The Ararat-Armenia Herald
Market7 Sep 2026
Karen Muradyan hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Ararat-Armenia can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Ararat-Armenia close the window on a squad of their own making
18 in and 24 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Ararat-Armenia
Zhirayr Shaghoyan 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 dugout7 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Edgar Grigoryan
“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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Ararat-Armenia training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Karen Muradyan 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Too much change too quickly at Ararat-Armenia
11 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Sandro Lima is no longer first choice
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Sandro Lima 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.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
Alioune Ndour has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Ararat-Armenia 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.
Market7 Sep 2026
The market said no: Zhirayr Shaghoyan stays put
Ararat-Armenia opened the door and nobody walked through it. So Zhirayr Shaghoyan stays — listed, trained, and available — while both sides mark the days to January on the same calendar.
In brief
- Market The França story refuses to die
- The dugout The manager plants his flag on Zidane Banjaqui