The words a physio says slowly. 37 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Van this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
The dugout27 Mar 2028
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑3 defeat, delivered by Arman Hakobyan to a room that had heard them before.
51 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Van lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marin Jakoliš was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ararat left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
The dugout13 Mar 2028
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Arman Hakobyan to a room that had heard them before.
The words a physio says slowly. 65 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Van this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
79 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Van lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Marin Jakoliš 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Van, and both men came out saying it was fine.
In brief
MarketThe window shut and Mauro is still in the building
The words a physio says slowly. 94 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Van can pretend not to have heard.
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Van will quote 15 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Van this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
117 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Van lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Marin Jakoliš 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Van, another week without a signature from Chinedu Ekene.
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.
Position 5, 20 points, and a run-in that decides whether next season has Thursday nights in it. Nobody is calling it a race yet, which is what people say during one.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Van this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marin Jakoliš was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Van, another week without a signature from Marin Jakoliš.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Danila Bokov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Van will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
In brief
The dugoutAllef has become a man the manager trusts
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Van, and it is not being withdrawn.
Marin Jakoliš 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.
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 Hollman McCormick is on it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marin Jakoliš was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Chinedu Ekene trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Van than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Van this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Marin Jakoliš 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.
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 Allef is on it.
Marin Jakoliš 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hollman McCormick 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.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Van have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Van close the window on a squad of their own making
14 in and 3 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Marin Jakoliš 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 manager has re-ordered his thinking and Petros Avetisyan has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Van, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nobody at Van 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.
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Van than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
Two goals and a mark of 9.11 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Everything agreed with Alashkert, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Van can pretend not to have heard.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Zak Baker has agreed terms with Gandzasar for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Jonel Désirè wins it after the whistle should have gone
92 minutes played. Jonel Désirè found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and BKMA went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Tenton Yenne 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.
A performance of 8.62 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
The dugout28 Jun 2027
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Arman Hakobyan, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
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.
83 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Van lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Van will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
The standards have slipped, and in a building where everybody watches everybody it has not gone unremarked. This is how a player loses a place before he loses one.