Marked for Michel
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad30 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Pyunik
Jurgen Bardhi and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad30 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Pyunik
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Saba Kharebashvili was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of James
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
Wages swallow 102% of the Pyunik income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Market30 Nov 2026
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Viacheslav Afyan may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad19 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Pyunik
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Saba Kharebashvili was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Pyunik
Sargis Metoyan and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Saba Kharebashvili is on it.
Market19 Oct 2026
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Pyunik know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Michel remains an outsider
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Pyunik would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad12 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Pyunik
Saba Kharebashvili was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at Pyunik training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hovhannes Harutyunyan is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Yegor Baburin, and the manager let it.
Squad12 Oct 2026
This league is too small for Michel
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Pyunik will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
Market12 Oct 2026
Pyunik and Michel are talking past each other
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Pyunik are still strangers to each other
16 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Market12 Oct 2026
The best deals are the ones the accountants never notice. Michel arrives at Pyunik with his wages the only cost and something to prove the only clause.