Of then President of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev, Margaret Thatcher once said: "He's a man I can do business with." Arsene and the Arsenal Board may have reasoned similarly when they discussed the merits of Ivan Gazidis late last year. Others in the AST (Arsenal Supporters' Trust) will doubtless do a thorough job distilling last night's excellent hour-long initial meeting with our Chief Executive of four months, but here's my tuppence-worth.

Obviously not destined for high political office, Ivan has a refreshing way of answering the question posed, rather than the one he wished he'd been asked. Not infrequently he is strong enough and confident enough to admit that he isn't The Oracle. His proclaimed love-at-first-sight with Arsenal is either completely genuine or he's a much better actor than Mrs T's favourite American president. I detected a whiff of dissent in the air as referee Glyn Taylor blew for full-time, however. Ivan had just stated that our Young Guns run further than any other PL team, whereas their Sunday conquerors run the least. Perhaps the statistics in which I routinely find solace are meaningless after all! In fairness to Mr G, he did stop short of implying that Adebayor puts in a bigger shift than Tevez.

I'm frantically trying to catch up with all things Arsenal after a few days away before deciding, finally, whether I'm still the ultimate optimist or need to join the mutineers. It would be tragic indeed to jump ship if we are on course for Treasure Island, though it's silver, not gold, that we seek. Arsene's official website musings in the aftermath of back-to-back home defeats to our bitterest rivals make it abundantly clear that Gooners wanting wholesale summer changes - both in and out - are going to be disappointed. Ivan implied same.

Queen Victoria implored another British Prime Minister to act over another crisis. Disraeli replied: "Change, Your Majesty, change! Aren't things bad enough already?"

Don't be surprised if Arsene remarks similarly at Thursday's shareholders' Q&A.

Ed’s note - We’ll have a more in-depth piece on the meeting last night from Ian Henry before the week’s out. The Arsenal Supporters’ Trust was formed to represent the views of small shareholders and non-shareholding fans to the club’s board on issues of ownership and governance. If you want to find out more visit the Trust website or look at their Wikipedia entry. For details of how to join the Trust and attend events like last night’s, click here.