From our football correspondent
Steady
Match23 Aug 2027
Noah up to position 2
45 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.
Market23 Aug 2027
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Noah have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The dugout23 Aug 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Noah may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Transfer targets23 Aug 2027
The offer went to Pyunik this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Squad23 Aug 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Noah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Aug 2027
A row about effort at Noah
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Valentin Costache was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market23 Aug 2027
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Noah have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
The dugout23 Aug 2027
Hélder Ferreira has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Noah will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout23 Aug 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gonçalo Gregório, and the manager let it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market16 Aug 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Noah people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The dugout16 Aug 2027
“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.
The terraces16 Aug 2027
Supporters turn on the $600.0K sale of Mario González
He is going to Pyunik, the club has $600.0K it did not have on Friday, and the phone-ins have already decided how they feel about that. Selling well and selling somebody they loved are not the same skill.
Market16 Aug 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Gonçalo Gregório will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Noah the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Words exchanged at Noah
Yan Eteki and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Market16 Aug 2027
Pyunik pay $600.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Words at Noah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Valentin Costache is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad16 Aug 2027
The medical room confirms 16 days on the sidelines for Robert Bayramyan, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.
Squad16 Aug 2027
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Noah know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market9 Aug 2027
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Kalifala Doumbia had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words exchanged at Noah
Dani Figueira and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Loan watch9 Aug 2027
“I watch every Noah game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Dila runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Market9 Aug 2027
Add another name to the list: Ararat have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Zaven Khudaverdyan. The answer from Noah has not changed — yet.
Squad9 Aug 2027
A row about effort at Noah
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marin Jakoliš was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout9 Aug 2027
The manager makes an example of Eric Boakye
“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.
Boardroom9 Aug 2027
94% of the income goes out in wages at Noah
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.
The dugout9 Aug 2027
Matheus Aiás gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Matheus Aiás is on it.
The dugout9 Aug 2027
Dani Figueira 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 Noah, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market2 Aug 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Noah is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad2 Aug 2027
Tempers go at Noah
Hélder Ferreira was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Transfer targets2 Aug 2027
$84.0K was the most the club would pay and Ararat-Armenia were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Squad2 Aug 2027
A row about effort at Noah
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Valentin Costache was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market2 Aug 2027
The phone has started ringing about Kalifala Doumbia again, and this time the name on the line is Torpedo Kutaisi. Noah are listening politely and promising nothing.
The dugout2 Aug 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
The dugout2 Aug 2027
Takuto Oshima 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 Noah, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market2 Aug 2027
Yan Eteki linked with a move away
The name of Yan Eteki keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Noah say nothing, which says plenty.
Squad2 Aug 2027
“Ask me in the summer. I will know before anybody else does.” He is 36 with 390 appearances behind him, and Noah have to plan for both answers.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match26 Jul 2027
Noah are in among the leaders
Position 2 and 45 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Market26 Jul 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Noah people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Squad26 Jul 2027
A falling-out at Noah
Yan Eteki and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market26 Jul 2027
Business is business: Rob Nizet goes
Gandzasar paid $220.0K and Noah took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Words at Noah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Misak Hakobyan is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout26 Jul 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nathanael Saintini, and the manager let it.
The dugout26 Jul 2027
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Hélder Ferreira is on it.
The dugout26 Jul 2027
Takuto Oshima 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 Noah, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout26 Jul 2027
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Noah told Misak Hakobyan something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market19 Jul 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Noah people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market19 Jul 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Noah can pretend not to have heard.
Market19 Jul 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Words exchanged at Noah
Yan Eteki and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Words at Noah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marin Jakoliš is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout19 Jul 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout19 Jul 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Market19 Jul 2027
The Matheus Aiás story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Matheus Aiás signs something — a contract at Noah or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout19 Jul 2027
Rob Nizet 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 Rob Nizet trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market12 Jul 2027
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Noah have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Market12 Jul 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Noah can pretend not to have heard.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Tempers go at Noah
Yan Eteki 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.
Squad12 Jul 2027
Valentin Costache falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Market12 Jul 2027
The phone has started ringing about Kalifala Doumbia again, and this time the name on the line is Shakhter. Noah are listening politely and promising nothing.
Boardroom12 Jul 2027
102% of the income goes out in wages at Noah
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.
Loan watch12 Jul 2027
“I did not go to Dila to sit and watch. I want to come back to Noah and fight for my place.” 5 appearances in 23 matches say the rest.
The dugout12 Jul 2027
Matheus Aiás gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Matheus Aiás is on it.
Market12 Jul 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Noah, another week without a signature from Eric Boakye.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings5 Jul 2027
Successful dribbles: 36. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match5 Jul 2027
Noah finish in position 2
45 points, and the season has a number on it. Whatever it felt like from the inside, this is what it will look like in a book.
Match3 Jul 2027
Still nobody has beaten Noah
The unbeaten run reaches 11. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Market5 Jul 2027
“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 Noah, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad5 Jul 2027
19 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Match3 Jul 2027
Noah make home a hard place to visit
11 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Market5 Jul 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Noah is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad5 Jul 2027
A falling-out at Noah
Dani Figueira and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Words at Noah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Valentin Costache is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match28 Jun 2027
Noah are in among the leaders
Position 2 and 42 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.
Player ratings28 Jun 2027
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.
Match26 Jun 2027
Whatever happens, Noah do not lose
10 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Player ratings28 Jun 2027
A defender's goal wins it for Noah — 7.85
1 for Yan Eteki, marked 7.85, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Market28 Jun 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Noah they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Matheus Aiás is in the form of his life
A season average of 7.41 with 14 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.
Match26 Jun 2027
The run at home goes on for Noah
10 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Tempers go at Noah
Jordy Monroy 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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Words at Noah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marin Jakoliš is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match16 Jun 2027
Noah through in the cup
A 2‑1 win over Shirak, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Match19 Jun 2027
No mercy from Noah
Urartu will want this one forgotten quickly: 3‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Noah were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.
Player ratings21 Jun 2027
A brace, and Valentin Costache takes the afternoon — 9.01
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Valentin Costache provided it, and the 9.01 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Match16 Jun 2027
Noah strike at the death to beat Shirak
There were 86 minutes on the clock and Shirak had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Noah did not stop to explain themselves.
Market21 Jun 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Noah people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The terraces21 Jun 2027
Noah are 1 in the table and the town has noticed
41 points, a place near the top and a ground that has begun to enjoy itself. Nobody will say the word out loud, which is the surest indication that everybody is thinking it.
Match19 Jun 2027
Whatever happens, Noah do not lose
9 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Player ratings21 Jun 2027
Up for the corner, and Yan Eteki delivers — 7.99
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Yan Eteki scored, was marked 7.99, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Player ratings21 Jun 2027
Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market14 Jun 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Noah people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Market14 Jun 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Player ratings14 Jun 2027
Rob Nizet beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 23. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match12 Jun 2027
7 unbeaten for Noah
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 7 matches without defeat is a foundation Noah did not have in the autumn.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Tempers go at Noah
Yan Eteki 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.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Valentin Costache falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Match12 Jun 2027
Nobody wins at Noah
8 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Boardroom14 Jun 2027
Wages swallow 103% of the Noah income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
Player ratings14 Jun 2027
Marked 7.38 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Noah had the best player on the pitch.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match7 Jun 2027
The view from the top for Noah
37 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
Squad7 Jun 2027
47 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Market7 Jun 2027
Noah say no — this time
The offer from Alashkert for Clinton Dombila 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.
Player ratings7 Jun 2027
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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
Yan Eteki 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 Noah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match5 Jun 2027
Whatever happens, Noah do not lose
6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Loan watch7 Jun 2027
“I watch every Noah game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Dila runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Market7 Jun 2027
Add another name to the list: Ararat have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Gonçalo Gregório. The answer from Noah has not changed — yet.
Match5 Jun 2027
The run is over for Noah
5 matches without defeat, and then Alashkert. Nobody at the ground pretended it would go on forever; nobody expected it to stop here either.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Player ratings31 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 39. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match29 May 2027
Matheus Aiás wins it after the whistle should have gone
91 minutes played. Matheus Aiás found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Ararat went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Match29 May 2027
Noah cannot stop winning
5 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
The dugout31 May 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Noah may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad31 May 2027
14 goals and a season average of 7.41. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
Market31 May 2027
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Noah is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Boardroom31 May 2027
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Zaven Khudaverdyan has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Squad31 May 2027
A falling-out at Noah
Yan Eteki and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad31 May 2027
A row about effort at Noah
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Valentin Costache was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
In brief
-
Match
Another one collected away from home
-
Match
Noah get the job done against Ararat
-
Looking ahead
Noah and Alashkert meet at the summit
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Player ratings24 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 27. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Match22 May 2027
Nobody wants to play Noah right now
4 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Squad24 May 2027
Defences have started doubling up on Matheus Aiás
13 goals and a season average of 7.38 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad24 May 2027
Words exchanged at Noah
Yan Eteki and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad24 May 2027
Words at Noah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Valentin Costache is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Match22 May 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Matheus Aiás. 2‑1 against Van, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings24 May 2027
Marked 8.35 — 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 ratings24 May 2027
Hélder Ferreira was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.18. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
The dugout24 May 2027
The manager makes an example of Mario González
“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.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match15 May 2027
3‑0, and Matheus Aiás took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Noah tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Squad17 May 2027
3 goals in one game. The first was taken well, the second was taken greedily, and by the third the crowd were simply waiting for him to get the ball.
Match15 May 2027
Nobody wants to play Noah right now
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Player ratings17 May 2027
Marked 9.81 — 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.
Squad17 May 2027
Defences have started doubling up on Matheus Aiás
12 goals and a season average of 7.34 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Squad17 May 2027
A falling-out at Noah
Jordy Monroy and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad17 May 2027
Words at Noah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marin Jakoliš is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout17 May 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Boardroom17 May 2027
94% of the income goes out in wages at Noah
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.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Player ratings10 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 40. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match10 May 2027
The view from the top for Noah
27 points, and the rest of the division looking up. Every side that finishes first spends the season pretending it is not thinking about it, and this one has started pretending.
Market10 May 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Noah they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad10 May 2027
Valentin Costache falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad10 May 2027
Words exchanged at Noah
Jordy Monroy and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Match8 May 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Matheus Aiás. 1‑0 against Gandzasar, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings10 May 2027
A performance of 8.39 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad10 May 2027
9 goals and a season average of 7.22. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.
The dugout10 May 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Edgar Movsisyan kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Player ratings3 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 36. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad3 May 2027
A row about effort at Noah
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Valentin Costache was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad3 May 2027
Tempers go at Noah
Jordy Monroy 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.
Match1 May 2027
Noah get the job done against BKMA
A 1‑0 win over BKMA, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Match3 May 2027
Halfway: Noah sit in position 1
24 points at the turn. The first half of a season is a promise; the second is a bill, and the town is about to find out which of the two this one was.
Squad3 May 2027
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
Player ratings3 May 2027
Nobody on the pitch touched Matheus Aiás
7.90, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Noah had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
Loan watch3 May 2027
“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 Noah, and 0 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.
Squad3 May 2027
A place in the month's best eleven for Marin Jakoliš
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Marin Jakoliš has come out of that comparison in the side, and Noah have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 27. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Match24 Apr 2027
Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 8 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words exchanged at Noah
Yan Eteki and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Match24 Apr 2027
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words at Noah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marin Jakoliš is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Eric Boakye, and the manager let it.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
Somebody else is better right now than Timothy Fayulu
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Hélder Ferreira is on it.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match17 Apr 2027
Nobody wants to play Noah right now
8 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
Successful dribbles: 23. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Squad19 Apr 2027
Words exchanged at Noah
Yan Eteki and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad19 Apr 2027
A row about effort at Noah
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Valentin Costache was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match17 Apr 2027
Urartu made Noah work for it, but the scoreboard read 1‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
Looking ahead19 Apr 2027
Two sides from the top of the table, one afternoon, and a month of talk decided in ninety minutes. Noah will not use the word title this week and will not stop thinking it.
Player ratings19 Apr 2027
Marked 7.90. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
Boardroom19 Apr 2027
87% of the income goes out in wages at Noah
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.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
Somebody else is better right now than Timothy Fayulu
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match10 Apr 2027
Noah cannot stop winning
7 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Match12 Apr 2027
Nobody above Noah
First, on 18 points. The table is a fact and a fact is allowed to be enjoyed, which is as far as anybody at the club is prepared to go in public.
Market12 Apr 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Noah they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Boardroom12 Apr 2027
He will play here until the summer and then walk out of the door for free, having already signed elsewhere. Supporters will manage the first part of that sentence; it is the second they will struggle with.
Squad12 Apr 2027
A falling-out at Noah
Yan Eteki and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match10 Apr 2027
Another one collected away from home
4 on the bounce on the road for Noah. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
Squad12 Apr 2027
A row about effort at Noah
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Valentin Costache was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match10 Apr 2027
It finished 3‑1, and it was Valentin Costache’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Noah.
Player ratings12 Apr 2027
Hélder Ferreira was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.18. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match3 Apr 2027
Noah make it 6 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Noah have 6 straight wins of it.
The dugout5 Apr 2027
Rob Nizet keeps the receipts
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Noah may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Yan Eteki 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 Noah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Loan watch5 Apr 2027
“I did not go to Dila to sit and watch. I want to come back to Noah and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 9 matches say the rest.
Match3 Apr 2027
It finished 2‑0, and it was Matheus Aiás’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Noah.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Words at Noah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marin Jakoliš is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Player ratings5 Apr 2027
Marked 8.09 — 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 ratings5 Apr 2027
Matheus Aiás was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.03. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Four weeks in which nobody in the division did his job better. The award goes on a shelf and the player goes back into the side, which is the order Noah prefer.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Player ratings29 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 47. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match27 Mar 2027
Noah cannot stop winning
5 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Squad29 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Noah
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Valentin Costache was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad29 Mar 2027
A falling-out at Noah
Jordy Monroy and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Match27 Mar 2027
Noah get the job done against Ararat
A 1‑0 win over Ararat, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings29 Mar 2027
Matheus Aiás was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.07. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 1‑0, already talking about the next one.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 39. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match20 Mar 2027
Noah win it in stoppage time
The board had gone up, the arguing had started, and then the ball was in the net in the 95th minute. Van will replay every second of the added time for a week.
Match20 Mar 2027
Noah cannot stop winning
4 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.
Squad22 Mar 2027
A row about effort at Noah
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Valentin Costache was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Jordy Monroy 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 Noah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match20 Mar 2027
It finished 2‑1, and it was Matheus Aiás’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Noah.
Match20 Mar 2027
Another one collected away from home
3 on the bounce on the road for Noah. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
Marked 8.07 — 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.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
“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.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 41. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Match13 Mar 2027
3‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
Two goals and a mark of 9.59 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
Yan Eteki goes up and wins it — 7.75
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.75 for the rest of it.
Match13 Mar 2027
Noah make it 3 in a row
Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Noah have 3 straight wins of it.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Tempers go at Noah
Jordy Monroy 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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words at Noah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marin Jakoliš is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mario González, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match6 Mar 2027
4‑1, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
A brace, and Matheus Aiás takes the afternoon — 9.17
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Matheus Aiás provided it, and the 9.17 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Boardroom8 Mar 2027
The Noah board want somebody sold
The instruction has come from upstairs rather than from the dugout, which is the version of this conversation no manager enjoys. Somebody in that squad is now available whether the man who picks the team thinks so or not.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 24. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Yan Eteki 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 Noah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Enis Gavazaj commits to Noah for another 2 years.
Squad8 Mar 2027
Words at Noah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Valentin Costache is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The terraces8 Mar 2027
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.22, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad1 Mar 2027
Tempers go at Noah
Yan Eteki 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
Words at Noah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Valentin Costache is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Market1 Mar 2027
Noah have let the market know Marin Jakoliš can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
Market1 Mar 2027
The Yan Eteki talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Noah know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Squad1 Mar 2027
A year in and the language has not come, the city has not opened up, and he eats alone more often than anybody at Noah would like to admit. It is showing on Saturdays.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad22 Feb 2027
Words exchanged at Noah
Yan Eteki and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad22 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Noah
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Marin Jakoliš was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
Hélder Ferreira has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Noah will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad15 Feb 2027
A falling-out at Noah
Yan Eteki and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad15 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Noah
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Valentin Costache was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
Takuto Oshima gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Takuto Oshima is on it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market8 Feb 2027
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Transfer targets8 Feb 2027
Noah had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Urartu, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad8 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Noah
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Valentin Costache was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words exchanged at Noah
Jordy Monroy and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
Matheus Aiás has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Noah will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Market8 Feb 2027
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
$480.0K settles it between the clubs for Mikayel Mirzoyan
Urartu have accepted the money. What Noah do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Deadline passes with 2 signed and 2 gone
That is the business done at Noah until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Market1 Feb 2027
Add another name to the list: Esteghlal Ahvaz have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Sergey Muradyan. The answer from Noah has not changed — yet.
Squad1 Feb 2027
A falling-out at Noah
Jordy Monroy and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Marin Jakoliš falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Timothy Fayulu is on it.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
The manager makes an example of Clinton Dombila
“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.
Market1 Feb 2027
The Yan Eteki talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Noah know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Market1 Feb 2027
“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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Urartu have kept their man, and Noah go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Valentin Costache falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Jordy Monroy 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 Noah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market25 Jan 2027
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Noah will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
Hélder Ferreira has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Noah will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Market25 Jan 2027
The Matheus Aiás story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Matheus Aiás signs something — a contract at Noah or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad18 Jan 2027
A falling-out at Noah
Yan Eteki and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad18 Jan 2027
Valentin Costache falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
Takuto Oshima has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Noah will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Market18 Jan 2027
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Valentin Costache signs something — a contract at Noah or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Market18 Jan 2027
“He needs to be playing at a level that matches him, and we are open to conversations.” Nobody says that by accident, and nobody at Noah misheard it.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
Yan Eteki keeps his manager's vote
The message was aimed at the stands as much as the dressing room: Yan Eteki plays, and the argument is closed until the manager decides otherwise.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad11 Jan 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Timothy Fayulu
17 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Noah lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Noah will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market11 Jan 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Yan Eteki 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 Noah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market11 Jan 2027
One of our own: Narek Adamyan joins the Noah first team
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Narek Adamyan is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market11 Jan 2027
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Aram Grigoryan has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at Noah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Marin Jakoliš is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Market11 Jan 2027
Ararat are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Noah will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
Matheus Aiás has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Noah will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad4 Jan 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Timothy Fayulu
24 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Noah lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Noah will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Market4 Jan 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Tempers go at Noah
Yan Eteki 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.
Market4 Jan 2027
The name of Brian Oddei has come up in conversations Noah were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Squad4 Jan 2027
A row about effort at Noah
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Valentin Costache was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Gor Manvelyan, and the manager let it.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
Timothy Fayulu has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Noah will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
Takuto Oshima 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
-
Market
The Yan Eteki talk will not go away
-
Market
Nobody at Noah has picked up the phone to Brian Oddei
-
Boardroom
Open for business: Noah enter the window
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad28 Dec 2026
31 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Noah lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 29 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Noah
Yan Eteki and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Valentin Costache falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Boardroom28 Dec 2026
Wages swallow 157% of the Noah income
Every club pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time it has been tried.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad21 Dec 2026
Timothy Fayulu damages knee ligaments — 38 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 38 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Squad21 Dec 2026
30 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Tempers go at Noah
Jordy Monroy 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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad14 Dec 2026
46 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Noah lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad14 Dec 2026
A row about effort at Noah
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Valentin Costache was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words exchanged at Noah
Jordy Monroy and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Market14 Dec 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Ararat Karapetyan has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market14 Dec 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Ararat Karapetyan is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
Matheus Aiás gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Matheus Aiás is on it.
Market14 Dec 2026
“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.
Market14 Dec 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Marin Jakoliš signs something — a contract at Noah or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Noah, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad7 Dec 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Timothy Fayulu
53 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Noah lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Valentin Costache falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad7 Dec 2026
A falling-out at Noah
Jordy Monroy and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
Timothy Fayulu has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Noah will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
Market7 Dec 2026
The Yan Eteki talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Noah know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad30 Nov 2026
60 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Noah lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad30 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Noah
Hélder Ferreira and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Rob Nizet falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Boardroom30 Nov 2026
Wages eat 179% of everything Noah earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Market30 Nov 2026
The Matheus Aiás story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Matheus Aiás signs something — a contract at Noah or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad23 Nov 2026
68 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Noah lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Noah
Hélder Ferreira and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad23 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Noah
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Valentin Costache was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Boardroom16 Nov 2026
Noah lift the trophy
The season a town measures the next twenty against. The trophy comes home with the squad, and the route through the streets was agreed days ago.
Squad16 Nov 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Timothy Fayulu
75 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Noah lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Match11 Nov 2026
Noah march on in the cup
Pyunik are out and Noah go through, 1‑0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Noah
Hélder Ferreira was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Takuto Oshima
“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 ratings16 Nov 2026
A defender's afternoon for Jordy Monroy
Defensive actions: 17. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Player ratings16 Nov 2026
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.83 on the card, and the Noah support went home talking about one name.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Edgar Movsisyan, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad9 Nov 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Timothy Fayulu
82 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Noah lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad9 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Noah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Nov 2026
16 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Market9 Nov 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Vahan Ghazaryan has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market9 Nov 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Henrikh Movsisyan is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Enis Gavazaj falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Loan watch9 Nov 2026
“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 Noah, and 0 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Timothy Fayulu has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Noah will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Takuto Oshima 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad2 Nov 2026
89 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Noah lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
The Noah board want somebody sold
The instruction has come from upstairs rather than from the dugout, which is the version of this conversation no manager enjoys. Somebody in that squad is now available whether the man who picks the team thinks so or not.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at Noah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Valentin Costache is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Boardroom2 Nov 2026
Wages eat 179% of everything Noah earn
There is a figure at which a wage bill stops being ambitious and becomes the reason nothing else is possible, and this club has reached it. Nothing is left over for a transfer, a stand or a rainy afternoon.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Market2 Nov 2026
Noah have made Marin Jakoliš available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
Gor Manvelyan 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 Manvelyan trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market2 Nov 2026
The Matheus Aiás story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Matheus Aiás signs something — a contract at Noah or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Squad2 Nov 2026
The coaching staff have set Clinton Dombila something separate to do. Whether it is a weakness being addressed or a strength being sharpened, nobody outside the building will know until it shows up on a Saturday.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Noah
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Valentin Costache was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Noah
Jordy Monroy 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Too much change too quickly at Noah
9 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Noah
Jordy Monroy and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Noah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Enis Gavazaj is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
Jordy Monroy has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Noah will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Noah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Valentin Costache falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Market12 Oct 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Karen Ghazaryan is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market12 Oct 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. David Karapetyan has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Loan watch12 Oct 2026
“I did not go to Ararat to sit and watch. I want to come back to Noah and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 9 matches say the rest.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Timothy Fayulu has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Noah will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Jordy Monroy joins up with his country. Noah lose him for the window and would like him back in one piece.
Squad12 Oct 2026
A window away with the national side, and a shirt at Noah that briefly doubles as an advertisement. A call-up flatters the player and the club that built him in the same breath.
Market12 Oct 2026
The Yan Eteki talk will not go away
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Noah know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Oct 2026
A falling-out at Noah
Hélder Ferreira and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Noah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Valentin Costache is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
235% of the income goes out in wages at Noah
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.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
Hélder Ferreira has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Noah will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Market5 Oct 2026
The Matheus Aiás story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Matheus Aiás signs something — a contract at Noah or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at Noah
Hélder Ferreira and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad28 Sep 2026
41 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Takuto Oshima
“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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Noah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Enis Gavazaj is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad28 Sep 2026
9 new faces, and Noah are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market21 Sep 2026
Noah say no — this time
The offer from Shakhter for Sergey Muradyan 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Noah
Hélder Ferreira 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Valentin Costache falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Takuto Oshima 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 Takuto Oshima trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Jordy Monroy has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Noah will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Market21 Sep 2026
The Brian Oddei story refuses to die
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Brian Oddei signs something — a contract at Noah or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Sep 2026
Valentin Costache falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Market14 Sep 2026
Add another name to the list: BATE have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Alexey Ploschadny. The answer from Noah has not changed — yet.
Market14 Sep 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Hayk Spertsyan has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market14 Sep 2026
One of our own: Artur Sarkisov joins the Noah first team
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Artur Sarkisov is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at Noah
Misak Hakobyan and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Loan watch14 Sep 2026
“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 Noah, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market7 Sep 2026
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Dinamo Minsk had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Deadline passes with 17 signed and 5 gone
That is the business done at Noah until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Market7 Sep 2026
Noah say no — this time
The offer from Siah Jamegan for Alexey Ploschadny 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Jordy Monroy 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 Noah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
The clock did what Urartu would not, and ended it. Supporters who watched the countdown will spend the next window doing it again.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Enis Gavazaj falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Mario González slips down the pecking order
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Mario González is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Noah will explain it as a decision about the team, and it may well be one. A dressing room has never once read it that way.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match26 Aug 2026
Cup progress for Noah
A 2‑2 win over Ararat-Armenia, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Market31 Aug 2026
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Irtysh had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Timothy Fayulu decides it from twelve yards
1 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Two goals and a mark of 8.10 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 25. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Noah have done the hard part with Urartu, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Market31 Aug 2026
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Noah have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at Noah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Valentin Costache is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Noah
Jordy Monroy 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
-
Match
Noah caught on 127 minutes
-
Squad
Too much change too quickly at Noah
-
The dugout
Takuto Oshima gets picked when it counts
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 52. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match19 Aug 2026
Cup progress for Noah
A 1‑0 win over Ararat, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Market24 Aug 2026
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Pakhtakor had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Market24 Aug 2026
“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 Noah, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market24 Aug 2026
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Noah have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Noah
Hélder Ferreira 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Noah
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Valentin Costache was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The terraces24 Aug 2026
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Marked 7.91. Ask anyone leaving the ground what settled it and you will get one name, which is the only award that has ever really counted.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market17 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad17 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Noah this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market17 Aug 2026
Add another name to the list: Pakhtakor have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Alexey Ploschadny. The answer from Noah has not changed — yet.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at Noah training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Enis Gavazaj is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A season on the outside for Enis Gavazaj
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Noah has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
Market17 Aug 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Brian Oddei’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Noah
Hélder Ferreira and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Valentin Costache falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Market10 Aug 2026
Arthur Coneglian has left for Alashkert in a $98.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Levon Barseghyan is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Henrikh Bayramyan has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. David Spertsyan has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market3 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Matheus Aiás commits to Noah for another 4 years.
Squad3 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Noah
Hélder Ferreira and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Market3 Aug 2026
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Noah have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Eric Boakye falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Market3 Aug 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Noah, another week without a signature from Matheus Aiás.