Glenn HELDER

To say that Glenn Helder's Arsenal career was an undistinguished one would qualify as a huge understatement. It all started to go wrong for the Dutchman just a week after his £2.3m signing from Vitesse Arnhem in February 1995. While Helder was still unpacking his bags the man who signed him, George Graham, was packing his. Graham was sacked in the infamous 'bungs' scandal, meaning that Stewart Houston was placed in temporary charge for Helder's debut, a 1-0 win over Nottingham Forest at Highbury. To Helder's credit, he performed well in his first game amid all of the turmoil surrounding the club. Chris Kiwomya, another recent signing, struck a late winner but many Gunners fans returned home talking about their new Dutch winger. He went on to play 12 more times in the league that season, but was ineligible for the Gunners' Cup Winners Cup campaign, which ended in a heartbreaking last minute defeat to Real Zaragoza in the final in Paris.

The following season saw Bruce Rioch's arrival at Highbury, Helder featuring 24 times in the league and helping the Gunners to a fifth place finish and UEFA Cup qualification. The Dutchman's only goal for the club arrived in a 3-2 win over Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium in January 1996. That goal failed to mask Helder's increasingly poor performances for the Gunners though, and it was clear his days at Highbury were numbered. Rioch left Arsenal just before the 1996/97 season began, Houston once again taking temporary charge before the arrival of a new dawn at Arsenal with the appointment of a little known Frenchman by the name of Arsene Wenger. Monsieur Wenger quickly decided that Helder had little to offer and promptly shipped him out on loan to Benfica. Eleven games and one goal later, Helder suffered a serious injury and returned to Arsenal. He never played for the Gunners again and returned to Holland to play for NAC Breda in October 1997. (Mark Jones)