BKMA U20

21 Mar 2029
Wednesday
Process
138 Edition

The BKMA Herald

19 Mar 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Michael Pulisic puts it in writing

“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 The request is on a desk at BKMA, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Petik Manukyan in a row with a teammate

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.

Squad

BKMA count the cost of losing Ilja Molteninov

64 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.

Player ratings

Andranik Hakobyan shuts the door

Defensive actions: 19, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Grenik Petrosyan

Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Player ratings

Petik Manukyan takes the honours

Marked 7.72 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, BKMA had the best player on the pitch.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Poghos Krmzyan

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Squad

Argishti Petrosyan asks for a word with the manager

“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.

Match

BKMA and Urartu cancel each other out

Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Urartu came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.

In brief

Back issues
137 Edition

The BKMA Herald

12 Mar 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Tempers go at BKMA

Petik Manukyan 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.

Match

Shirak take the points off BKMA

Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Danny Amankwaa

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Player ratings

Franco Daranno runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Sargis Mkhitaryan signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Sargis Mkhitaryan and BKMA agree another 4 years.

Market

Talks stall between BKMA and Alyosha Khachatryan

“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.

Player ratings

The one thing Matvey Burlakov could not do

Shots: 6, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.

Player ratings

Grenik Petrosyan keeps on missing

Shots: 5, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.

Market

Nobody at BKMA has picked up the phone to Seryozha Urushanyan

24 months to run and not a word offered. A club that lets the calendar negotiate for it usually ends up losing to the calendar.

In brief

136 Edition

The BKMA Herald

5 Mar 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

The terraces

The boos come down from three sides

“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 7 of the 31 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.

Squad

Gor Arakelyan signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Gor Arakelyan and BKMA agree another 4 years.

Squad

Petik Manukyan in a row with a teammate

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.

Market

As if he never left: Narek Movsisyan returns

Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Narek Movsisyan is a BKMA player again, and the town has its story of the summer.

Market

Grigor Haroyan is a BKMA player again

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.

Market

As if he never left: Artak Hakobyan returns

Some transfers need a press campaign. This one needed a shirt with the old number on it. Artak Hakobyan is a BKMA player again, and the town has its story of the summer.

Market

Petros Mkhitaryan is a BKMA player again

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.

Match

Alashkert take the points off BKMA

Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Player ratings

Grenik Petrosyan runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

In brief

135 Edition

The BKMA Herald

26 Feb 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Tempers go at BKMA

Petik Manukyan 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.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Ole-Monrad Alme

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Boardroom

BKMA counting the cost

The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at BKMA now.

In brief

134 Edition

The BKMA Herald

19 Feb 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Michael Pulisic puts it in writing

“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.

Squad

Petik Manukyan in a row with a teammate

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.

Squad

Ilja Molteninov out for 94 days

The medical room confirms 94 days on the sidelines for Ilja Molteninov, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

Squad

No hiding place for Gor Arakelyan

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gor Arakelyan, and the manager let it.

Market

The Petik Manukyan question follows BKMA around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Petik Manukyan’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

Squad

Ole-Monrad Alme asks for a word with the manager

“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.

In brief

133 Edition

The BKMA Herald

12 Feb 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Gor Arakelyan in a row with a teammate

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.

Squad

BKMA count the cost of losing Franciszek Antkiewicz

23 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Arwin Javad

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

In brief

132 Edition

The BKMA Herald

5 Feb 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Boardroom

Pressure builds in the BKMA boardroom

The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.

Boardroom

BKMA put Interim Coach on notice

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.

Market

Only the photograph left for Filip Valenčič

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Filip Valenčič will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around BKMA the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Petik Manukyan in a row with a teammate

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.

Squad

Danny Amankwaa signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Danny Amankwaa commits to BKMA for another 2 years.

Squad

Michael Pulisic wants to go home

“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.

Squad

The academy watches Argishti Petrosyan sit

36 years old, every age group at this club behind him, and a borrowed player of much the same standard in front of him every Saturday. The parents in the stand have noticed, and so has every kid below him.

Market

The clock does Petik Manukyan’s negotiating for him

6 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee BKMA could ask drops and the wages Petik Manukyan can ask rise.

Market

The window shut and Petik Manukyan is still in the building

BKMA spent a month trying to move him and nobody rang back. He trains with a squad that has told him where he stands, and both sides start counting down to the next one.

In brief

  • Market BKMA shop where it costs nothing
  • Boardroom BKMA answer back
131 Edition

The BKMA Herald

29 Jan 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Tempers go at BKMA

Petik Manukyan 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.

Boardroom

BKMA counting the cost

The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at BKMA now.

Market

Gor Arakelyan linked with a move away

The name of Gor Arakelyan keeps appearing in other people's back pages. BKMA say nothing, which says plenty.

Squad

Somebody is after Franco Daranno’s shirt

A new face in his position, and Franco Daranno suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. BKMA have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.

Market

Grigor Nikoghosyan joins BKMA on a free

No fee and no drama: Grigor Nikoghosyan has signed at BKMA, and the wage bill is the only line that moved.

Market

Grigor Nikoghosyan leaves for nothing

Contract settled, hands shaken, no fee changing hands. Grigor Nikoghosyan leaves BKMA the quiet way, and the wage bill breathes a little easier.

In brief

130 Edition

The BKMA Herald

22 Jan 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Michael Pulisic asks to leave BKMA

“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.

Squad

Petik Manukyan in a row with a teammate

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.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Poghos Krmzyan

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Market

The Petik Manukyan question follows BKMA around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Petik Manukyan’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

Market

Filip Valenčič runs his contract down

1 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs BKMA money.

Boardroom

The BKMA production line keeps running

10 graduates out of an academy now rated 9 out of 20. Clubs this size survive on exactly that, and the town knows every name.

In brief

129 Edition

The BKMA Herald

15 Jan 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Tempers go at BKMA

Petik Manukyan 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.

Squad

BKMA count the cost of losing Franciszek Antkiewicz

52 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.

Market

Gandzasar are about to pick up the phone

A conversation is coming this week. BKMA will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.

In brief

128 Edition

The BKMA Herald

8 Jan 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Boardroom

The silence upstairs is getting loud at BKMA

Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.

Boardroom

BKMA put Interim Coach on notice

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.

Market

BKMA say no — this time

The offer from Ararat-Armenia for Petik Manukyan 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.

Market

Only the photograph left for Filip Valenčič

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Filip Valenčič will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around BKMA the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Petik Manukyan in a row with a teammate

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.

Squad

BKMA lose Eryk Szymański

16 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Ole-Monrad Alme

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Squad

The academy watches Alyosha Khachatryan sit

22 years old, every age group at this club behind him, and a borrowed player of much the same standard in front of him every Saturday. The parents in the stand have noticed, and so has every kid below him.

Market

The clock does Petik Manukyan’s negotiating for him

7 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee BKMA could ask drops and the wages Petik Manukyan can ask rise.

In brief

127 Edition

The BKMA Herald

1 Jan 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Ole-Monrad Alme keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” BKMA may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

The season belongs to Andranik Hakobyan

An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and BKMA have had the benefit of it.

Market

Piotr Rogala asks to leave BKMA

“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.

Squad

Tempers go at BKMA

Petik Manukyan 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.

Squad

No hiding place for Gor Arakelyan

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gor Arakelyan, and the manager let it.

Boardroom

BKMA counting the cost

The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at BKMA now.

In brief

126 Edition

The BKMA Herald

25 Dec 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Tempers go at BKMA

Gor Arakelyan 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.

Squad

Poghos Krmzyan gets it from the manager

“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.

Squad

Gor Arakelyan asks for a word with the manager

“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.

In brief

125 Edition

The BKMA Herald

18 Dec 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Franco Daranno in a row with a teammate

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.

Squad

BKMA lose Franciszek Antkiewicz

81 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

Squad

Poghos Krmzyan knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Poghos Krmzyan trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

In brief

124 Edition

The BKMA Herald

11 Dec 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Boardroom

Pressure builds in the BKMA boardroom

The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.

Squad

Petik Manukyan in a row with a teammate

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.

Squad

Michael Pulisic still has not settled

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.

In brief

123 Edition

The BKMA Herald

4 Dec 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Boardroom

BKMA spell it out for Interim Coach

The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Interim Coach has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.

Market

Michael Pulisic hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what BKMA can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Argishti Petrosyan stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Argishti Petrosyan and BKMA agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Tempers go at BKMA

Petik Manukyan 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.

Squad

Ole-Monrad Alme gets it from the manager

“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.

Squad

Miguel González wants to go home

“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.

In brief

122 Edition

The BKMA Herald

27 Nov 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Petik Manukyan in a row with a teammate

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.

Squad

Franciszek Antkiewicz signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Franciszek Antkiewicz commits to BKMA for another 3 years.

Squad

Poghos Krmzyan gets it from the manager

“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.

Market

The Petik Manukyan question follows BKMA around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Petik Manukyan’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

Squad

Alyosha Khachatryan knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Alyosha Khachatryan trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

Market

Still no ink between BKMA and Mateusz Mikulski

“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 Mateusz Mikulski.

In brief

  • Market The clock does Filip Valenčič’s negotiating for him
  • Boardroom The BKMA production line keeps running
121 Edition

The BKMA Herald

20 Nov 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

The season belongs to Andranik Hakobyan

An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and BKMA have had the benefit of it.

Squad

Tempers go at BKMA

Petik Manukyan 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.

Squad

BKMA lose Franciszek Antkiewicz

110 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

In brief

120 Edition

The BKMA Herald

13 Nov 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Boardroom

The silence upstairs is getting loud at BKMA

Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.

Squad

Petik Manukyan in a row with a teammate

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.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Gor Arakelyan

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

In brief

119 Edition

The BKMA Herald

6 Nov 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Boardroom

Interim Coach has until the next board meeting

What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at BKMA can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.

Squad

Franco Daranno in a row with a teammate

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.

Squad

Arwin Javad gets it from the manager

“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.

Boardroom

BKMA counting the cost

The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at BKMA now.

Squad

Gor Arakelyan knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Gor Arakelyan trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

Market

Gor Arakelyan linked with a move away

The name of Gor Arakelyan keeps appearing in other people's back pages. BKMA say nothing, which says plenty.

In brief

118 Edition

The BKMA Herald

30 Oct 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Petik Manukyan in a row with a teammate

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.

Squad

No hiding place for Piotr Rogala

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Piotr Rogala, and the manager let it.

Market

The Petik Manukyan question follows BKMA around

Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Petik Manukyan’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.

In brief

117 Edition

The BKMA Herald

23 Oct 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Tempers go at BKMA

Petik Manukyan 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.

Squad

Poghos Krmzyan stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Poghos Krmzyan and BKMA agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

František Vodička out for 19 days

The medical room confirms 19 days on the sidelines for František Vodička, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

In brief

116 Edition

The BKMA Herald

16 Oct 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Boardroom

The silence upstairs is getting loud at BKMA

Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.

Squad

Petik Manukyan in a row with a teammate

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.

Boardroom

Wages eat 91% of everything BKMA earn

There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.

In brief

115 Edition

The BKMA Herald

9 Oct 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Miguel González hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what BKMA can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Tempers go at BKMA

Petik Manukyan 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.

Squad

Ole-Monrad Alme signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ole-Monrad Alme and BKMA agree another 2 years.

In brief

114 Edition

The BKMA Herald

2 Oct 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Boardroom

BKMA spell it out for Interim Coach

The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Interim Coach has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.

Squad

Petik Manukyan in a row with a teammate

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.

Squad

Ole-Monrad Alme stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Ole-Monrad Alme and BKMA agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Home is on Miguel González's mind

“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.

Market

Still no ink between BKMA and Alyosha Khachatryan

“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 Alyosha Khachatryan.

Squad

BKMA’s own kid cannot get a game

At 35, Argishti Petrosyan has come through every age group this club has, and now watches a borrowed player of much the same level start every week. An academy notices these things, and so do the parents in the stand.

In brief

113 Edition

The BKMA Herald

25 Sep 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Ivan Sanko says BKMA went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Squad

Tempers go at BKMA

Petik Manukyan 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.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Gor Arakelyan

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

In brief

112 Edition

The BKMA Herald

18 Sep 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Boardroom

The scrutiny sharpens at BKMA

Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at BKMA is running low.

Squad

Tempers go at BKMA

Franco Daranno 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.

Boardroom

Wages eat 125% of everything BKMA earn

There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.

In brief

111 Edition

The BKMA Herald

11 Sep 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

The Gandzasar deal is off

Everything was agreed until it was not, and Ilja Molteninov reports back to BKMA with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.

Squad

Petik Manukyan in a row with a teammate

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.

Player ratings

Petik Manukyan in the eights

A performance of 8.49 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Loan watch

Alyosha Khachatryan has seen enough of Ararat-Armenia

“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 BKMA, and 0 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Filip Valenčič

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Squad

Grenik Petrosyan knocks on the manager's door

“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.

In brief

110 Edition

The BKMA Herald

4 Sep 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Boardroom

BKMA put Interim Coach on notice

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.

Squad

Argishti Petrosyan in a row with a teammate

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.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Ole-Monrad Alme

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Market

Gandzasar are about to pick up the phone

A conversation is coming this week. BKMA will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.

Boardroom

BKMA counting the cost

The accounts make uncomfortable reading. Wages first and ambition second is the order of business at BKMA now.

Squad

Grenik Petrosyan knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Grenik Petrosyan trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

Market

The Petik Manukyan talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. BKMA know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

Squad

International call for Gor Arakelyan

Gor Arakelyan joins up with his country. BKMA lose him for the window and would like him back in one piece.

Market

The window shut and Petik Manukyan is still in the building

BKMA spent a month trying to move him and nobody rang back. He trains with a squad that has told him where he stands, and both sides start counting down to the next one.

In brief

  • Market Still no signature from Filip Valenčič
  • Boardroom The BKMA dressing room answers
  • Boardroom BKMA keep producing them
109 Edition

The BKMA Herald

28 Aug 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Petik Manukyan hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what BKMA can pretend not to have heard.

Market

Ilja Molteninov has one foot out of the door

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.

Squad

Tempers go at BKMA

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.

In brief

108 Edition

The BKMA Herald

21 Aug 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Boardroom

Pressure builds in the BKMA boardroom

The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.

Market

Filip Valenčič hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what BKMA can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Argishti Petrosyan in a row with a teammate

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.

Squad

Piotr Rogala gets it from the manager

“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.

Boardroom

Wages eat 104% of everything BKMA earn

There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.

Squad

Somebody is after Mathias Kristensen’s shirt

A new face in his position, and Mathias Kristensen suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. BKMA have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.

In brief

107 Edition

The BKMA Herald

14 Aug 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

František Vodička asks to leave BKMA

“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.

Squad

Tempers go at BKMA

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.

Loan watch

Alyosha Khachatryan wants to come home

“I did not go to Ararat-Armenia to sit and watch. I want to come back to BKMA and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 9 matches say the rest.

Squad

No hiding place for Filip Valenčič

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Filip Valenčič, and the manager let it.

Squad

Petik Manukyan asks for a word with the manager

“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.

Market

The Gor Arakelyan story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Gor Arakelyan signs something — a contract at BKMA or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

In brief

106 Edition

The BKMA Herald

7 Aug 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Boardroom

BKMA put Interim Coach on notice

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.

Squad

Seryozha Urushanyan keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” BKMA may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Market

Miguel González asks to leave BKMA

“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.

Squad

Argishti Petrosyan in a row with a teammate

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.

Squad

Arwin Javad stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Arwin Javad and BKMA agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

No hiding place for Gor Arakelyan

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gor Arakelyan, and the manager let it.

Market

Nobody at BKMA has picked up the phone to Piotr Rogala

24 months to run and not a word offered. A club that lets the calendar negotiate for it usually ends up losing to the calendar.

Market

The Petik Manukyan talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. BKMA know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

Market

Still no signature from Filip Valenčič

7 months left and the two sides are nowhere near each other. Every week this drags on takes money off what BKMA could get for him.

In brief

  • Boardroom The BKMA dressing room answers
  • Boardroom BKMA keep producing them
105 Edition

The BKMA Herald

31 Jul 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Petik Manukyan hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what BKMA can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Miguel González: that is not what I was promised

“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.

Squad

Tempers go at BKMA

Gor Arakelyan 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.

In brief

104 Edition

The BKMA Herald

24 Jul 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Boardroom

The scrutiny sharpens at BKMA

Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at BKMA is running low.

Market

Filip Valenčič hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what BKMA can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Filip Valenčič: that is not what I was promised

“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.

Squad

Argishti Petrosyan in a row with a teammate

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.

Boardroom

139% of the income goes out in wages at BKMA

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.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Grenik Petrosyan

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

In brief

103 Edition

The BKMA Herald

17 Jul 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

BKMA turn down Gandzasar for Ilja Molteninov

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Squad

Tempers go at BKMA

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.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Arwin Javad

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Loan watch

Alyosha Khachatryan counts the days

“I watch every BKMA game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Ararat-Armenia runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.

Squad

Grenik Petrosyan knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Grenik Petrosyan trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

Market

The Gor Arakelyan story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Gor Arakelyan signs something — a contract at BKMA or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

In brief

102 Edition

The BKMA Herald

10 Jul 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Argishti Petrosyan in a row with a teammate

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.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Gagik Akulyan

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Squad

Edú Azañero knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Edú Azañero trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

Market

The Petik Manukyan talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. BKMA know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

Squad

Somebody is after Gor Arakelyan’s shirt

A new face in his position, and Gor Arakelyan suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. BKMA have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.

Market

BKMA and Yegor Burkhin are talking past each other

“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.

In brief

101 Edition

The BKMA Herald

3 Jul 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Boardroom

BKMA spell it out for Interim Coach

The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Interim Coach has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.

Market

Petik Manukyan asks to leave BKMA

“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.

Squad

Tempers go at BKMA

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.

Player ratings

Andranik Hakobyan in the eights

A performance of 9.20 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

Grenik Petrosyan runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Match

Andranik Hakobyan the difference as BKMA beat Noah

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Andranik Hakobyan. 2‑1 against Noah, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Player ratings

Esat Mala in the eights

A performance of 8.46 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Squad

Danny Amankwaa signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Danny Amankwaa commits to BKMA for another 2 years.

Squad

Edú Azañero gets it from the manager

“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.

In brief

100 Edition

The BKMA Herald

26 Jun 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Player ratings

Daniel Bolívar runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 31. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Boardroom

The silence upstairs is getting loud at BKMA

Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Ole-Monrad Alme

There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Market

Ilja Molteninov hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what BKMA can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Argishti Petrosyan in a row with a teammate

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.

Match

BKMA find a way past Van

Van made BKMA work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Ilja Molteninov

Marked 8.14 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Player ratings

Matvey Burlakov in the eights

A performance of 8.01 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

Andranik Hakobyan shuts the door

Defensive actions: 18, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.

In brief

99 Edition

The BKMA Herald

19 Jun 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Ole-Monrad Alme

There were 10 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Match

The wait goes on for BKMA

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.

Squad

Tempers go at BKMA

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.

Squad

No hiding place for Matvey Burlakov

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Matvey Burlakov, and the manager let it.

Match

A bad afternoon for BKMA against Pyunik

0‑1 to Pyunik, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Player ratings

Daniel Bolívar runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Petik Manukyan knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Petik Manukyan trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

Market

The Gor Arakelyan story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Gor Arakelyan signs something — a contract at BKMA or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

Player ratings

Off the pace: Ilja Molteninov

A mark of 5.54 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.

In brief

98 Edition

The BKMA Herald

12 Jun 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Miguel González puts it in writing

“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.

Market

Sandro Mikautadze is a BKMA player again

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.

Squad

Argishti Petrosyan in a row with a teammate

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.

Player ratings

One of those days for Andranik Hakobyan

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.39, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Player ratings

Esat Mala runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Piotr Rogala gets it from the manager

“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.

Match

Andranik Hakobyan rescues a point for BKMA

It needed Andranik Hakobyan to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Gandzasar, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.

Squad

Gor Arakelyan asks for a word with the manager

“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.

Player ratings

Matvey Burlakov keeps on missing

Shots: 8, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.

In brief

97 Edition

The BKMA Herald

5 Jun 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Narek Hovhannisyan

Successful dribbles: 41. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Boardroom

BKMA put Interim Coach on notice

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.

Market

Petik Manukyan hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what BKMA can pretend not to have heard.

Market

Ararat-Armenia join the queue for Narek Hovhannisyan

Add another name to the list: Ararat-Armenia have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Narek Hovhannisyan. The answer from BKMA has not changed — yet.

Squad

Tempers go at BKMA

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.

Squad

Argishti Petrosyan gets it from the manager

“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.

Match

BKMA come up short against Ararat

Ararat left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Market

Ararat-Armenia are about to pick up the phone

A conversation is coming this week. BKMA will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.

Squad

Narek Hovhannisyan named player of the month

The award goes to Narek Hovhannisyan, and nobody around here is inclined to argue with the choice.

In brief

96 Edition

The BKMA Herald

29 May 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Argishti Petrosyan: that is not what I was promised

“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.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Narek Hovhannisyan

Successful dribbles: 29. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Boardroom

The scrutiny sharpens at BKMA

Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at BKMA is running low.

Squad

BKMA lose Mathias Kristensen

33 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

Squad

Argishti Petrosyan in a row with a teammate

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.

Squad

Florjan Përgjoni gets it from the manager

“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.

In brief

95 Edition

The BKMA Herald

22 May 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Narek Hovhannisyan puts it in writing

“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.

Squad

Tempers go at BKMA

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.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Narek Hovhannisyan

Marked 8.83 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Match

Narek Hovhannisyan the difference as BKMA beat Urartu

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Narek Hovhannisyan. 2‑0 against Urartu, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Matvey Burlakov

Marked 8.43 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Franco Daranno

Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Player ratings

Petik Manukyan shuts the door

Defensive actions: 15, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.

Squad

Arwin Javad gets it from the manager

“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.

Squad

Argishti Petrosyan is not enjoying his job description

Played out of position, hooked on the hour, asked to be somebody he is not — the details vary and the mood does not. BKMA have a player doing his work under protest.

In brief

94 Edition

The BKMA Herald

15 May 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

Player ratings

Narek Hovhannisyan runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 26. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Argishti Petrosyan in a row with a teammate

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.

Match

Shirak take the points off BKMA

Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Squad

No hiding place for Daniel Bolívar

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Daniel Bolívar, and the manager let it.

Squad

Franco Daranno still has not settled

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.

Market

Gor Arakelyan linked with a move away

The name of Gor Arakelyan keeps appearing in other people's back pages. BKMA say nothing, which says plenty.

Player ratings

Daniel Bolívar never got going

5.69 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.

Player ratings

A day to forget for Filip Valenčič

Marked 5.73, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.

Squad

Ole-Monrad Alme knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ole-Monrad Alme trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

In brief

93 Edition

The BKMA Herald

8 May 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Petik Manukyan puts it in writing

“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.

Player ratings

Daniel Bolívar runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 28. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Argishti Petrosyan signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Argishti Petrosyan commits to BKMA for another 2 years.

Squad

Tempers go at BKMA

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.

Match

BKMA see off Alashkert

Three points for BKMA, 2‑1 the final word against Alashkert in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Squad

Argishti Petrosyan gets it from the manager

“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.

Player ratings

One of those days for Matvey Burlakov

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.49, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Squad

Narek Hovhannisyan named player of the month

The award goes to Narek Hovhannisyan, and nobody around here is inclined to argue with the choice.

Market

Petik Manukyan linked with a move away

The name of Petik Manukyan keeps appearing in other people's back pages. BKMA say nothing, which says plenty.

In brief

92 Edition

The BKMA Herald

1 May 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Boardroom

The silence upstairs is getting loud at BKMA

Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.

Match

No end in sight to BKMA's wait for a win

5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at BKMA has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

Mathias Kristensen out for 61 days

The medical room confirms 61 days on the sidelines for Mathias Kristensen, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

Player ratings

Daniel Bolívar runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Argishti Petrosyan in a row with a teammate

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.

Squad

No hiding place for Florjan Përgjoni

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Florjan Përgjoni, and the manager let it.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Matvey Burlakov

Marked 8.37 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Boardroom

Wages eat 102% of everything BKMA earn

There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.

Match

Matvey Burlakov rescues a point for BKMA

It needed Matvey Burlakov to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Noah, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.

In brief

91 Edition

The BKMA Herald

24 Apr 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Narek Hovhannisyan puts it in writing

“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.

Match

The wait goes on for BKMA

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.

Player ratings

Daniel Bolívar runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Tempers go at BKMA

Franco Daranno 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.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Matvey Burlakov

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Match

A bad afternoon for BKMA against Van

0‑1 to Van, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad

Petik Manukyan knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Petik Manukyan trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

Player ratings

The one thing Ilja Molteninov could not do

Shots: 7, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.

Player ratings

Matvey Burlakov never got going

5.64 on the card. Some afternoons a footballer looks like a man who has only just been introduced to the game, and this was one of them.

In brief

90 Edition

The BKMA Herald

17 Apr 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Eryk Szymański keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” BKMA may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Argishti Petrosyan in a row with a teammate

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.

Player ratings

Narek Hovhannisyan runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Daniel Bolívar

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Match

BKMA and Pyunik cancel each other out

Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Pyunik came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.

Market

Gor Arakelyan linked with a move away

The name of Gor Arakelyan keeps appearing in other people's back pages. BKMA say nothing, which says plenty.

In brief

89 Edition

The BKMA Herald

10 Apr 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

BKMA bow out of the cup

Gandzasar go through and BKMA go home, 1‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.

Squad

Grenik Petrosyan says BKMA went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Match

BKMA up to position 3

9 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.

Player ratings

Grenik Petrosyan runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Tempers go at BKMA

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.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Gor Arakelyan

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Matvey Burlakov

Marked 8.13 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Squad

Edú Azañero lets one through his hands

A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.

Loan watch

Davit Davtyan wants to come home

“I did not go to Ararat-Armenia to sit and watch. I want to come back to BKMA and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 13 matches say the rest.

In brief

88 Edition

The BKMA Herald

3 Apr 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Petik Manukyan asks to leave BKMA

“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.

Squad

Mathias Kristensen out for 90 days

The medical room confirms 90 days on the sidelines for Mathias Kristensen, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

Squad

Argishti Petrosyan in a row with a teammate

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.

Squad

Argishti Petrosyan gets it from the manager

“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.

Match

Ilja Molteninov the difference as BKMA beat Ararat

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Ilja Molteninov. 1‑0 against Ararat, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Player ratings

Narek Hovhannisyan runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

In brief

87 Edition

The BKMA Herald

27 Mar 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Narek Hovhannisyan asks to leave BKMA

“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.

Squad

Gagik Akulyan says BKMA went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Player ratings

Grenik Petrosyan runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Tempers go at BKMA

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.

Match

A bad afternoon for BKMA against Ararat-Armenia

0‑1 to Ararat-Armenia, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad

Ole-Monrad Alme gets it from the manager

“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.

In brief

86 Edition

The BKMA Herald

20 Mar 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Daniel Bolívar: that is not what I was promised

“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.

Player ratings

A defender's afternoon for Petik Manukyan

Defensive actions: 23. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

Squad

Argishti Petrosyan in a row with a teammate

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.

Squad

Esat Mala out for 38 days

The medical room confirms 38 days on the sidelines for Esat Mala, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Franco Daranno

Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

No hiding place for Florjan Përgjoni

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Florjan Përgjoni, and the manager let it.

Player ratings

A defender's afternoon for Andranik Hakobyan

Defensive actions: 15. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

Match

Point won or two lost for BKMA?

Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Urartu? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.

Market

Gor Arakelyan linked with a move away

The name of Gor Arakelyan keeps appearing in other people's back pages. BKMA say nothing, which says plenty.

In brief

85 Edition

The BKMA Herald

13 Mar 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Tempers go at BKMA

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.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Franco Daranno

Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Gor Arakelyan

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Player ratings

Daniel Bolívar in the eights

A performance of 8.03 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Loan watch

Davit Davtyan has seen enough of Ararat-Armenia

“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 BKMA, and 0 appearances in 9 say he has earned the hearing.

Match

BKMA and Shirak take a point apiece

It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.

Squad

Daniel Bolívar finally opens his account

He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. BKMA have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.

Squad

Artur Askaryan makes his debut at 21

At 21 years old, Artur Askaryan became the latest name off the academy production line to be handed a senior shirt.

Market

Petik Manukyan linked with a move away

The name of Petik Manukyan keeps appearing in other people's back pages. BKMA say nothing, which says plenty.

In brief

84 Edition

The BKMA Herald

6 Mar 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Boardroom

The interim tag comes off Interim Coach

BKMA interviewed the field and appointed the corridor: Interim Coach keeps the job he had been doing in all but title. Sometimes the safest pair of hands is the one already holding the wheel.

Market

Petik Manukyan hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what BKMA can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Mathias Kristensen out for 119 days

The medical room confirms 119 days on the sidelines for Mathias Kristensen, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

Squad

Daniel Bolívar signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Daniel Bolívar commits to BKMA for another 4 years.

Market

Artak Karapetyan is a BKMA player again

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.

Market

Narek Hakobyan comes home

The shirt still fits. Narek Hakobyan is back at BKMA, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.

Market

Levon Hovhannisyan is a BKMA player again

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.

Squad

Gor Arakelyan in a row with a teammate

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.

Match

Petik Manukyan sends BKMA past Alashkert

It finished 2‑1, and it was Petik Manukyan’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to BKMA.

In brief

83 Edition

The BKMA Herald

28 Feb 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Tempers go at BKMA

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.

Squad

Narek Hovhannisyan asks for a word with the manager

“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.

Squad

Questions about Piotr Rogala on the training pitch

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.

In brief

82 Edition

The BKMA Herald

21 Feb 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

BKMA count the cost of losing Esat Mala

68 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.

Squad

Argishti Petrosyan in a row with a teammate

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.

Squad

No hiding place for Petik Manukyan

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Petik Manukyan, and the manager let it.

In brief

81 Edition

The BKMA Herald

14 Feb 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

BKMA sink to position 10

12 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.

Squad

Eryk Szymański: that is not what I was promised

“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.

Squad

Tempers go at BKMA

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.

Boardroom

Still no name above the door at BKMA

Day 13 of the vacancy. Candidates have been priced, sounded out and quietly ruled out — and the caretaker’s win ratio is becoming an argument all by itself.

Loan watch

Davit Davtyan counts the days

“I watch every BKMA game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Ararat-Armenia runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.

Squad

Petik Manukyan knocks on the manager's door

“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.

In brief

80 Edition

The BKMA Herald

7 Feb 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Boardroom

BKMA part company with Adriano Pasquali

The statement thanked him for his efforts and wished him well, in that order and in about that many words. The search begins immediately.

Boardroom

Interim Coach minds the shop at BKMA

“I am not thinking past Saturday, and I would advise nobody else to.” The caretaker’s first rule is to pretend the job is small; Interim Coach recited it perfectly.

Squad

BKMA lose Mathias Kristensen

148 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

Squad

Poghos Krmzyan keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” BKMA may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Argishti Petrosyan in a row with a teammate

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.

Squad

Mathias Kristensen knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Mathias Kristensen trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

In brief

79 Edition

The BKMA Herald

31 Jan 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Tempers go at BKMA

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.

Squad

Daniel Bolívar knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Daniel Bolívar trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

Squad

No hiding place for Poghos Krmzyan

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Poghos Krmzyan, and the manager let it.

In brief

78 Edition

The BKMA Herald

24 Jan 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Narek Hovhannisyan hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what BKMA can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

BKMA lose Esat Mala

96 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

Squad

Argishti Petrosyan in a row with a teammate

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.

In brief

77 Edition

The BKMA Herald

17 Jan 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

BKMA sink to position 10

12 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.

Market

Pyunik watching Narek Hovhannisyan

The interest is real enough to have reached print. BKMA have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.

Squad

Tempers go at BKMA

Franco Daranno 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.

Squad

Filip Valenčič out for 14 days

The medical room confirms 14 days on the sidelines for Filip Valenčič, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

Squad

Narek Hovhannisyan asks for a word with the manager

“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.

Market

Still no ink between BKMA and Piotr Rogala

“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 Piotr Rogala.

In brief

76 Edition

The BKMA Herald

10 Jan 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

Boardroom

The silence upstairs is getting loud at BKMA

Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.

Market

Edú Azañero asks to leave BKMA

“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.

Squad

Eryk Szymański: that is not what I was promised

“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.

Market

Pyunik come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and BKMA did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Squad

Argishti Petrosyan in a row with a teammate

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.

Squad

Narek Hovhannisyan knocks on the manager's door

“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.

In brief

75 Edition

The BKMA Herald

3 Jan 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

Boardroom

BKMA spell it out for Adriano Pasquali

The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Adriano Pasquali has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.

Market

BKMA turn down Ararat for Narek Hovhannisyan

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Market

Gagik Akulyan hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what BKMA can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Argishti Petrosyan in a row with a teammate

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.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Petik Manukyan

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Market

Davit Davtyan attracts admirers

The name of Davit Davtyan has come up in conversations BKMA were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.

In brief

74 Edition

The BKMA Herald

27 Dec 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Narek Hovhannisyan asks to leave BKMA

“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.

Squad

Grenik Petrosyan: that is not what I was promised

“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.

Squad

Tempers go at BKMA

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.

In brief

73 Edition

The BKMA Herald

20 Dec 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

Every point is an argument now for BKMA

Position 10 and 12 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.

Squad

Argishti Petrosyan in a row with a teammate

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.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Poghos Krmzyan

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

In brief

72 Edition

The BKMA Herald

13 Dec 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Boardroom

The scrutiny sharpens at BKMA

Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at BKMA is running low.

Squad

Tempers go at BKMA

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.

Squad

Danny Amankwaa out for 17 days

The medical room confirms 17 days on the sidelines for Danny Amankwaa, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

In brief

71 Edition

The BKMA Herald

6 Dec 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Boardroom

Adriano Pasquali takes the BKMA job

“I have watched this squad. There is more in it than the table says.” First press conference, first promise — Adriano Pasquali made the one every new manager makes, and now comes the part where it gets checked.

Squad

Daniel Bolívar keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” BKMA may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Argishti Petrosyan in a row with a teammate

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.

Boardroom

BKMA pull $257.0K back off the table

The money that was there in the summer is not there now. Nobody upstairs calls this a change of ambition, and everybody downstairs reads it as one.

Market

BKMA and Alyosha Khachatryan are talking past each other

“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.

Market

The Esat Mala story refuses to die

It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Esat Mala signs something — a contract at BKMA or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.

In brief

70 Edition

The BKMA Herald

29 Nov 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Narek Hovhannisyan hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what BKMA can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Tempers go at BKMA

Franco Daranno 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.

Squad

BKMA lose Franciszek Antkiewicz

79 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.

In brief

69 Edition

The BKMA Herald

22 Nov 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

Every point is an argument now for BKMA

Position 10 and 12 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.

Squad

Argishti Petrosyan in a row with a teammate

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.

Squad

Narek Hovhannisyan knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Narek Hovhannisyan trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Edú Azañero

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Market

Gor Arakelyan linked with a move away

The name of Gor Arakelyan keeps appearing in other people's back pages. BKMA say nothing, which says plenty.

Market

Gagik Akulyan placed on the list

BKMA have made Gagik Akulyan available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.

In brief

68 Edition

The BKMA Herald

15 Nov 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Tempers go at BKMA

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.

Squad

Florjan Përgjoni out for 15 days

The medical room confirms 15 days on the sidelines for Florjan Përgjoni, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

Boardroom

Still no name above the door at BKMA

Day 14 of the vacancy. Candidates have been priced, sounded out and quietly ruled out — and the caretaker’s win ratio is becoming an argument all by itself.

In brief

67 Edition

The BKMA Herald

8 Nov 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Boardroom

BKMA run out of patience with David Barseghyan

The end came on a Tuesday, as these things usually do: a short meeting, a shorter statement, and David Barseghyan clearing his office by noon. Football’s cruellest ritual, performed to schedule.

Boardroom

Armen Hakobyan takes charge at BKMA

“Somebody has to pick the team on Saturday, and this week that is me.” An interim appointment with no promises attached, which is how most of them start.

Squad

Argishti Petrosyan in a row with a teammate

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.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Daniel Bolívar

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Squad

Petik Manukyan asks for a word with the manager

“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.

Boardroom

BKMA pull $257.0K back off the table

The money that was there in the summer is not there now. Nobody upstairs calls this a change of ambition, and everybody downstairs reads it as one.

In brief

66 Edition

The BKMA Herald

1 Nov 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Narek Hovhannisyan asks to leave BKMA

“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.

Squad

Tempers go at BKMA

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.

Squad

Franciszek Antkiewicz out for 109 days

The medical room confirms 109 days on the sidelines for Franciszek Antkiewicz, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

In brief

65 Edition

The BKMA Herald

25 Oct 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

BKMA sink to position 10

12 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.

Squad

Argishti Petrosyan in a row with a teammate

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.

Squad

Seryozha Urushanyan gets it from the manager

“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.

In brief

64 Edition

The BKMA Herald

18 Oct 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Seryozha Urushanyan says BKMA went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Squad

Florjan Përgjoni out for 44 days

The medical room confirms 44 days on the sidelines for Florjan Përgjoni, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

Squad

Tempers go at BKMA

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.

In brief

63 Edition

The BKMA Herald

11 Oct 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Boardroom

The silence upstairs is getting loud at BKMA

Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.

Squad

Tempers go at BKMA

Esat Mala 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.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Eryk Szymański

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

In brief

62 Edition

The BKMA Herald

4 Oct 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Boardroom

BKMA put David Barseghyan on notice

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.

Market

Narek Hovhannisyan hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what BKMA can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Argishti Petrosyan signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Argishti Petrosyan commits to BKMA for another 2 years.

In brief

61 Edition

The BKMA Herald

27 Sep 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

Every point is an argument now for BKMA

Position 10 and 12 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.

Squad

Argishti Petrosyan in a row with a teammate

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.

Squad

No hiding place for Arwin Javad

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Arwin Javad, and the manager let it.

In brief

60 Edition

The BKMA Herald

20 Sep 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Alyosha Khachatryan says BKMA went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Squad

Florjan Përgjoni out for 72 days

The medical room confirms 72 days on the sidelines for Florjan Përgjoni, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

Squad

Tempers go at BKMA

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.

In brief

59 Edition

The BKMA Herald

13 Sep 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Esat Mala asks to leave BKMA

“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.

Boardroom

The silence upstairs is getting loud at BKMA

Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.

Squad

Argishti Petrosyan in a row with a teammate

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.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Gor Arakelyan

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Squad

Ole-Monrad Alme knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ole-Monrad Alme trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

Squad

Argishti Petrosyan is doing the arithmetic

The table has started to be checked before the results are in, and that is always the tell. Nobody at BKMA says the word out loud, and everybody in the building is thinking it.

In brief

58 Edition

The BKMA Herald

6 Sep 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Boardroom

The interim tag comes off David Barseghyan

BKMA interviewed the field and appointed the corridor: David Barseghyan keeps the job he had been doing in all but title. Sometimes the safest pair of hands is the one already holding the wheel.

Market

Narek Hovhannisyan puts it in writing

“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.

Squad

Tempers go at BKMA

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.

Squad

Esat Mala loses the armband

The captaincy has been taken off Esat Mala. BKMA will call it a decision about the team; a dressing room reads it as a verdict on a man.

Squad

Gor Arakelyan asks for a word with the manager

“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.

Market

BKMA and Alyosha Khachatryan are talking past each other

“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.

In brief

57 Edition

The BKMA Herald

30 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

BKMA sink to position 10

12 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.

Squad

Seryozha Urushanyan says BKMA went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Squad

Argishti Petrosyan in a row with a teammate

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.

In brief

56 Edition

The BKMA Herald

23 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

BKMA count the cost of losing Florjan Përgjoni

100 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.

Squad

Tempers go at BKMA

Franco Daranno 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.

Squad

BKMA count the cost of losing Seryozha Urushanyan

66 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.

In brief

55 Edition

The BKMA Herald

16 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Esat Mala asks to leave BKMA

“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.

Squad

Ronaldinho Gramadense keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” BKMA may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Franco Daranno in a row with a teammate

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.

In brief

54 Edition

The BKMA Herald

9 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Narek Hovhannisyan puts it in writing

“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.

Market

BKMA say no — this time

The offer from Jubilo Iwata for Petik Manukyan 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.

Squad

Arwin Javad: that is not what I was promised

“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.

Squad

Tempers go at BKMA

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.

Boardroom

Still nobody in the BKMA dugout

8 days with the chair empty, a list of names that grows and shrinks by the day, and not one signature on anything. Every week that passes takes the best candidates off it.

Squad

No hiding place for Narek Hovhannisyan

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Narek Hovhannisyan, and the manager let it.

In brief

53 Edition

The BKMA Herald

2 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Boardroom

BKMA part company with Robert Simonyan

The statement thanked him for his efforts and wished him well, in that order and in about that many words. The search begins immediately.

Match

BKMA are in real trouble now

Position 10, 12 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.

Boardroom

Vahan Barseghyan minds the shop at BKMA

“I am not thinking past Saturday, and I would advise nobody else to.” The caretaker’s first rule is to pretend the job is small; Vahan Barseghyan recited it perfectly.

Squad

Argishti Petrosyan in a row with a teammate

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.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Ole-Monrad Alme

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Squad

Petik Manukyan knocks on the manager’s door

“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Petik Manukyan trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

In brief

52 Edition

The BKMA Herald

26 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Alyosha Khachatryan keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” BKMA may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Tempers go at BKMA

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.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Gor Arakelyan

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

In brief

51 Edition

The BKMA Herald

19 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Filip Valenčič says BKMA went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Market

Vladislav Dybin hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what BKMA can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Argishti Petrosyan in a row with a teammate

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.

In brief

50 Edition

The BKMA Herald

12 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Narek Hovhannisyan asks to leave BKMA

“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.

Squad

Tempers go at BKMA

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.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Daniel Bolívar

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Boardroom

124% of the income goes out in wages at BKMA

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.

Market

Petik Manukyan linked with a move away

The name of Petik Manukyan keeps appearing in other people's back pages. BKMA say nothing, which says plenty.

Market

Still no ink between BKMA and Ivan Sanko

“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 Ivan Sanko.

In brief

49 Edition

The BKMA Herald

5 Jul 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

14 matches without a win for BKMA

The run now stands at 14, and the questions being asked around BKMA are no longer polite ones.

Match

BKMA sink to position 10

12 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.

Boardroom

The silence upstairs is getting loud at BKMA

Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.

Boardroom

BKMA put Robert Simonyan on notice

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.

Squad

Franco Daranno in a row with a teammate

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.

Match

A bad afternoon for BKMA against Noah

0‑2 to Noah, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad

Filip Valenčič gets it from the manager

“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.

Squad

Franco Daranno loses the armband

The captaincy has been taken off Franco Daranno. BKMA will call it a decision about the team; a dressing room reads it as a verdict on a man.

Squad

Narek Hovhannisyan asks for a word with the manager

“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.

In brief

48 Edition

The BKMA Herald

28 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

No end in sight to BKMA's wait for a win

13 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at BKMA has to find a result from somewhere.

Market

Florjan Përgjoni hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what BKMA can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Petik Manukyan in a row with a teammate

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.

Player ratings

Daniel Bolívar runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

No hiding place for Mathias Kristensen

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mathias Kristensen, and the manager let it.

Match

A bad afternoon for BKMA against Van

0‑1 to Van, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad

Narek Hovhannisyan knocks on the manager's door

“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.

Market

Vladislav Dybin is free to find somewhere else

“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at BKMA has been clear about where Vladislav Dybin stands, which is more than many ever get.

Player ratings

Matvey Burlakov keeps on missing

Shots: 9, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.

In brief

47 Edition

The BKMA Herald

21 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

No end in sight to BKMA's wait for a win

12 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at BKMA has to find a result from somewhere.

Match

BKMA bow out of the cup

Ararat go through and BKMA go home, 1‑2 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.

Squad

Argishti Petrosyan in a row with a teammate

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.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Michel Ayvazyan

Marked 8.75 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Franco Daranno

Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Florjan Përgjoni

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

In brief

46 Edition

The BKMA Herald

14 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

The wait goes on for BKMA

10 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.

Market

Narek Hovhannisyan puts it in writing

“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.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Franco Daranno

Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Tempers go at BKMA

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.

Boardroom

Wages eat 131% of everything BKMA earn

There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.

Player ratings

One of those days for Matvey Burlakov

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.01, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Gor Arakelyan

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Squad

Costly mistake from Ole-Monrad Alme

An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Ole-Monrad Alme knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.

Match

BKMA and Gandzasar take a point apiece

It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.

In brief

45 Edition

The BKMA Herald

7 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

Every point is an argument now for BKMA

Position 9 and 10 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.

Match

The wait goes on for BKMA

9 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.

Boardroom

The silence upstairs is getting loud at BKMA

Nobody on the board has said anything against the manager, which is the point — they have stopped saying anything for him either.

Squad

Franco Daranno signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Franco Daranno and BKMA agree another 4 years.

Squad

Argishti Petrosyan in a row with a teammate

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.

Player ratings

Franco Daranno runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Match

BKMA come up short against Ararat

Ararat left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Squad

No hiding place for Matvey Burlakov

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Matvey Burlakov, and the manager let it.

Squad

Arwin Javad left out for the big one

A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Arwin Javad will call it something else in private.

In brief

44 Edition

The BKMA Herald

31 May 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

8 matches without a win for BKMA

The run now stands at 8, and the questions being asked around BKMA are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Tempers go at BKMA

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.

Match

Ararat-Armenia take the points off BKMA

Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Squad

Narek Hovhannisyan gets it from the manager

“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.

Player ratings

One of those days for Michel Ayvazyan

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.62, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Player ratings

Esat Mala runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 14. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

In brief

43 Edition

The BKMA Herald

24 May 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

No end in sight to BKMA's wait for a win

7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at BKMA has to find a result from somewhere.

Player ratings

A defender's afternoon for Petik Manukyan

Defensive actions: 23. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

Squad

Argishti Petrosyan in a row with a teammate

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.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Ronaldinho Gramadense

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Player ratings

Argishti Petrosyan stands above it all

Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.91 on the card, and the BKMA support went home talking about one name.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Daniel Bolívar

Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

In brief

42 Edition

The BKMA Herald

17 May 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Market

Narek Hovhannisyan hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what BKMA can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Ronaldinho Gramadense keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” BKMA may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Match

The wait goes on for BKMA

6 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.

Match

A bad afternoon for BKMA against Shirak

1‑2 to Shirak, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad

Esat Mala in a row with a teammate

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.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Esat Mala

Successful dribbles: 19. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

In brief

41 Edition

The BKMA Herald

10 May 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

BKMA are in real trouble now

Position 9, 9 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.

Match

No end in sight to BKMA's wait for a win

5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at BKMA has to find a result from somewhere.

Player ratings

Franco Daranno runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 25. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Tempers go at BKMA

Petik Manukyan 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.

Match

Arwin Javad’s goal not enough for BKMA

Arwin Javad scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Alashkert, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Mathias Kristensen

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Player ratings

Arwin Javad in the eights

A performance of 8.24 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Squad

Ronaldinho Gramadense knocks on the manager's door

“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.

Market

The Petik Manukyan talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. BKMA know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

In brief

40 Edition

The BKMA Herald

3 May 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Panagiotis Kyriakou keeps BKMA in it on his own

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.

Match

The wait goes on for BKMA

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.

Squad

Tempers go at BKMA

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.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Arwin Javad

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Narek Hovhannisyan

Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Petik Manukyan knocks on the manager's door

“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.

In brief

39 Edition

The BKMA Herald

26 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Filip Valenčič hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what BKMA can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Ole-Monrad Alme keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” BKMA may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Player ratings

Argishti Petrosyan shuts the door

Defensive actions: 23, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.

Squad

Argishti Petrosyan in a row with a teammate

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.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Michel Ayvazyan

Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

No hiding place for Matvey Burlakov

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Matvey Burlakov, and the manager let it.

In brief