What that tells us is that however honest and impeccably straight Mr Usmanov might have been during the interview the fact remains that it is remarkably easy to make promises while acting on them remains beyond your present capabilities. And there is a vast history of just these types of promises being shattered into a million tiny lies as soon as the power to act on them is granted to the person

Good day to all you Arsenalistas out there. I trust you are firing on all cannons?

The cannons will certainly be firing later tonight as the annual question and answer session offers those with a stake in AFC a rare chance to bombard Ivan the Terribly Perceived with legitimate questions wrapped in a slightly more prominent layer of legitimate anger.

Obviously, given the past season, there has been a significant clamouring from supporters of all colours, creeds and membership levels to confront the club about what exactly went wrong and what exactly is being done to address this. I think it’s fair to say that there is a strong desire for change amongst most fans and it doesn’t take a genius to work that out…

Cue Alisher.

Mr Usmanov, a.k.a. The Saviour of Arsenal (along with David Dein and Chris Samba), has taken this opportunity to innocently publicise his in-no-way-regurgitated-or-blatantly-populist opinions on the situation at our glorious club:

This is some of what Jesus Usmanov said:

“If the role of a board member is to oversee a trophyless period, while making significant personal profits and asking fans to pay inflation-busting ticket price increases then, no, I would not want to be on the board. If instead it is to try to deliver sustained success, to increase your personal investment in the club, to help develop the commercial position and to ensure the fans have a say in the running of the club then, yes, I think I certainly have something to contribute.”

“There is a widely-held view among most commentators – and one that I agree with – that the club needs to stiffen the defensive spine of the team, with a dominant keeper, strong centre-halves and a powerful defensive midfielder in the mould of Claude Makelele. The Premier League is one of the most competitive in the world and whilst we have consistently challenged for honours, the club needs to develop talent and buy top-class players to win the trophies we all crave. This requires greater investment which, I believe, has been lacking thus far. What however is not clear is whether the board shares this view. For too long they have seemed happy to sanction second, third and fourth as being acceptable, whilst at the same time they are planning to sell their shares.”

Now instead of analysing what he said, the fact that he said it at all (as if it’s better to talk nonsense then to stay silent…Stan) or any of that I’m instead going to present you with a couple of fairly recent quotes from the world of politics.

What I want you to do is work out the similarity between those above and those below:

“As President, I will close Guantanamo, reject the Military Commissions Act and adhere to the Geneva Conventions. Our Constitution and our Uniform Code of Military Justice provide a framework for dealing with the terrorists.”

Or how about:

“We want to abolish tuition fees. We think they’re wrong. At a time the economy is submerged in debt, more debt is not the answer to debt.”

Did you figure out the similarity? If not then let me explain that the first promise (Barack Obama) and second promise (Nick Clegg) were both made while in OPPOSITION. And, as we all know, tuition fees have in fact gone…up, and Guantanamo Bay remains…open.

Exactly.

What that tells us is that however honest and impeccably straight Mr Usmanov might have been during the interview the fact remains that it is remarkably easy to make promises while acting on them remains beyond your present capabilities. And there is a vast history of just these types of promises being shattered into a million tiny lies as soon as the power to act on them is granted to the person who made them.

It is for this reason that Alison Usmanov can and will say basically whatever he likes now without any immediate repercussions, and the reason that we should take anything that he says with the pinchiest pinch of salt you can possibly conceive of pinching.

For now at least.

One day we might just find out how unmercifully and criminally honest he really is:

http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2007/09/alisher_usmanov/

So while I am not telling you to ignore what Usmanov says I am urging you to consider the wider context before believing him or indeed anyone who has yet to acquire to the power to do what they say.

And on that note I would just like to confirm that as soon as I am elected Queen of Turkey I will immediately a) cure AIDS, b) end world debt and c) provide Wenger with a War Chest so large we would still be able to afford Jordan Henderson in five years time.

Please vote for me.

Thank you,

WB (Don’t forget to follow on Twitter)