Armand Gnanduillet – The marmite figure who could fire Hearts to glory

Armand Gnanduillet is a divisive figure in Blackpool, but he offers the potential to become a Hearts cult hero.

Gnanduillet left Blackpool in much the same way that his career there went, with a mixed reception. The Angers-born Frenchman allowed his contract to run down at Bloomfield Road in order to leave as a free agent, just six months after a bid from Charlton was rejected for him. After an unremarkable season on the Fylde Coast under Simon Grayson, the number nine was the star man for a team that didn’t have much to shout about.

Now on his way to Scotland with Championship side Hearts of Midlothian, could his cult hero status amongst a section of the Seaside support translate to the empty terraces of Tynecastle?

Gnanduillet will arrive at the club following the mutual termination of his contract with Turkish second division side Altay S.K., whom he joined in the summer following the end of his spell in League One.

That kind of out of the blue transfer wasn’t a one off for the striker who actually left Blackpool in 2018 to join South African team Baroka, only to be ineligible for their squad registration and return to Lancashire a month later.

The Ivory Coast international scored two goals in 292 minutes in Turkey as he failed to settle in his new surroundings and lost out on his place in the side early on.

That has been the tale for Gnanduillet for the majority of his career with 42% of the goals in his ten year career coming since 2018.

He languished on the periphery at the likes of Chesterfield and Oxford and at the start of his time at Leyton Orient before becoming a main stay in the side, leading to his move to Blackpool in 2016.

The Seasiders, who at the start of his spell with the club faced near empty stands as fans boycotted games in protest at the Oyston regime, were able to provide Gnanduillet with a home and a first team place that he grasped with both hands.

Ten goals in 35 appearances in the 2018/19 season and 15 goals in 30 appearances in the 2019/20 season have cemented him as one of the best strikers the club has had in recent years.

He developed a well utilised partnership with winger Liam Feeney in his final season at the club, a player who provided 14 assists in the 2019/20 campaign, many of which landed on Gnanduillet’s head.

Yet, despite the abundance of goals for the club, he divides opinion amongst supporters. He is perceived by many as lazy on the pitch. However, when you look at his style of play, he isn’t going to be a player that puts in the yards for the team unit.

He is a luxury player, he waits for the right moment and bides his time in order to get into the right areas. He generally sits on the shoulder of the final centre half, occupying them to stretch space for attacking midfielders to run into.

Yes he isn’t going to be a runner, but he is intelligent in his play and it benefits players around him on the whole when it comes to opening up space.

Another asset the striker brings is that he isn’t afraid to be isolated. It frustrated him, but he took what he had in a poor Grayson side and showed flashes of individual technical ability creating chances for himself. Not least his goal against Reading in the FA Cup where he turned in behind and shrugged off two central defenders before burying in the top corner.

His aerial ability is his main asset, with a fine leap that will get the better of many a defender, particularly at Scottish Championship level. He needs the right service around him, you have to simply your game as a team in order to focus on the basic elements in terms of crossing and he will easily bag double figures.

There seems to be a stigma around players like Gnanduillet, that perceived lack of effort paired with his like for trying extravagant skills that don’t always come off, is something that is generally derided in the lower echelons of league football.

But it should be admired. If everything the striker tried to pull off came off then we would not be talking about a move to Hearts, he would find himself at a much higher level in he footballing pyramid. And it wouldn’t be half as fun if he was just your standard target man.

Jambos will look to their last cult hero target man in Uche Ikpeazu for comparison but Gnanduillet offers so much more than that. He has the physicality to outmuscle defenders, he has the technical ability to create a chance for himself if needs to and he possesses the assets to finish chances when they arrive to him in the box.

Will it come off everytime? No. Will Hearts fans occasionally scream at their television after he has skied a panenka penalty? Probably. But the goals he will score and the moments he will provide are worth the bleating.

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