Grim He Isn't! - Simon Rose stands up for Gilles Grimandi

Paul Davis was rubbish. Martin Keown was rubbish. It's a good thing we Arsenal fans never gave them a chance to prove us wrong because, seeing as we are greater experts than the managers who played them, we knew they were no good and were determined to heckle their bad moments rather than praise their good ones. And now we have Gilles Grimandi, another player who we know to be rubbish. Blimey.

Neither Davis nor Keown could have progressed if it hadn't been for the faith their managers had shown in their ability, playing them in the stark face of adverse reaction to their early efforts. Many of us had no time for either Davis or Keown when at first they performed like circus acts. But once they had achieved that magical, mythical level of performance whereby Arsenal fans suddenly decide that a player is officially okay and it's allowable to like him, they became favourites and rightly so. All of a sudden, players can prove you wrong.

Davis was poor for a few years until suddenly, one day against Ipswich in the mid-eighties, he smacked a 4th minute goal, ran the game and was then brilliant for the next decade. When Keown began his second Arsenal stint he pranced about pretending he was Tony Adams, getting himself involved in all sorts of clumsy japes and, boy, how he was vilified for it. I even did a piece in issue 5 entitled 'Martin Keown's Flying Circus'. Never mind, eh. A few man-marking extravaganzas in Europe later and suddenly his confidence returned, empowering him ever since to take the central defence by the scruff of a few ankles.

So what then do we make of Gilles Grimandi and where can we draw comparisons between his current plight and the problems Davis and Keown faced? Two underlying trends emerge. One, that we must maintain faith in the ability of the incumbent manager and those he perceives to have the right talents for Arsenal. And two, in the same way that swans may first appear to be ugly ducklings, not all new players are likely to perform like geniuses straight from the off.

Grimandi joined Arsenal from title-winning Monaco and Wenger knew both he and Petit were good enough. Their talent does not lie in the same 'unknown' category as Anelka and Wreh. But how easy a task do you think it is to join one of the world's top clubs and replace a member of its highly successful defence, a unit which has remained virtually unchanged for almost a decade? For this is the brief which faces Gilles Grimandi - to displace a legend, while changing from Monaco's defensive style to Arsenal's.

That's quite some task and yet because Grimandi has made errors and looked rather out of place at times - especially at West Ham, where it looked like he was playing for a different team entirely - many Arsenal fans have decided that the guy is most definitely not Arsenal material and that's it, no buts. Yet have we become so impatient in our quest for glory, so transient in our faith for our manager's eye for talent, that we only give a new player a handful of games, in which to prove himself an outlandish star, before we turn up our noses? What are we doing exactly by castigating him for mistakes - trying to improve him or trying to ruin him?

It's far easier to be impressed by a new free-scoring striker or winger than an efficient central defender, but Grimandi plays in a high-risk area of the pitch. If a new striker scuffs a great chance or a midfielder fluffs a pass, we miss a goal but the score remains the But if a new central defender makes a mistake we could be talking about a goal, a penalty, a booking or a sending-off conceded as a direct result.

They're quite some consequences. And sure Grimandi has cost us goals this season - but then so has Adams, Bould, Keown, Dixon, Winterburn, Seaman and Manninger. Is it Grimandi's fault we lost to Chelsea? Or is it Vieira's? Or is it the whole team's fault? Grimandi cannot be the lone excuse for goals conceded.

We Arsenal fans are a strange bunch. On one hand, we are incredibly loyal to long-serving players. Yet on the other hand newly acquired players are welcomed with a warm smile, a smirk towards Tottenham fans and then five minutes grace to prove themselves world-beaters, before being permanently consigned to the touching yell of "you're RUBBISH (fill in appropriate name)!"

Why do we give new players so little time to settle in, so little time to show their ability? Why do we fail to see the broader view of how difficult it may actually be for Grimandi to break into his area of the team and to do his stuff? Vieira started great and now he can do no wrong in some people's eyes, even though his discipline constantly lets us down, while Grimandi started weakly so now apparently he can do no right.

Grimandi has filled right-back, centre-back and pseudo-midfield slots this season and is gradually emerging from his shell to play better each time. He's become Wenger's Mr Handy and some fans have even muted him as a possible replacement for Dixon. Considering the regularity with which our defenders get injured and suspended I expect we'll see Grimandi play rather often this season and to continue to improve with it too. Grimandi's not grim, he's handy. And if he can clatter an important goal into the bargain then maybe he'll win all but the sternest of hearts. You may not have rated Linighan much overall but I bet you did one night in May 1993!