Farewell, Titi… and thank you so much for all the wonderful memories. You’ll be sorely missed, and I doubt we’ll see your equal in Gunners strip for a long, long time. But, I wish you luck with Barcelona. You’ll be among some of the worlds football titans. And although it hurts to see you go, where you’re going is surely a place you’ll fit in well. Best wishes, TH14.

It’s impossible to sum up a career (thus far) like Thierry’s in a 7:30 video compilation, but this guy does a pretty decent job (crappy soundtrack aside).

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHQBFGC9-Tk]

A sad day at the Emirates. Barcelona just became a much better side.

Just wanted to take a minute to welcome the three new sides that have been promoted up to the Prem. Sunderland, Birmingham City & Derby County. I was really hoping my beloved Colchester U’s would make it up this year, but it wasn’t to be. Either way, it will be fun to watch what these new sides will bring to the top.

Birmingham City
Looks like this side is right back up from a year away in the Championship. They’re back with their man Steve Bruce running the show. Yet another side calling themselves The Blues, though? I think we’re at capacity for Blues and Reds, no? Someone at the FA needs to look into this. Blue, Red, Pink… whatever. It’s good to see them back up top.

Derby County
This club is 2 years older than the Arsenal. I wonder if experience will see them up top next year. They got here by way of playoff final and have been absent from the top flight for 5 years. Billy Davies has finally brought his Rams back to the top. I’m looking forward to watching a match at Pride Park with the Gunners… should be an interesting one.

Sunderland
Another side back after a year away, the Black Cats and their Stadium of Light are ready to take another shot at staying up. Roy Keane is at the helm. Can’t wait to see what he and his side can do.

I really hate to speculate on players moving to and fro in the off-season, but… the press is just beating this potential story to death. It’s almost as if they’re willing it to happen. Is there anything behind it? Yet another media outlet is reporting now that AW is sitting down with Barca reps to discuss Thierry’s transfer. Could it be? And it even hints that we wouldn’t even get Sam Eto’o in return… just cash. The whole things just smells. I was really looking forward to an 07-08 season with nearly the same squad with as little injury as possible. But now it looks like the Arsenal may look a bit different next year. For the better? I hope so… but I can’t help but wonder what the ultimate cost of this David Dein fiasco will tally up to be.

I had heard (I think it was one of the guys from FFF) someone speculate that Dein was moving to the USA, and that once a year had lapsed (having something to do with UK tax laws, and not getting hammered for 40%), he’d be in a good position to complete a hostile takeover along with Stan Kroenke. It all sounded good… but if that were true, and TH keeps citing his disappointment with the departure of Dein, wouldn’t he be looking to hang around until this took place? Or at least wait out another year to see if it would happen?

Maybe he’s thinking he’s already seen his best year with the Gunners in 03-04, and that he’d best make his move to Spain while he’s still young enough. Who knows? But it would be nice to see him stay.