Armand Gnanduillet reflects on his time with Blackpool - and shares why his stint at Bloomfield Road was special.

Former Blackpool striker Armand Gnanduillet admits a brief break during his four year spell at Bloomfield Road offered him a complete new perspective.

The 34-year-old, who now plays for Stade Malherbe Caen in Ligue 3, bagged 43 goals and 11 assists in 145 appearances for the Seasiders, alongside picking up a promotion to League One.

His time in Tangerine technically spanned over two spells, with the forward departing the Fylde Coast briefly in 2018.

After coming to the end of his contract, Gnanduillet joined Baroka in South Africa, but lasted just a couple of months before returning to Blackpool.

“Sometimes I think about this - and in sports terms it wasn’t a good decision, but as a human being, it was the best decision of my life,” he said.

“I left Blackpool. At that time, it was Gary Bowyer - who is a good guy, but during my two years, we didn’t really understand each other with the way he wanted me to play.

“In France I wasn’t playing that way. He knew I could play like he wanted, but I didn’t realise the simplicity of what he was asking - which is why I was left out of the team and didn’t play a lot.

“My contract was running out and I wanted to see something new, but it wasn’t a good choice.

“When I went to South Africa and saw stuff that made me realise I was in the right place at Blackpool.

“When I left, Gary Bowyer had told me if I wanted to come back, I could send him a message to sort it out.

“I sent him a text, and took a 14 hour flight, before going straight from the airport to the training ground.

“I trained with a different mind. I was 26/27, and I told myself to just concentrate on football.

“I came back, I had a good season, and started to score lots of goals.

“It wasn’t just about that, it was the energy I was giving on the field - everything changed.

“Because of this bad decision, everything changed in my mind, from the way I played to how I wanted stuff. It was a huge part of the player I became.”

Gnanduillet’s time at Bloomfield Road came to an end for a second and final time in 2020.

“When you feel good somewhere, it’s always tough to leave,” he added.

“With Covid, it was a strange way to leave Blackpool. I didn’t have the time to say ‘thank you’ or ‘goodbye’ to the fans.

“We didn’t finish the season, but if we had, I think we would’ve had the opportunity to at least reach the play-offs. It was sad, but it wasn’t just me, it was all of the players.

“I was having the best season of my career, but left like that, so I was very sad with the way it ended.”