Marked for Igor Plastun
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad8 Nov 2027
Malik Odeyinka and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad8 Nov 2027
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Alashkert know it.
Squad8 Nov 2027
A row about effort at Alashkert
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Igor Plastun was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
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.
The dugout8 Nov 2027
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Alashkert, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad8 Nov 2027
A season on the outside for Fernando
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Alashkert has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
Market8 Nov 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Mômô Fanyé Touré signs something — a contract at Alashkert or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Match8 Nov 2027
Alashkert have something to play for
Position 4 on 28 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
Market8 Nov 2027
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Edgar Piloyan may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad18 Oct 2027
Words exchanged at Alashkert
Mômô Fanyé Touré 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.
Loan watch18 Oct 2027
22 appearances away from home and 15 goals to show for them. Every one of them makes next summer's conversation a little more expensive.
The dugout18 Oct 2027
Edgar Piloyan gets picked when it counts
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 Edgar Piloyan is on it.
The dugout18 Oct 2027
Edgar Piloyan knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Edgar Piloyan trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market18 Oct 2027
Still no signature from Fernando
2 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what Alashkert could get for him.
Market18 Oct 2027
The name of Edgar Piloyan keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Alashkert say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad4 Oct 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Arsen Beglaryan commits to Alashkert for another 2 years.
Squad4 Oct 2027
A row about effort at Alashkert
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rob Nizet was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
Market4 Oct 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Alashkert, another week without a signature from Fernando.
Squad4 Oct 2027
Donald Kodia 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 dugout4 Oct 2027
Olawale Farayola asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout4 Oct 2027
Rob Nizet gets picked when it counts
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 Rob Nizet is on it.
Market4 Oct 2027
Still no offer on the table, and Gevork Sarkisyan’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
Market4 Oct 2027
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Igor Plastun may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad27 Sep 2027
Mômô Fanyé Touré 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 dugout27 Sep 2027
“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.
Squad27 Sep 2027
A row about effort at Alashkert
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Igor Plastun was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Alashkert told Mômô Fanyé Touré something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Boardroom27 Sep 2027
Wages eat 90% of everything Alashkert earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
The dugout27 Sep 2027
Kajally Drammeh has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Alashkert 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
Steady
Market13 Sep 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Klaidher 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.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Igor Plastun is not the player he was
It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 37 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Words at Alashkert training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rob Nizet 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.
Squad13 Sep 2027
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Alashkert know it.
The dugout13 Sep 2027
Karen Nalbandyan has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Alashkert 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.
The dugout13 Sep 2027
Fernando asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
Market13 Sep 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Mômô Fanyé Touré signs something — a contract at Alashkert or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Match13 Sep 2027
Alashkert have something to play for
Position 4 on 28 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market6 Sep 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Alashkert can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Window shuts: 4 in, 11 out at Alashkert
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 4 arrived, 11 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Transfer targets6 Sep 2027
Alashkert had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Urartu, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Fernando 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.
Transfer targets6 Sep 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Ararat have kept their man, and Alashkert go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market6 Sep 2027
Add another name to the list: Araks Ararat have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Zaven Khudaverdyan. The answer from Alashkert has not changed — yet.
Squad6 Sep 2027
“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; Alashkert are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad6 Sep 2027
A row about effort at Alashkert
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Igor Plastun was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
In brief
-
The dugout
Fernando knocks on the manager’s door
-
The dugout
Rob Nizet has become a man the manager trusts
-
Market
Iago Reis leaves for nothing
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market16 Aug 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market16 Aug 2027
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Alashkert have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market16 Aug 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Words exchanged at Alashkert
Donald Kodia 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.
Squad16 Aug 2027
A row about effort at Alashkert
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Igor Plastun was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Home comes calling for David Nduka
A club from his own country has asked the question, and he has never pretended he did not want to be asked. Alashkert have a conversation ahead of them that they will not win with money.
The dugout16 Aug 2027
Karen Nalbandyan has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Alashkert 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.
The dugout16 Aug 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Olawale Farayola trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market16 Aug 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Mômô Fanyé Touré signs something — a contract at Alashkert or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market9 Aug 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Alashkert can pretend not to have heard.
Market9 Aug 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Alashkert people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Squad9 Aug 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Alashkert this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words at Alashkert training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rob Nizet 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.
Market9 Aug 2027
“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.
Market9 Aug 2027
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Alashkert will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
The dugout9 Aug 2027
Kajally Drammeh asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout9 Aug 2027
When it matters, Rob Nizet plays
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.
Squad9 Aug 2027
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Alashkert know which stage they are at.