Position 10 and 4 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 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.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Hovhannes Simonyan after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Nobody at BKMA 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.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
“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 The request is on a desk at BKMA, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at BKMA is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at BKMA 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.
Successful dribbles: 22. 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.
Edgar Piloyan 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 had been thinking. Dmitry Lavrischev 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 is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
Edgar Piloyan 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 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at BKMA can tell you which week it ends in.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Lavrischev 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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mykyta Shevchenko, and the manager let it.
The dugout19 Apr 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 Hovhannes Simonyan to a room that had heard them before.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Edgar Piloyan’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and BKMA needing him to play as if none of it matters.
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.
Argishti Petrosyan 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.
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Tigran Grigoryan has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Michel Ayvazyan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
“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 BKMA, and it is not being withdrawn.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. BKMA scored in the 100th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Sousa did not need any: 7.80, 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 BKMA they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“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 BKMA know it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dmitry Lavrischev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
In brief
The terracesBKMA supporters have found a favourite in Sousa
5 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Edgar Piloyan 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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Artur Movsesyan is 19, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Lavrischev 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 were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Hovhannes Simonyan after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Joseph Sabobo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” BKMA have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
4 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Edgar Piloyan 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.
The dugout22 Mar 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 Hovhannes Simonyan to a room that had heard them before.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at BKMA this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 3 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Lavrischev 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 is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Hovhannes Simonyan after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Shirak defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around BKMA they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
He will be fined, he will apologise, and he will play on Saturday. The order of those three tells you everything about what a football club actually values.
Edgar Piloyan 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.
Every paper's favourite story and every manager's least. What happened is being dealt with internally, which is the phrase clubs use when they would rather nobody asked again.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Michel Ayvazyan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Alashkert in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Dmitry Lavrischev signs something — a contract at BKMA or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at BKMA. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at BKMA 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 Stanislav Ruban was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad22 Feb 2027
6 new faces, and BKMA 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at BKMA this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Lavrischev 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 trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at BKMA has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
Nobody at BKMA 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ruben Abrahamyan will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around BKMA the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Armen Spertsyan is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Grigor Hakobyan has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Michel Ayvazyan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at BKMA would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at BKMA, another week without a signature from Hugo Martins.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 7 arrived, 0 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Hugo Martins has, at BKMA, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Edgar Piloyan 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 Stanislav Ruban was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not a new contract, not a new number: a new place in the manager’s thinking, which is the only promotion in football that actually matters. Joseph Sabobo has moved up it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Dmitry Lavrischev signs something — a contract at BKMA or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at BKMA, another week without a signature from Duarte Furtado.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around BKMA people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Edgar Piloyan 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 had been thinking. Dmitry Lavrischev 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 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.
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 Andranik Hakobyan is on it.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Laurenţiu Brănescu has written the date down.
21 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. BKMA lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at BKMA 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; BKMA are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
The phone has started ringing about Ruben Abrahamyan again, and this time the name on the line is Van. BKMA are listening politely and promising nothing.
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 at BKMA 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.
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.
A season-long look at somebody else’s player: Kevin Pereira arrives from Van with something to prove and a return ticket in the drawer. Good loans make everybody richer; this one starts Saturday.
28 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. BKMA lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. BKMA have done the hard part with Van, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Ararat Sarkisov has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Stanislav Ruban was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A season-long look at somebody else’s player: Joseph Sabobo arrives from Alashkert with something to prove and a return ticket in the drawer. Good loans make everybody richer; this one starts Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dmitry Lavrischev was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Ararat-Armenia have kept their man, and BKMA go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at BKMA, another week without a signature from Dmitry Lavrischev.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Dmitry Lavrischev signs something — a contract at BKMA or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The registration window is open and the phone has started. Between now and the deadline this club will be linked with forty players and sign three, which is the usual ratio.
A new face in his position, and Vardan Tovmasyan suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. BKMA have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
Edgar Piloyan 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 had been thinking. Dmitry Lavrischev 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Stanislav Ruban 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at BKMA this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
At 18 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artur Askaryan 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.
Nobody at BKMA 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Lavrischev 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 academy exists for exactly this morning. Robert Haroyan has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at BKMA, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
Edgar Piloyan 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.
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.
Edgar Piloyan 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 BKMA 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 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.
It is the least glamorous business a club does and the reason seasons do not collapse in February. Arthur Baggio is here for the weeks when three men are injured and somebody still has to play.
Nobody at BKMA 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.
Argishti Petrosyan 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 had been thinking. Artur Askaryan 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 conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Laurenţiu Brănescu has written the date down.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on Gor Arakelyan
Edgar Piloyan 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 had been thinking. Taha Balcı 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Karen Hovhannisyan is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. David Mkhitaryan has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at BKMA, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Edgar Piloyan 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 Taha Balcı was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at BKMA, another week without a signature from Dmitry Lavrischev.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Dmitry Lavrischev trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nobody at BKMA 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at BKMA 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Taha Balcı 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.
Edgar Piloyan 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 had been thinking. Taha Balcı 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.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Karen Hovhannisyan has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Squad12 Oct 2026
15 new faces, and BKMA 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Dmitry Lavrischev signs something — a contract at BKMA or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at BKMA. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. BKMA will quote 14 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Edgar Piloyan 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.
Argishti Petrosyan 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 had been thinking. Taha Balcı 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 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Taha Balcı 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.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at BKMA. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Edgar Piloyan 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Taha Balcı 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
15 new faces, and BKMA 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at BKMA, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at BKMA, another week without a signature from Jamal Dibirgadjiev.
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
BKMA close the window on a squad of their own making
28 in and 0 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.
Edgar Piloyan 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.
BKMA ran out of time with Alashkert. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Taha Balcı was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
BKMA asked and Alashkert 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 demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Michel Ayvazyan is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
The offer from Minsk for Laurenţiu Brănescu 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 clubs have shaken hands with Alashkert; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
This is not cover and nobody is pretending it is. $450.0K has been paid because Patrick Handzongo is straightforwardly better than what was already here, and the club has decided to stop waiting.
Argishti Petrosyan 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.
$60.0K was the most the club would pay and Gandzasar 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.
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: Patrick Handzongo from Ararat for $450.0K, and a ticket office having a very good morning.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Taha Balcı 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 shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. BKMA will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at BKMA has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
Ararat have accepted the money. What BKMA do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Argishti Petrosyan 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.
BKMA offered $77.0K; 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.
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 supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
114 minutes played. Narek Hovhannisyan found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Gandzasar went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
BKMA have gone to Gandzasar 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.
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: Edgar Piloyan from Alashkert for $1.3M, and a ticket office having a very good morning.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Gandzasar have kept their man, and BKMA go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
He is 20 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.
The offer went to Alashkert 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.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Vardan Tovmasyan has just signed for BKMA, and for once the answer mattered.
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Argishti Petrosyan 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 decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Oleg Novikov and BKMA agree another 1 years.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Taha Balcı 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.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Dmitry Lavrischev is living that version at BKMA, and it tends to show in the first month.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at BKMA this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dmitry Lavrischev 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.