Marked for Grigor Ghumashyan
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match22 Aug 2026
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
“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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match15 Aug 2026
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
Nobody left the Shirak-2 dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
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 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Mkhitar Ghazaryan to a room that had heard them before.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Shirak-2
Lyova Karapetyan 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.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A new face in his position and a shirt he thought he owned suddenly up for discussion. Shirak-2 have promised nothing, which is what clubs promise at this stage.
Squad17 Aug 2026
“I am not asking anybody to be better than they are. I am asking everybody to be as good as they are, every week.” Said out loud, in front of everybody, and the room at Shirak-2 was different afterwards.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match8 Aug 2026
Pyunik-2 made Shirak-2 work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Mkhitar Ghazaryan could afford to be generous.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“If we are going to be beaten, let it not be because somebody in here could not be bothered.” He stood up and said it in front of everybody, which is a thing a squad remembers about a man for years.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match1 Aug 2026
4‑1, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Grigor Ghumashyan and Shirak-2 agree another 2 years.
Squad3 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 Shirak-2 this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.