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.
“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 Ararat know it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ararat this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Nov 2027
Words at Ararat training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Petik Manukyan 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.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Gonçalo Gregório's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ararat they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Mikayel Mirzoyan 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 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.
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.
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ararat is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Mikayel Mirzoyan 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 thought about how hard another man trains, and Petik Manukyan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 Ararat know it.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Ararat, and 0 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Nikita Lobusov trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Ararat know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ararat is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“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 Ararat know it.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Words at Ararat training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Petik Manukyan 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.
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 Oleg Nikiforenko is on it.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Pierluigi La Porta has his answer from Ararat; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
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.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Armen Haroyan has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
Brunão 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 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 club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ararat have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ararat they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ararat this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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; Ararat are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
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.
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.” Ararat have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Divine Ukadike will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ararat the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Mikayel Mirzoyan 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 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.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Ararat, and 0 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑2 Armen Haroyan left the room before anybody could ask which.
“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 can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ernest Kacou will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ararat the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Brunão 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.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Words at Ararat training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oleg Nikiforenko 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.
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 Malick Berté is on it.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Arman Adamyan, 15, is the weekend’s best young player
Measured against every other kid in the division and first among them. The senior award is where Ararat would like this to lead.
The table has started to be checked before the results are in, and that is always the tell. Nobody at Ararat says the word out loud, and everybody in the building is thinking it.
In brief
The dugoutJan Morávek knocks on the manager's door
Position 9 and 15 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
“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 Ararat, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Ararat people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Deadline passes with 15 signed and 11 gone
That is the business done at Ararat until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ararat this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Miguel Rajani 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.
In brief
Boardroom101% of the income goes out in wages at Ararat
“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 can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ararat have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The chase for Erik Petrosyan ended with $640.0K changing hands and Shirak out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
“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; Ararat are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Mikayel Mirzoyan 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.
Boards get told what they have done wrong for years and hear nothing on the days they get it right. This is one of those days: Erik Petrosyan from Shirak for $640.0K, and a ticket office having a very good morning.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Petik Manukyan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Ararat, and 1 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Ararat people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Mikayel Mirzoyan 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.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Words at Ararat training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oleg Nikiforenko 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.
5 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.
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 Abdoul Djire is on it.
“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 Ararat, and it is not being withdrawn.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Ararat have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Petik Manukyan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Ararat can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Nobody at Ararat 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 last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Ararat have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Gonçalo Gregório 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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Ararat can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Petik Manukyan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
Nobody at Ararat 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.
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Ararat would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Ararat people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Mikayel Mirzoyan 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Oleg Nikiforenko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
At 21 he was better than everybody his age in the division for four weeks running, which is harder than one good afternoon. Ararat will try not to make too much of it.
A 3‑0 win over Lernayin Artsakh, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
“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 Ararat, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Ararat people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Player ratings26 Jul 2027
A brace, and Yaya Sogodogo takes the afternoon — 8.27
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Yaya Sogodogo provided it, and the 8.27 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
$810.0K was the most the club would pay and Noah were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Ararat can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Nikita Lobusov
“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 can pretend not to have heard.
$93.0K was the most the club would pay and Ararat-Armenia were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Words at Ararat training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oleg Nikiforenko 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.
Position 9 and 15 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Position 9 on 15 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Ararat have lost him in all but the paperwork.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.19 for the rest of it.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $102.4K — a club that wants Alexandros Malis enough to be asked twice.
Ararat asked and Noah said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
$93.0K on the table at Ararat-Armenia. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ararat this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Lernayin Artsakh waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Ararat is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Ararat have gone to Noah with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
This is not cover and nobody is pretending it is. $520.0K has been paid because Domi Jaurès Massoumou is straightforwardly better than what was already here, and the club has decided to stop waiting.
Mikayel Mirzoyan 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.
Boards get told what they have done wrong for years and hear nothing on the days they get it right. This is one of those days: Domi Jaurès Massoumou from Alashkert for $520.0K, and a ticket office having a very good morning.
Ararat asked and Ararat-Armenia said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“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 Ararat, and it is not being withdrawn.
Ararat and Alashkert have settled on $520.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Ararat offered $810.0K; Noah said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Mikayel Mirzoyan 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 thought about how hard another man trains, and Oleg Nikiforenko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Nikita Lobusov will call it something else in private.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Ararat people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“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 can pretend not to have heard.
Ararat and Noah have settled on $190.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Ararat have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
At 20 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Ararat have gone to Noah with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ararat they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Ararat people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The offer from Shirak for Adama Méïté was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
“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 can pretend not to have heard.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Noah keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $87.0K — a club that wants David Nduka enough to be asked twice.
Noah did not want to sell and the number is why they did. $320.0K for Gonçalo Gregório, and the expectation that arrives with him is the kind no amount of settling-in period softens.
Ararat asked and Noah said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Ararat have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The deal with Noah is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it 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 Ararat this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ararat offered $58.0K; Ararat-Armenia said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Ararat can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
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.
Successful dribbles: 17. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Adama Méïté
Boardroom105% of the income goes out in wages at Ararat
“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 Ararat, and it is not being withdrawn.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Abdoul Djire did not need any: 8.16, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ararat they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Mikayel Mirzoyan 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.
Squad31 May 2027
Words at Ararat training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oleg Nikiforenko 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.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
1‑5 against Ararat-Armenia, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ararat is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Ararat and Ararat-Armenia in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Ararat can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Position 8 and 11 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Divine Ukadike will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ararat the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“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 Ararat, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ararat 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 Oleg Nikiforenko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑4, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ararat this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at Ararat training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oleg Nikiforenko 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.
A point taken on 92 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
“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 Ararat, and it is not being withdrawn.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ararat they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Mikayel Mirzoyan 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Ararat, another week without a signature from Oleg Nikiforenko.
The dugout3 May 2027
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 Armen Haroyan to a room that had heard them before.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ararat is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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.
7.94, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Ararat had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout26 Apr 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.” Armen Haroyan, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Shots: 11. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 9 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Divine Ukadike will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ararat the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Moussa Kanté was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Something was said to Moussa Kanté and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Mikayel Mirzoyan 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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Ararat can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Squad12 Apr 2027
6 new faces, and Ararat are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Eduardo Rosado scored, was marked 7.63, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ararat they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Mikayel Mirzoyan 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.
“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; Ararat are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words at Ararat training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oleg Nikiforenko 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.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Ararat they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ararat this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Everybody at Ararat saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 38 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Words at Ararat training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Moussa Kanté 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Ararat, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Mikayel Mirzoyan’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Ararat needing him to play as if none of it matters.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
There were 89 minutes on the clock and Noah had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Ararat did not stop to explain themselves.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Divine Ukadike will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ararat the goodbyes have quietly begun.
“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 Ararat know it.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Armen Haroyan could afford to be generous.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words at Ararat training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ramon Batista 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.
Mikayel Mirzoyan 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 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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Ararat can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
“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.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑3 Armen Haroyan left the room before anybody could ask which.
6 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ernest Kacou will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ararat the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Mikayel Mirzoyan 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.
3 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Ararat can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Words at Ararat training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Moussa Kanté 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Mikayel Mirzoyan. 2‑1 against Van, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Grigor Hakobyan is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Narek Barseghyan is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Ararat is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Ararat can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ararat this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words at Ararat training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eduardo Rosado 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Ararat, another week without a signature from Oleg Nikiforenko.
Van next, and one man in the Ararat dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Divine Ukadike will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Ararat the goodbyes have quietly begun.
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.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Ararat has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
Mikayel Mirzoyan 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Noah have kept their man, and Ararat go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Moussa Kanté 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.
“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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
9 new faces, and Ararat are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Ararat will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Ararat people have started saying his name in the past tense.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Mika had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Mikayel Mirzoyan 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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Leo Graham has just signed for Ararat, and for once the answer mattered.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Coritiba have kept their man, and Ararat go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Ararat ran out of time with Noah. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
“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 Ararat know it.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Araks Ararat will make the call about Divine Ukadike this week. Ararat have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Noah have accepted the money. What Ararat do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 3 arrived, 2 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Ararat had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at América Mineiro, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ararat this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The phone has started ringing about Patrick Handzongo again, and this time the name on the line is Hayq. Ararat are listening politely and promising nothing.
“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; Ararat are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Hayq waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Ararat is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
The deal with América Mineiro is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Nobody makes a documentary about a hamstring and everybody in the game fears one. Ararat will be careful with the return date, because the second one is always worse than the first.
“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; Ararat are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words at Ararat training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Moussa Kanté 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.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Mika waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Ararat is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Mikayel Mirzoyan 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.
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
Ararat have made the call to América Mineiro. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
6 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.
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Ararat know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Ararat know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Ararat have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ararat 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 Moussa Kanté was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 can pretend not to have heard.
Brunão 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.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Ararat can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
The phone has started ringing about Abdoul Djire again, and this time the name on the line is Mika. Ararat are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words at Ararat training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eduardo Rosado 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Ararat, another week without a signature from Oleg Nikiforenko.
In brief
Transfer targetsA loan move for Clinton Dombila is in the works
Transfer targetsA loan move for Malik Odeyinka is in the works
BoardroomOpen for business: Ararat enter the window
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Oleg Nikiforenko trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Mikayel Mirzoyan 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Ararat training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oleg Nikiforenko 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.
6 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.
Mikayel Mirzoyan 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 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ararat this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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; Ararat are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Ararat can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Oleg Nikiforenko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Ararat know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ararat this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Ararat will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Ararat has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ararat this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Ararat know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Ararat, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Adama Méïté signs something — a contract at Ararat or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Jan Morávek and Ararat agree another 1 years.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at Ararat training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Oleg Nikiforenko 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.
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Ararat will quote 17 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Ararat, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Mikayel Mirzoyan 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 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.
11 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
In brief
The dugoutMoussa Kanté asks for a word with the manager
Mikayel Mirzoyan 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Aleksandr Aleksanyan is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
“I watch every Ararat game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Van runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Ararat would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ararat this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
He is doing things every Saturday that nobody around him can answer. It is flattering for a season and a problem after that, and Ararat know which stage they are at.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Ararat has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Adama Méïté signs something — a contract at Ararat or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Petros Alekyan is 20, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
“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 Ararat know it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Moussa Kanté was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
4 goals in 7 games at Hayq — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Ararat updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on Miguel Rajani
At 20 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
10 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.
Mikayel Mirzoyan 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Oleg Nikiforenko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Ararat will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
“I watch every Ararat game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Van runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Ararat, another week without a signature from Samuel Costa.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 10 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Brunão is living that version at Ararat, and it tends to show in the first month.
Ararat had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Juventude, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ararat this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Santos have kept their man, and Ararat go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Moussa Kanté 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.
“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.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Deadline passes with 16 signed and 26 gone
That is the business done at Ararat until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
The deal with Juventude is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Cruzeiro is saying, and nobody at Ararat is enjoying the guessing.
Ararat asked and Guarani said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
At 14 he was better than everybody his age in the division for four weeks running, which is harder than one good afternoon. Ararat will try not to make too much of it.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Ararat, another week without a signature from Miguel Rajani.
“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 Ararat, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Vasco da Gama keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Ararat have gone to Noah with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Miguel Rajani 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.
Ararat asked and Hayq said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Oleg Nikiforenko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The offer from Shirak for Lamine Fofana was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $39.8K — a club that wants Aleksandar Glišić enough to be asked twice.
Urartu did not want to sell and the number is why they did. $380.0K for Mikayel Mirzoyan, and the expectation that arrives with him is the kind no amount of settling-in period softens.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Pyunik have kept their man, and Ararat go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ararat this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The offer went to Hayq this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Ararat offered $37.0K; Van said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Urartu have accepted the money. What Ararat do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $39.8K — a club that wants Kevin Pereira enough to be asked twice.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Goianésia keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Oleg Nikiforenko 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 offer went to Van this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Ararat will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 15 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Guy Félix Lima had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Bahia is saying, and nobody at Ararat is enjoying the guessing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Ararat 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 Oleg Nikiforenko was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The phone has started ringing about Patrick Handzongo again, and this time the name on the line is Lernayin Artsakh. Ararat are listening politely and promising nothing.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Levon Vardanyan is living that version at Ararat, and it tends to show in the first month.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Amedspor have kept their man, and Ararat go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Albert Khachumyan 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 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.
Still no offer on the table, and Adama Méïté’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.