Joel Nouble has become an Arbroath cult hero after a series of sizzling displays for the Gayfield side.
His piece of skill to beat two players to cut to the byline and cross for Michael McKenna to head home the second goal in a 3-1 win over Partick Thistle was simply sublime.
On his Nouble’s official Twitter account bio, it states, Nouble ‘sometimes kicks a ball around.’
His pinned tweet insists: ‘I’m going to be successful. That’s the tweet.’
But his Twitter went into overdrive at the weekend with rapturous Red Lichties fans acclaiming their new Arbroath hero.
One fan jokingly Photoshopped an image of Nouble’s head onto Lionel Messi’s body, writing ‘Joel Nouble Ballon d’Or.’
Joel Nouble Ballon D’Or @OfficialNoubz @ArbroathFC pic.twitter.com/mYmUSArJk6
— Allan (@SpaGetty95) August 21, 2021
Nouble, on loan from Livingston, has ingratiated himself with his Arbroath team-mates with his Usher-singing skills on the player WhatsApp group chat.
And he is now winning over fans with his flair on the pitch.
“He’s an outstanding player,” said McKenna. “It’s so unique the way he plays the game.
“Luke Donnelly’s on fire as well with three goals in three games.
Nouble to McKenna ⚽️🔥 pic.twitter.com/wTzvreBjnx
— Arbroath FC (@ArbroathFC) August 22, 2021
“But he’s not even getting a sniff at the moment.
“His time will come again as he’s a technically-gifted player as well.
“But Joel is a very unique type of player.
“He’s a lot quicker than you’d expect and he’s got better feet than you’d think.
“He’s stronger than you’d think so he has got a very big future up here in Scotland.
“I don’t know another player in the Scottish leagues like him just now.
“I hope he continues to play like that for us then next year he can go on and have a good season in the Scottish Premiership with Livingston.”
Joel Nouble has become Arbroath’s ‘enigmatic talisman’
Nouble is on loan at Arbroath until the summer with a January recall clause.
And the Angus side would dearly love to keep him for the entire season.
Clearly, though, if he continues to make an impact then Livingston will be keen to hand a chance to a player they signed to replace Jay Emmanuel-Thomas.
At 25, he’s already at his 12th club, having spent most of his career in the lower reaches of English football.
Fans of his last club Aldershot still pine for Nouble to bring his wing wizardry back to the Recreation Ground.
But perhaps the London-born star has finally found his home in Scotland.
Enjoy your Saturday Night Lichties!
👑 @OfficialNoubz ⚽️@Mikey_211991 pic.twitter.com/wejtboSixP
— Arbroath FC (@ArbroathFC) August 21, 2021
And for the moment, at least, he’s at Arbroath and everyone there will enjoy their enigmatic talisman.
“When you look at big Joel the first thing you notice is he’s 6ft 6in,” said Arbroath manager Dick Campbell.
“But there’s so much more to him than that.
“In the very last minute he was on the sideline chasing down their left wing-back.
“He’ll do for me and that tells me there is a spirit in my club.”