Marked for Hakob Simonyan
From our football correspondent
Crisis
The terraces29 Jan 2029
The mood at Syunik has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Squad29 Jan 2029
A knee injury of the worst kind for Hakob Simonyan
21 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Syunik lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market29 Jan 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Syunik can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets29 Jan 2029
Everything agreed with Pyunik, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Squad29 Jan 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Syunik this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 Jan 2029
Vadim Arutyunyan 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.
Transfer targets29 Jan 2029
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
The dugout29 Jan 2029
This is not rotation. Arshak Petrosyan has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Syunik is pretending otherwise.
Squad29 Jan 2029
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Syunik are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Boardroom22 Jan 2029
The scrutiny sharpens at Syunik
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at Syunik is running low.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Hakob Simonyan damages knee ligaments — 28 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 28 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.
Market22 Jan 2029
“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 Syunik, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad22 Jan 2029
Tempers go at Syunik
Vadim Arutyunyan 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.
The dugout22 Jan 2029
This is not rotation. Carlinhos has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Syunik is pretending otherwise.
Transfer targets22 Jan 2029
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad22 Jan 2029
A row about effort at Syunik
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Wanderson was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets22 Jan 2029
A loan move for Vojislav Jokić is in the works
Syunik have made the call to OFK Beograd. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Squad22 Jan 2029
The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad15 Jan 2029
Hakob Simonyan damages knee ligaments — 35 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 35 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.
Squad15 Jan 2029
42 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
The dugout15 Jan 2029
This is not rotation. Joachim Amijekori has not been in the manager's plans for some time, and nobody at Syunik is pretending otherwise.
Squad15 Jan 2029
A row about effort at Syunik
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vadim Arutyunyan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets15 Jan 2029
Syunik asked and Vitória said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad15 Jan 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Arshak Petrosyan and Syunik agree another 3 years.
Transfer targets15 Jan 2029
Noah have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Transfer targets15 Jan 2029
Syunik have made the call to Alashkert. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout15 Jan 2029
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad8 Jan 2029
Hakob Simonyan damages knee ligaments — 42 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 42 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.
Boardroom8 Jan 2029
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Tigran Adamyan has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Market8 Jan 2029
“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 Syunik, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets8 Jan 2029
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Squad8 Jan 2029
A row about effort at Syunik
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Vadim Arutyunyan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market8 Jan 2029
“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.
Squad8 Jan 2029
A falling-out at Syunik
Alik Mkrtchyan and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets8 Jan 2029
Vitória have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Transfer targets8 Jan 2029
Noah have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.