controversial (although I must admit I like it, except for those horrible socks) white kit will be the away kit, and the newly released red (and i think black, or navy blue) horizontally striped 3rd kit.

    My first impression, great news! Then I thought about a whole bunch of un-related to stuff till it suddenly hit me. Are these kits being released because Arsenal is in a tough shape financialy?

   All year long, Keith Adleman and Co have gone on and on about how even though Emirates Stadium has given Arsenal a huge debt, things are pretty good financially and in the long run things will be looking great for Arsenal. And while I don't doubt the latter, it's the former that worries me. I've ignored the claims that Arsene has no money to spend and the club's debt thingy is worse than most people think it is, till the season ended.

     Frank Ribery who was admired by Wenger for a while moved to Bayern without any action from Wenger. I ignored that and brushed it off as just Wenger not being interested in him. Then I read all about Wenger saying the team would only add super class players, as of right now, I really don't see Wenger adding someone to the team and I feel thats down to the financial burden. He clearly believes in his youth policy, and I do too, however just like anyone else he knows that arsenal are one or two experienced, class players away from being a top top team. He has the scouts, he knows who's good and who's not, and he knows that an experience player would not hurt at all. However there has been nothing, and I know its very early on in the transfer window, but I honestly think its down to there being a lack of funds.

   The alarm really began to ring recently when Henry was asked on Soccernet whether Arsenal made a mistake of being overdependant on the youth policy, Henry said, " I don't know if you can call it a mistake when you have no other choice. At the end of the day, Everybody knows all your resources went into the new stadium, therefore you have to do with what you have."  He then continued, "Maybe if we didn't have the new stadium we'd have more players." Worrying stuff.

  Which brings me to my main point, last season Arsenal wore the maroon "farewell to highbury" kit and it sold. I mean it SOLD. An old themed kit sells very nicely, everyone knows that, so do the people at Nike and Arsenal. Thus introducing the white kit and lamely giving it the Herbert Chapman theme, will do nothing to hurt sales. Especially seeing how people may have been bored with yellow two seasons in a row and thus be reluctant to spend more cash on a color worn for two years. Thus, as much as I like the new white kit, I feel the Chapman theme and the white kit itself is only being used a quick and easy way to make some big cash.

  The third kit came as a big surprise to me, apart from hearing almost nothing of it, until today when gunnerblog and arseblog both linked pictures of it, Arsenal havent had third kits for quite a while. Usually the third kit would be the away kit from the previous season as seen in 2004/2005 when the third kit was the hideous yellow kit with the blue collar used in the unbeaten season, and for the previous two seasons where the third kit was the blue kit used in 04/05 season. Furthermore, for the past two seasons the third kit has never been used. To me the third kit, which will probably only be used three times maximum this season, is another way to make some quick easy cash, introducing a collar which hasn't been on Arsenal kits for quite some time, as well as implemening a stripes look to it, both combine to give it a different flavor from anything gooners have seen over the past few years.

  Maybe I'm just being a bit paranoid, and of course it is just a theory, however when you look at all the arguments together, it does kind of make sense, or maybe its just rubbish...

cheers.