Marked for Patrick Handzongo
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Dec 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ararat this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Manuel Granados falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Abdoul Djire has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Ararat will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Boardroom16 Nov 2026
Silverware for Ararat
They will talk about this season in this town for a long time. The trophy comes home with the squad, and the route is already agreed.
Squad16 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ararat this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Ararat training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thomas Drage 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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad19 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ararat this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Manuel Granados falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Abdoul Djire has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Ararat will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Ararat
Thomas Drage 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Manuel Granados falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad21 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Erik Brenden
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad7 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ararat this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market7 Sep 2026
The Urartu deal is off
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Patrick Handzongo reports back to Ararat with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Manuel Granados falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Henri Avagyan has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Ararat will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The captaincy has been taken off Arman Hovhannisyan. Ararat will call it a decision about the team; a dressing room reads it as a verdict on a man.
Market7 Sep 2026
The Thomas Drage story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Thomas Drage signs something — a contract at Ararat or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match26 Aug 2026
The cup run ends for Ararat
0‑1 against Pyunik, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Market31 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Ararat
Henri Avagyan 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
The medical room confirms 25 days on the sidelines for Abdoul Djire, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at Ararat training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Manuel Granados 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Brayan Alcócer
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match19 Aug 2026
Ararat march on in the cup
Noah are out and Ararat go through, 0‑0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Henri Avagyan: 1 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Abdoul Djire could not have asked for more on his first appearance — 7.21
Debuts are survived rather than enjoyed. This one was enjoyed: 7.21, 0 goals, and a manager already being asked whether he starts again next week.
Market24 Aug 2026
The name of Patrick Handzongo has come up in conversations Ararat were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Market24 Aug 2026
As if he never left: Edgar Malakyan returns
Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Edgar Malakyan is a Ararat player again, and the town has its story of the summer.
Squad24 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ararat this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad17 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Ararat
Henri Avagyan 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at Ararat training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Manuel Granados 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Jakob Novak has outgrown this division
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Ararat know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Ararat
Henri Avagyan 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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Patrick Handzongo and Ararat agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Malick Berté falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Thomas Drage has outgrown this division
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Ararat know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
Market10 Aug 2026
Nobody at Ararat has picked up the phone to Malick Berté
48 months to run and not a word offered. A club that lets the calendar negotiate for it usually ends up losing to the calendar.
Market10 Aug 2026
“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.