Noah U20

30 May 2030
Thursday
Process
200 Edition

The Noah Courier

27 May 2030
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

Rok Frešer 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 The request is on a desk at Noah, and it is not being withdrawn.

Market

Only the photograph left for Arsen Beglaryan

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Arsen Beglaryan will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Noah the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Tempers go at Noah

Eric Boakye 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

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.

Match

A bad afternoon for Noah against Ararat

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

Looking ahead

The big one: Alashkert come into view

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.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Matheus Aiás

9 goals and a season average of 7.24 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Match

The run is over for Noah

4 matches without defeat, and then Ararat. Nobody at the ground pretended it would go on forever; nobody expected it to stop here either.

Boardroom

Nobody left the Noah dressing room in a hurry

The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.

In brief

Back issues
199 Edition

The Noah Courier

20 May 2030
From our football correspondent Triumph

Player ratings

Diego Raposo, 33, rolls back the years — 7.82

There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.82 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.

Match

Noah make it 4 in a row

Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Noah have 4 straight wins of it.

Squad

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.

Squad

Valentin Costache is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.32 with 12 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Squad

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.

Match

Valentin Costache sends Noah past Van

It finished 2‑0, and it was Valentin Costache’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Noah.

Player ratings

Valentin Costache was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.47. 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.

Looking ahead

The big one: Ararat come into view

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 ratings

Ninety minutes of Gor Manvelyan at his very best

Marked 8.28. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Noah.

In brief

198 Edition

The Noah Courier

13 May 2030
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

No mercy from Noah

Pyunik 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 ratings

Both of them Valentin Costache's — 8.96

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.96, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Market

Artur Movsesyan has one foot out of the door

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.

Player ratings

Age has not caught Diego Raposo yet — 7.99

At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.99 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.

Match

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.

Squad

A falling-out at Noah

Eric Boakye and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Words at Noah training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hélder Ferreira 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.

Squad

Valentin Costache is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.27 with 11 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Player ratings

Gor Manvelyan was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.28. 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.

In brief

197 Edition

The Noah Courier

6 May 2030
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

No mercy from Noah

Gandzasar will want this one forgotten quickly: 6‑0, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Noah were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.

Match

Noah are top

27 points and nobody above them. The word is not being said around the ground yet, and it is being thought in every seat.

Player ratings

Age has not caught Matheus Aiás yet — 9.96

At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 9.96 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.

Squad

Matheus Aiás takes the match ball home

3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.

Market

Daniil Antsiperov has one foot out of the door

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.

Squad

Gustavo Sangaré signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Gustavo Sangaré commits to Noah for another 2 years.

Squad

Words exchanged at Noah

Eric Boakye 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.

Match

Matheus Aiás among the goals in a wild afternoon

6 goals in one match, Matheus Aiás on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Noah and Gandzasar.

Squad

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

196 Edition

The Noah Courier

29 Apr 2030
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

Brian Oddei breaks BKMA hearts

Some goals win a match and some take one off somebody else. Brian Oddei scored in the 87th minute, BKMA had already begun thinking about the journey home, and Noah took the lot.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Hélder Ferreira

Successful dribbles: 26. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Market

Arsen Beglaryan has one foot out of the door

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.

Squad

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.

Squad

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.

Match

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.

Match

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.

Player ratings

Brian Oddei stands above it all

Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.59 on the card, and the Noah support went home talking about one name.

The dugout

Mkhitar Spertsyan: “That is the standard”

“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.

In brief

195 Edition

The Noah Courier

22 Apr 2030
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Eric Boakye 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.

Match

Ararat-Armenia end the Noah run at 7

Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 7 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.

Squad

Words at Noah training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hélder Ferreira 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.

Match

Ararat-Armenia take the points off Noah

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

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Alexey Ploschadny

“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

Valentin Costache was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.08. 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 dugout

The view from the dugout

“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Mkhitar Spertsyan to a room that had heard them before.

Player ratings

An own goal to forget for Brian Oddei

The one goal a footballer does not get to celebrate and does not get to forget either. His name is in the wrong column and nothing about it was meant.

The dugout

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.

In brief

194 Edition

The Noah Courier

15 Apr 2030
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

Nobody wants to play Noah right now

7 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.

Market

Only the photograph left for Artur Movsesyan

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Artur Movsesyan will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Noah the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Words exchanged at Noah

Sergey Muradyan 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.

Squad

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.

Match

Matheus Aiás the difference as Noah beat Urartu

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

Player ratings

Nobody on the pitch touched Matheus Aiás

7.77, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Noah had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.

Player ratings

Daniel Molina 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.

Boardroom

Wages eat 90% 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 dugout

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.” Mkhitar Spertsyan kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.

In brief

193 Edition

The Noah Courier

8 Apr 2030
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

Noah run riot against Shirak

4‑0, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.

Squad

3 goals for Valentin Costache

The match ball belongs to Valentin Costache, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.

Match

The view from the top for Noah

18 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.

Match

Noah cannot stop winning

6 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.

Player ratings

Matheus Aiás, 33, rolls back the years — 8.28

There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.28 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.

Boardroom

An order from above at Noah: somebody has to go

Balance sheets do not care about form or about who the manager was planning to build around. The board have decided a sale is required, and the only question left is which name ends up carrying it.

Market

Daniil Antsiperov is on his way

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.

Squad

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.

Player ratings

Valentin Costache was on a different afternoon to everybody else

9.93. 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.

In brief

192 Edition

The Noah Courier

1 Apr 2030
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

Nobody wants to play Noah right now

5 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.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Alexey Ploschadny

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

Arsen Beglaryan is on his way

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.

Squad

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.

Squad

Gor Manvelyan 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.

Match

Valentin Costache sends Noah past Alashkert

It finished 2‑1, and it was Valentin Costache’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Noah.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Gor Manvelyan

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.

Market

Jordy Monroy is free to find somewhere else

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

The dugout

Mkhitar Spertsyan: “That is the standard”

“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 2‑1, already talking about the next one.

In brief

191 Edition

The Noah Courier

25 Mar 2030
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Age has not caught Matheus Aiás yet — 8.05

At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.05 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.

Match

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.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Daniel Molina

Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Eric Boakye 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.

Squad

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.

Match

Matheus Aiás the difference as Noah beat Ararat

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

Player ratings

One of those days for Gor Manvelyan

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.35, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Chidera Oparaocha

“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

6 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.

In brief

  • The dugout The view from the dugout
  • The dugout Matheus Aiás gets picked when it counts
  • Squad The weekend belonged to Matheus Aiás
190 Edition

The Noah Courier

18 Mar 2030
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Magomedkhabib Abdusalamov beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 41. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Squad

A day Matheus Aiás will not forget

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.

Player ratings

Matheus Aiás, 33, rolls back the years — 9.74

There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 9.74 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.

Market

Artur Movsesyan has one foot out of the door

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.

Match

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.

Squad

Hélder Ferreira 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.

Squad

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.

Match

Noah get the job done against Van

A 3‑1 win over Van, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Squad

Home is on Tales'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; Noah are dealing with a man who wants a different country.

In brief

189 Edition

The Noah Courier

11 Mar 2030
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Daniil Antsiperov has one foot out of the door

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.

Squad

Words exchanged at Noah

Eric Boakye 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Noah

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hélder Ferreira was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The terraces

One of their own: Artur Movsesyan

He is 22 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.

Match

Gor Manvelyan sends Noah past Pyunik

It finished 2‑0, and it was Gor Manvelyan’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Noah.

Player ratings

One of those days for Gor Manvelyan

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.17, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Player ratings

Artur Movsesyan was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.17. 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.

Squad

Renato Alexandrino 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 Noah know it.

Boardroom

Wages eat 86% 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.

In brief

188 Edition

The Noah Courier

4 Mar 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

Valentin Costache leads the rout of Gandzasar

5‑0, and Valentin Costache took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Noah tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.

Squad

A day Valentin Costache will not forget

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.

Player ratings

Vintage Matheus Aiás — 8.87

At 33 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 8.87, and nobody on the pitch better.

The dugout

Yuri Martirosyan: 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.” Noah have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Market

Arsen Beglaryan has one foot out of the door

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.

Squad

Tempers go at Noah

Eric Boakye 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 Valentin Costache

Marked 9.91 — 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

5 academy players handed senior numbers at Noah

The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.

Match

Noah end the wait against Gandzasar

It had gone 6 games. The players did not celebrate like men who had won a match; they celebrated like men who had been let out of something.

In brief

187 Edition

The Noah Courier

25 Feb 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

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.

Squad

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.

Squad

Noah are still strangers to each other

6 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.

The dugout

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.

Market

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 dugout

Artur Movsesyan 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.

In brief

186 Edition

The Noah Courier

18 Feb 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Sergey Muradyan breaks a bone — 15 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 15 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Market

Artur Movsesyan has one foot out of the door

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.

Market

Arsenal Tula come back empty-handed

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

Squad

Words exchanged at Noah

Sergey Muradyan 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Noah

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hélder Ferreira was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Squad

Artem Korneev signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Artem Korneev commits to Noah for another 3 years.

The dugout

Hélder Ferreira 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 Hélder Ferreira is on it.

The dugout

Artur Movsesyan 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.

Market

Alexey Ploschadny linked with a move away

The name of Alexey Ploschadny keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Noah say nothing, which says plenty.

In brief

185 Edition

The Noah Courier

11 Feb 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

22 days out for Sergey Muradyan after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Noah will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Match

Noah are in among the leaders

Position 2 and 39 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.

Market

Evgeny Kharin 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 Noah, and it is not being withdrawn.

Market

Ordabasy come back empty-handed

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

Squad

Sergey Muradyan 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.

Squad

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.

Squad

Noah count the cost of losing Diego Raposo

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

The dugout

Valentin Costache 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 Valentin Costache is on it.

Market

The Valentin Costache story refuses to die

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.

In brief

184 Edition

The Noah Courier

4 Feb 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Sergey Muradyan breaks a bone — 29 days out

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.

Market

Daniil Antsiperov agrees terms with BKMA

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.

Market

Dani Figueira asks to leave Noah

“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

Window shuts: 5 in, 6 out at Noah

The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 5 arrived, 6 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.

Market

Only the photograph left for Arsen Beglaryan

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Arsen Beglaryan will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Noah the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

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.

Squad

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.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Victor Okishor

Noah asked and Pyunik said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Transfer targets

The window shuts on the Mario González deal

Noah ran out of time with Pyunik. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.

In brief

183 Edition

The Noah Courier

28 Jan 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Noah say no — this time

The offer from BATE for Jordy Monroy 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

Ilja Petrov 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 Noah, and it is not being withdrawn.

Market

Only the photograph left for Daniil Antsiperov

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Daniil Antsiperov will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Noah the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Words exchanged at Noah

Sergey Muradyan 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.

Squad

Words at Noah training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hélder Ferreira 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.

Transfer targets

Neftchi tell Noah: Ağadadaş Salyanskiy is not for sale

The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.

Squad

Noah are still strangers to each other

5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.

The dugout

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.

Market

Matheus Aiás linked with a move away

The name of Matheus Aiás keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Noah say nothing, which says plenty.

In brief

182 Edition

The Noah Courier

21 Jan 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Arsen Beglaryan agrees terms with Urartu

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.

Market

Only the photograph left for Artur Movsesyan

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Artur Movsesyan will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Noah the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Tempers go at Noah

Sergey Muradyan 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

Kirill Polkhovskiy gets the move he always wanted

Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Kirill Polkhovskiy has just signed for Noah, and for once the answer mattered.

Squad

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.

Market

Yuri Martirosyan is free to find somewhere else

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

The dugout

Hélder Ferreira 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 Hélder Ferreira is on it.

Squad

No place for Bartosz Bieroński in the new shape

He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Noah are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.

Market

Diego Raposo brings the grey hairs Noah lacked

At 33, he has seen every situation this season can produce, twice. The legs will be managed; the head is the purchase.

In brief

  • The dugout A promise honoured at Noah
  • The dugout Yuri Martirosyan knocks on the manager's door
  • Boardroom Noah keep producing them
181 Edition

The Noah Courier

14 Jan 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Kalifala Doumbia has said yes to Urartu

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.

Match

Noah refuse to drop out of the race

Position 2, 39 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.

Market

Renato Alexandrino 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 Noah, and it is not being withdrawn.

The dugout

Evgeny Kharin: 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.” Noah have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Sergey Muradyan 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.

Squad

Youcef Izem arrives at the club he grew up with

Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Youcef Izem has, at Noah, and the first month will show what that does to a man.

Squad

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.

Transfer targets

Pyunik tell Noah: Viacheslav Afyan is not for sale

The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.

Squad

Home is on Tales'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; Noah are dealing with a man who wants a different country.

In brief

180 Edition

The Noah Courier

7 Jan 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

The dugout

Jordy Monroy 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.

Market

Daniil Antsiperov 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 Noah, and it is not being withdrawn.

Market

Only the photograph left for Kalifala Doumbia

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Kalifala Doumbia will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Noah the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Brian Oddei is named among the best

There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Noah will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.

Market

Noah say no — this time

The offer from BKMA for Rok Frešer 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

A falling-out at Noah

Sergey Muradyan and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Words at Noah training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hélder Ferreira 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 dugout

The manager makes an example of Artur Movsesyan

“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

Renato Alexandrino 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 Noah know it.

In brief

179 Edition

The Noah Courier

31 Dec 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A fracture rules Aram Khamoyan out for 96 days

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.

Squad

Words exchanged at Noah

Sergey Muradyan 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.

Squad

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 dugout

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.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Kalifala Doumbia

“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

Matheus Aiás linked with a move away

The name of Matheus Aiás keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Noah say nothing, which says plenty.

In brief

178 Edition

The Noah Courier

24 Dec 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Artur Movsesyan is on his way

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.

Squad

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.

Squad

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 dugout

The manager makes an example of Daniel Molina

“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.

The dugout

Hélder Ferreira 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 Hélder Ferreira is on it.

Market

Evgeny Kharin told to find a new club

“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Evgeny Kharin has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Noah.

Market

The Alexey Ploschadny story refuses to die

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

The dugout

A door opens for Yuri Martirosyan

He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.

The dugout

Evgeny Kharin 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

177 Edition

The Noah Courier

17 Dec 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

Noah up to position 2

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

Match

Noah beaten on the continent

1‑2 against Farense, and an evening that measured the gap rather than the ninety minutes. Nothing about it was a disgrace and nothing about it was close.

Match

6 matches without a win for Noah

The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Noah are no longer polite ones.

The dugout

Daniel Molina: 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.” Noah have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Sergey Muradyan 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Noah

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hélder Ferreira was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Matheus Aiás

10 goals and a season average of 7.29 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

The dugout

The manager’s verdict

“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑2 Mkhitar Spertsyan left the room before anybody could ask which.

The dugout

Valentin Costache 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 Valentin Costache is on it.

In brief

176 Edition

The Noah Courier

10 Dec 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Kalifala Doumbia is on his way

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.

Squad

A falling-out at Noah

Sergey Muradyan and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

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 dugout

Gustavo Sangaré 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.

Market

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.

The dugout

Kalifala Doumbia 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

175 Edition

The Noah Courier

3 Dec 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

A chastening European night for Noah

0‑3 against Stade Rennais. The honest reading is not that the players were poor; it is that the distance between this club and that one is currently measured in things money takes years to buy.

Squad

8 saves: Alexey Ploschadny was the team

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.

Match

The wait goes on for Noah

5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.

Squad

Hélder Ferreira 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.

Squad

Valentin Costache is carrying Noah

13 goals and a season average of 7.33. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Squad

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.

Boardroom

Doors closed at Noah

The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.

The dugout

The manager’s verdict

“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑3 Mkhitar Spertsyan left the room before anybody could ask which.

Market

Kalifala Doumbia told to find a new club

“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Kalifala Doumbia has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Noah.

In brief

174 Edition

The Noah Courier

26 Nov 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Only the photograph left for Artur Movsesyan

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Artur Movsesyan will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Noah the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Tempers go at Noah

Sergey Muradyan 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

Words at Noah training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hélder Ferreira 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 dugout

When it matters, Hélder Ferreira plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

Market

The Alexey Ploschadny story refuses to die

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

The dugout

Yuri Martirosyan 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

173 Edition

The Noah Courier

19 Nov 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Boardroom

Noah are in Europe

Qualification is done, and next season the floodlights come on for something bigger. A stage for the players, oxygen for the accounts and a passport for everybody else.

Match

Noah refuse to drop out of the race

Position 2, 39 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.

Squad

Brian Oddei is named among the best

There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Noah will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.

Squad

Sergey Muradyan 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.

Squad

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 dugout

Artur Movsesyan 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

Tales wants to go home

“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Noah can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.

The dugout

When it matters, Valentin Costache plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

Market

No place for Dani Figueira in the plan

“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Dani Figueira has his answer from Noah; what he does with it is the next window’s story.

In brief

172 Edition

The Noah Courier

12 Nov 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

15 saves: Alexey Ploschadny was the team

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 15 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.

Match

A European night to remember for Noah

1‑1 against KV Kortrijk, under lights, against people who do not speak the same language as the crowd. These are the evenings a club measures its decade in, and there are never as many of them as anybody expects.

The dugout

Artur Movsesyan: 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.” Noah have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Market

Renato Alexandrino asks to leave Noah

“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 ratings

Gustavo Sangaré, 33, rolls back the years — 7.83

There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.83 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.

Market

Only the photograph left for Kalifala Doumbia

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Kalifala Doumbia will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Noah the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Match

4 matches without a win for Noah

The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Noah are no longer polite ones.

Squad

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.

Squad

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.

In brief

171 Edition

The Noah Courier

5 Nov 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Words exchanged at Noah

Sergey Muradyan 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.

Squad

David Sualehe signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” David Sualehe and Noah agree another 2 years.

Squad

Words at Noah training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hélder Ferreira 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.

Squad

Renato Alexandrino wants to go home

“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Noah can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.

The dugout

When it matters, Matheus Aiás plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Kalifala Doumbia

“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

Matheus Aiás linked with a move away

The name of Matheus Aiás keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Noah say nothing, which says plenty.

Market

The shop window has Evgeny Kharin in it

Noah have let the market know Evgeny Kharin can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.

The dugout

A door opens for Evgeny Kharin

He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.

In brief

  • The dugout Artem Korneev knocks on the manager’s door
  • Boardroom The Noah academy earns its keep
170 Edition

The Noah Courier

29 Oct 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

A chastening European night for Noah

0‑4 against KV Kortrijk. The honest reading is not that the players were poor; it is that the distance between this club and that one is currently measured in things money takes years to buy.

Market

Only the photograph left for Artur Movsesyan

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Artur Movsesyan will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Noah the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Tempers go at Noah

Sergey Muradyan 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

Valentin Costache is carrying Noah

13 goals and a season average of 7.33. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Squad

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.

Match

Noah cannot find the net

3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.

The dugout

Sergey Muradyan 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

Nobody left the Noah dressing room in a hurry

The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.

The dugout

Mkhitar Spertsyan: “No excuses”

“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑4, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.

In brief

169 Edition

The Noah Courier

22 Oct 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Noah are in among the leaders

Position 2 and 39 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.

Squad

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.

Squad

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 dugout

Valentin Costache 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 Valentin Costache is on it.

Market

The David Sualehe 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.

The dugout

Kalifala Doumbia 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 Kalifala Doumbia trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

In brief

168 Edition

The Noah Courier

15 Oct 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Kalifala Doumbia is on his way

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.

Squad

A falling-out at Noah

Sergey Muradyan and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Words at Noah training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hélder Ferreira 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 dugout

When it matters, Gustavo Sangaré plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

Market

Valentin Costache linked with a move away

The name of Valentin Costache keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Noah say nothing, which says plenty.

The dugout

Dmytro Panimash 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

Country calls for Valentin Costache

He goes off to be somebody else’s player for a fortnight. Noah lose him for the window and would like him returned in the condition he left.

Squad

Jordy Monroy goes off with his country

A call-up flatters the player and the club that produced him in the same breath. Noah would like him back in one piece and know they will not be consulted.

The dugout

Evgeny Kharin 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

167 Edition

The Noah Courier

8 Oct 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

A chastening European night for Noah

0‑5 against Farense. The honest reading is not that the players were poor; it is that the distance between this club and that one is currently measured in things money takes years to buy.

Squad

Gustavo Sangaré signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Gustavo Sangaré commits to Noah for another 2 years.

Squad

Words exchanged at Noah

Sergey Muradyan 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.

Squad

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.

Squad

Matheus Aiás is carrying Noah

10 goals and a season average of 7.29. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Boardroom

Inquest at Noah

The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.

The dugout

Mkhitar Spertsyan answers for it

“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑5, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.

The dugout

When it matters, Matheus Aiás plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

The terraces

The spotlight tightens on Alexey Ploschadny

Every touch is being weighed now, in print and everywhere else. Some players grow into that and some are quietly ruined by it, and nobody knows which in advance.

In brief

166 Edition

The Noah Courier

1 Oct 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

Artur Movsesyan has one foot out of the door

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.

Squad

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.

Squad

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.

Squad

Hakob Bayramyan out for 30 days

The medical room confirms 30 days on the sidelines for Hakob Bayramyan, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

The dugout

When it matters, Hélder Ferreira plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

Market

The Brian Oddei 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.

Squad

A season on the outside for Magomedkhabib Abdusalamov

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.

The dugout

Yuri Martirosyan has been promised minutes

A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Yuri Martirosyan has written the date down.

Market

Daniil Antsiperov placed on the list

Noah have made Daniil Antsiperov available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.

In brief

165 Edition

The Noah Courier

24 Sep 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

A European night to forget for Noah

0‑5. Stade Rennais play this football every year and it showed in every part of the pitch. The lesson is expensive and, for a club at this stage, probably necessary.

Match

Noah up to position 2

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

Squad

8 saves: Alexey Ploschadny was the team

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.

Match

After 14 games, Noah finally taste it again

The first defeat in 14 matches. The manager will say it had to come; the dressing room will say it did not have to come against Stade Rennais; the supporters will say both, in that order, all week.

Squad

Sergey Muradyan 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.

Squad

Valentin Costache is carrying Noah

13 goals and a season average of 7.33. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Squad

Words at Noah training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hélder Ferreira 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.

Boardroom

Doors closed at Noah

The music was off and the showers ran late. What was said in that dressing room stays there, but Saturday will publish the minutes.

The dugout

Mkhitar Spertsyan: “No excuses”

“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑5, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.

In brief

164 Edition

The Noah Courier

17 Sep 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

The knee: Eric Boakye out for 18 days

18 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.

Market

Kalifala Doumbia has one foot out of the door

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.

Squad

A falling-out at Noah

Sergey Muradyan and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

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 dugout

Artur Movsesyan 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

Home is on Renato Alexandrino'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; Noah are dealing with a man who wants a different country.

The dugout

Gustavo Sangaré 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.

Market

Valentin Costache linked with a move away

The name of Valentin Costache keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Noah say nothing, which says plenty.

Market

Noah put Kalifala Doumbia up for sale

The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Kalifala Doumbia may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.

In brief

163 Edition

The Noah Courier

10 Sep 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Eric Boakye damages knee ligaments — 25 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 25 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.

Transfer targets

Orkhan Nazarov will not be coming to Noah

Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Inter is saying, and nobody at Noah is enjoying the guessing.

Squad

Hélder Ferreira 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.

Squad

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.

Squad

Aram Khamoyan out for 20 days

The medical room confirms 20 days on the sidelines for Aram Khamoyan, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

The dugout

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 dugout

No hiding place for Yuri Martirosyan

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

Market

Matheus Aiás linked with a move away

The name of Matheus Aiás keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Noah say nothing, which says plenty.

Market

Noah and Aram Khamoyan 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

162 Edition

The Noah Courier

3 Sep 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Eric Boakye damages knee ligaments — 32 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 32 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.

Market

Not going: Arsen Beglaryan stays at Noah

“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Urartu had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.

Market

Artur Movsesyan has one foot out of the door

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.

The dugout

Kalifala Doumbia says Noah 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

Renato Alexandrino asks to leave Noah

“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

Noah close the window on a squad of their own making

11 in and 10 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.

Squad

Tempers go at Noah

Sergey Muradyan 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

Words at Noah training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gustavo Sangaré 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.

Transfer targets

Olympique de Marseille tell Noah: Antoine Valero is not for sale

The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.

In brief

161 Edition

The Noah Courier

27 Aug 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

Terms done: Kalifala Doumbia is going

Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Alashkert waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Noah is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.

Match

Noah refuse to drop out of the race

Position 2, 39 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.

Transfer targets

No thanks: Lorenz Hutchinson rejects the move

Noah had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Walsall, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.

Squad

Sergey Muradyan 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.

Squad

Gustavo Sangaré 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 dugout

No hiding place for Daniel Molina

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

The dugout

When it matters, Hélder Ferreira plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

Market

The David Sualehe 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.

The dugout

Evgeny Kharin 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 Evgeny Kharin trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

In brief

160 Edition

The Noah Courier

20 Aug 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Transfer targets

Lorenz Hutchinson due for a Noah medical

Everything agreed with Walsall, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.

Squad

A falling-out at Noah

Sergey Muradyan and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

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 dugout

Valentin Costache 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 Valentin Costache is on it.

The dugout

Kalifala Doumbia 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.

The dugout

The manager makes Artur Movsesyan a promise

Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Noah. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.

Market

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.

The dugout

Evgeny Kharin 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

The Noah academy earns its keep

34 graduates, from a department now rated 9 out of 20. Nothing about the academy appears in a result, and nothing about the club’s future exists without it.

In brief

159 Edition

The Noah Courier

13 Aug 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

Kalifala Doumbia agrees terms with Urartu

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.

Squad

Words exchanged at Noah

Sergey Muradyan 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.

Squad

Gustavo Sangaré 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.

Squad

Noah count the cost of losing Aram Khamoyan

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

The dugout

Gustavo Sangaré 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.

Market

The Valentin Costache 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.

Market

The shop window has Kalifala Doumbia in it

Noah have let the market know Kalifala Doumbia can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.

The dugout

Yuri Martirosyan has been promised minutes

A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Yuri Martirosyan has written the date down.

The dugout

Dani Figueira 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

158 Edition

The Noah Courier

6 Aug 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

Artur Movsesyan has one foot out of the door

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.

Squad

Tempers go at Noah

Sergey Muradyan 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

Words at Noah training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gustavo Sangaré 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.

Market

Urartu expected to open talks for Kalifala Doumbia

Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Noah will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.

Squad

Jordy Monroy is no longer first choice

The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Jordy Monroy has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.

The dugout

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.

In brief

157 Edition

The Noah Courier

30 Jul 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Noah refuse to drop out of the race

Position 2, 39 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.

Squad

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.

Squad

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.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Orkhan Nazarov

Noah asked and Inter said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Transfer targets

A loan move for Jimmy-Jay Morgan is in the works

Noah have made the call to Leyton Orient. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.

The dugout

When it matters, Hélder Ferreira plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Artur Movsesyan

“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.

The dugout

Kalifala Doumbia has been promised minutes

A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Kalifala Doumbia has written the date down.

Market

The David Sualehe 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.

In brief

156 Edition

The Noah Courier

23 Jul 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

The dugout

Aram Khamoyan says Noah 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.

Transfer targets

No thanks: Gonçalo Gregório rejects the move

Noah had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Ararat, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.

Squad

A falling-out at Noah

Sergey Muradyan and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

A row about effort at Noah

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gustavo Sangaré was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Transfer targets

Noah rebuffed over Ağadadaş Salyanskiy

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Neftchi have kept their man, and Noah go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

The dugout

Valentin Costache 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 Valentin Costache is on it.

The dugout

No hiding place for Yuri Martirosyan

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

Squad

Artur Movsesyan: “I am not a substitute”

“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Noah will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.

The dugout

Kalifala Doumbia has been promised minutes

A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Kalifala Doumbia has written the date down.

In brief

  • Market The Brian Oddei story refuses to die
  • Squad Tales remains an outsider
  • Boardroom The Noah academy earns its keep
155 Edition

The Noah Courier

16 Jul 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

Kalifala Doumbia agrees terms with Urartu

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.

Market

Alexey Lysov asks to leave Noah

“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.

Transfer targets

Noah make their move for Gonçalo Gregório

$370.0K on the table at Ararat. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.

Squad

Words exchanged at Noah

Sergey Muradyan 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.

Squad

Words at Noah training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gustavo Sangaré 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.

Squad

A muscle injury and 15 days out for Tobías Rodríguez

The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Noah will quote 15 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.

The dugout

No hiding place for Kalifala Doumbia

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

Transfer targets

A loan move for Ağadadaş Salyanskiy is in the works

Noah have made the call to Neftchi. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.

The dugout

When it matters, Gustavo Sangaré plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

In brief

154 Edition

The Noah Courier

9 Jul 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

Artur Movsesyan has one foot out of the door

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.

Market

Oleg Korotkov 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 Noah can pretend not to have heard.

Transfer targets

The paperwork begins on Evgeni Chaykovsky

A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Noah have done the hard part with Inter, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.

Squad

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.

Squad

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.

Squad

Renato Alexandrino wants to go home

“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Noah can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.

Boardroom

96% 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.

Transfer targets

Noah ask about Orkhan Nazarov

A loan enquiry to Inter: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.

The dugout

When it matters, Matheus Aiás plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

In brief

153 Edition

The Noah Courier

2 Jul 2029
From our football correspondent Triumph

Market

Kalifala Doumbia has said yes to Alashkert

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.

Match

Full time on the season at Noah

Position 2 on 39 points. Every season is a story and this is the last line of it, and now the club has three months to decide what the next one is about.

Match

Noah refuse to drop out of the race

Position 2, 39 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.

Player ratings

Hélder Ferreira 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.

The dugout

Evgeny Kharin 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.

Market

Alexey Amelin 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 Noah, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Sergey Muradyan 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Noah

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gustavo Sangaré was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Transfer targets

Noah rebuffed over Evgeni Chaykovsky

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Inter have kept their man, and Noah go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

In brief

152 Edition

The Noah Courier

25 Jun 2029
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

No mercy from Noah

Ararat-Armenia will want this one forgotten quickly: 5‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Noah were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.

Player ratings

Brian Oddei scores twice — 10.00

Two goals and a mark of 10.00 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Match

13 unbeaten for Noah

Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 13 matches without defeat is a foundation Noah did not have in the autumn.

Squad

A day Matheus Aiás will not forget

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.

Market

Kalifala Doumbia has one foot out of the door

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.

Market

Arsen Beglaryan asks to leave Noah

“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 ratings

Hélder Ferreira was unplayable

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.

Squad

A falling-out at Noah

Sergey Muradyan and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Match

Nobody could stop scoring

6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Noah and Ararat-Armenia in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.

In brief

151 Edition

The Noah Courier

18 Jun 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

Daniel Molina runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 53. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Match

Noah tear Urartu apart

Rarely has this fixture seen a display like it: 4‑0 against Urartu, and it could have been more.

Match

The cup run ends for Noah

0‑0 against Van, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.

Player ratings

A brace, and Brian Oddei takes the afternoon — 9.75

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Brian Oddei provided it, and the 9.75 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Match

Whatever happens, Noah do not lose

12 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 ratings

Both of them Gustavo Sangaré's — 8.15

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.15, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Squad

Dani Figueira is the hero from the spot

A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Dani Figueira: 1 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.

Squad

Hélder Ferreira 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.

Squad

Eric Boakye stays put

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

In brief

  • Squad A row about effort at Noah
  • Match Noah are at home on the road
  • Match Noah settle it inside twenty minutes
150 Edition

The Noah Courier

11 Jun 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

Kalifala Doumbia has said yes to Urartu

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.

Market

Artur Movsesyan has one foot out of the door

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.

Match

Noah cannot stop winning

3 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.

Squad

Tempers go at Noah

Sergey Muradyan 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

Defences have started doubling up on Valentin Costache

13 goals and a season average of 7.33 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Transfer targets

No deal for Alioune Ndour at that price

Noah offered $77.0K; Ararat-Armenia said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.

Squad

Gustavo Sangaré 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.

Match

Noah get the job done against Shirak

A 2‑0 win over Shirak, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Valentin Costache at his very best

Marked 8.07. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Noah.

In brief

149 Edition

The Noah Courier

4 Jun 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

No mercy from Noah

Alashkert will want this one forgotten quickly: 4‑1, every duel lost, and a long ride home. Noah were ruthless in the way good sides are ruthless.

Squad

3 goals for Valentin Costache

The match ball belongs to Valentin Costache, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.

Market

Kalifala Doumbia asks to leave Noah

“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.

Match

Noah are in among the leaders

Position 3 and 27 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.

Match

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.

Squad

Sergey Muradyan 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.

Player ratings

Valentin Costache was on a different afternoon to everybody else

9.51. 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.

Squad

Gustavo Sangaré 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.

Squad

Valentin Costache is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.30 with 12 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

In brief

148 Edition

The Noah Courier

28 May 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Player ratings

A brace, and Valentin Costache takes the afternoon — 8.90

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Valentin Costache provided it, and the 8.90 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

The dugout

Aram Khamoyan says Noah 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

Whatever happens, Noah do not lose

8 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.

Squad

Words exchanged at Noah

Sergey Muradyan 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.

Squad

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.

Match

Noah get the job done against Ararat

A 2‑0 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 ratings

Magomedkhabib Abdusalamov 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.

Squad

David Sualehe reaches 200 appearances

200 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.

Looking ahead

Top-of-the-table clash for Noah

Alashkert next, and the two sides the division is watching meet each other. Whoever wins will be told nothing is decided in the same breath as being congratulated.

In brief

147 Edition

The Noah Courier

21 May 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Magomedkhabib Abdusalamov beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 32. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Match

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.

Squad

A falling-out at Noah

Sergey Muradyan and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Words at Noah training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gor Manvelyan 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.

Squad

Brian Oddei reaches 100 appearances

100 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.

Player ratings

The afternoon belonged to David Sualehe

A mark of 7.44, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.

The dugout

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 dugout

Mkhitar Spertsyan: “We have to be better”

“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Dani Figueira

“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

146 Edition

The Noah Courier

14 May 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Artur Movsesyan is on his way

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.

Squad

Sergey Muradyan 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.

Match

Still nobody has beaten Noah

The unbeaten run reaches 6. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.

Squad

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.

Player ratings

Valentin Costache was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.15. 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.

Squad

Arsen Beglaryan out for 18 days

The medical room confirms 18 days on the sidelines for Arsen Beglaryan, and a plan built around him now has to be rebuilt.

Boardroom

85% 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 dugout

Realdo Fili 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.

The dugout

When it matters, Valentin Costache plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

In brief

145 Edition

The Noah Courier

7 May 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Noah run riot against Gandzasar

6‑1, and the margin flattered nobody — it could have carried another goal or two without complaint. Afternoons like this are why people keep coming.

Player ratings

A brace, and Valentin Costache takes the afternoon — 9.55

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Valentin Costache provided it, and the 9.55 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Player ratings

Matheus Aiás scores twice — 9.52

Two goals and a mark of 9.52 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Match

Noah refuse to drop out of the race

Position 3, 19 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.

Player ratings

Up for the corner, and Gustavo Sangaré delivers — 7.77

Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Gustavo Sangaré scored, was marked 7.77, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.

Squad

Tempers go at Noah

Sergey Muradyan 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

7 goals as Noah and Gandzasar go for it

Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Noah and Gandzasar, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.

Squad

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.

Player ratings

Magomedkhabib Abdusalamov was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.35. 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.

In brief

144 Edition

The Noah Courier

30 Apr 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Hélder Ferreira

Successful dribbles: 32. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Words exchanged at Noah

Sergey Muradyan 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.

Squad

Gor Manvelyan 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.

Match

The half-term report on Noah

Position 3, 16 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.

Match

Noah caught on 88 minutes

The board was up, the win was priced in, and then BKMA scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.

Squad

Renato Alexandrino 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 Noah know it.

Player ratings

Matheus Aiás stands above it all

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.

Match

Noah share the spoils with BKMA

A 1‑1 draw with BKMA leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.

The dugout

Mkhitar Spertsyan on the point

“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Mkhitar Spertsyan after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.

In brief

143 Edition

The Noah Courier

23 Apr 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A falling-out at Noah

Sergey Muradyan and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

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.

Match

Noah find a way past Ararat-Armenia

Ararat-Armenia made Noah work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑1 at the end and the table does not ask how.

Squad

Goal number 50 for Hélder Ferreira

50 goals in these colours now, every one of them somebody’s memory. There is a supporter in the stand who can tell you where he was for most of them.

Player ratings

Valentin Costache in the eights

A performance of 8.27 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

Brian Oddei was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 18. 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.

Player ratings

One of those days for Hélder Ferreira

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.14, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

The dugout

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.” Mkhitar Spertsyan, on a 2‑1 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.

The dugout

Evgeny Kharin 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

142 Edition

The Noah Courier

16 Apr 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Artur Movsesyan is on his way

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.

Squad

Sergey Muradyan signs on for more

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

Squad

Sergey Muradyan 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.

Squad

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.

Player ratings

Magomedkhabib Abdusalamov 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.

Looking ahead

The big one: Ararat-Armenia come into view

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 ratings

Hélder Ferreira was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.01. 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 dugout

No hiding place for Kalifala Doumbia

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

Match

Brian Oddei rescues a point for Noah

It needed Brian Oddei to find the net to bring anything home at all: 2‑2 against Urartu, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.

In brief

141 Edition

The Noah Courier

9 Apr 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

The dugout

Gor Manvelyan: 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.” Noah have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Match

Noah refuse to drop out of the race

Position 3, 11 points, and the result everyone checks first is now theirs. The word is still not being said around the ground, which is how you know everyone is thinking it.

Squad

Tempers go at Noah

Sergey Muradyan 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

David Sualehe stays put

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

Squad

Words at Noah training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gor Manvelyan 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 ratings

A masterclass from Valentin Costache

Marked 8.10 — 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

Noah refuse to lose to Shirak

A point taken on 93 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.

Player ratings

Matheus Aiás leaves them behind him

Shots: 13. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.

Market

Ilja Petrov is free to find somewhere else

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

In brief

140 Edition

The Noah Courier

2 Apr 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Alashkert end the Noah run at 25

Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 25 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.

Squad

Alexey Ploschadny keeps Noah in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Squad

Words exchanged at Noah

Sergey Muradyan 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.

Match

A bad afternoon for Noah against Alashkert

2‑3 to Alashkert, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad

David Sualehe stays put

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

Squad

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.

Player ratings

Magomedkhabib Abdusalamov was unplayable

Successful dribbles: 19. 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.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Valentin Costache at his very best

Marked 8.36. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Noah.

Player ratings

One of those days for Matheus Aiás

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.04, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

In brief

  • The dugout No hiding place for Jordy Monroy
  • Boardroom Nobody left the Noah dressing room in a hurry
  • The dugout The manager’s verdict
139 Edition

The Noah Courier

26 Mar 2029
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

25 unbeaten for Noah

Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 25 matches without defeat is a foundation Noah did not have in the autumn.

Match

Nobody wins at Noah

26 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.

The dugout

Kalifala Doumbia 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.

Squad

A falling-out at Noah

Sergey Muradyan and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

A row about effort at Noah

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gustavo Sangaré was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Player ratings

Matheus Aiás was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.80. 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.

Match

Noah get the job done against Ararat

A 2‑0 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 ratings

Magomedkhabib Abdusalamov 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.

Player ratings

Gor Manvelyan 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.

In brief

138 Edition

The Noah Courier

19 Mar 2029
From our football correspondent Triumph

Match

24 unbeaten for Noah

Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 24 matches without defeat is a foundation Noah did not have in the autumn.

Match

Noah leave it late against Van

Ninety minutes of very little, and then everything at once. The winner arrived in the 85th, and Van spent what remained of the match appealing to the referee rather than chasing the ball.

Market

Artur Movsesyan has one foot out of the door

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.

Player ratings

Gustavo Sangaré pops up at the right end — 7.78

7.78, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.

Player ratings

Hélder Ferreira beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 25. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Squad

Sergey Muradyan 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Noah

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Hélder Ferreira was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Match

Noah get the job done against Van

A 2‑1 win over Van, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Player ratings

The chances came and went for Matheus Aiás

13 shots, and a count that reads like a good afternoon until you check the other column. Strikers survive weeks like this on the understanding that the chances keep arriving; the day they stop is the day it becomes a problem.

In brief

137 Edition

The Noah Courier

12 Mar 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Whatever happens, Noah do not lose

23 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.

Match

The run at home goes on for Noah

25 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.

Player ratings

Magomedkhabib Abdusalamov beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 26. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Squad

Tempers go at Noah

Sergey Muradyan 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

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.

Match

Pyunik end the Noah run at 4

Every run ends on an afternoon somebody had marked down as routine. This one went 4 matches, which is long enough that a town had stopped counting, and short enough that it will remember exactly who stopped it.

Squad

Renato Alexandrino 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 Noah know it.

The dugout

When it matters, Valentin Costache plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Artur Movsesyan

“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

136 Edition

The Noah Courier

5 Mar 2029
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Nobody wins at Noah

24 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.

Match

Gustavo Sangaré leads the rout of Gandzasar

4‑1, and Gustavo Sangaré took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Noah tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.

Player ratings

Gustavo Sangaré scores twice — 8.02

Two goals and a mark of 8.02 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Market

Renato Alexandrino 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 Noah, and it is not being withdrawn.

Match

Noah make it 4 in a row

Momentum is a hard thing to buy and an easy thing to lose, and right now Noah have 4 straight wins of it.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Magomedkhabib Abdusalamov

Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Matheus Aiás signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Matheus Aiás and Noah agree another 3 years.

Squad

Hélder Ferreira 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.

Boardroom

5 academy graduates step up at Noah

Senior shirt numbers handed to boys the coaches have known since they were twelve. Most will not make it and all of them have already done the hard part.

In brief

135 Edition

The Noah Courier

26 Feb 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

The view from the top for Noah

42 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.

Squad

A falling-out at Noah

Sergey Muradyan and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Hélder Ferreira 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 dugout

When it matters, Matheus Aiás plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

Market

The Matheus Aiás 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.

The dugout

Daniil Antsiperov 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

134 Edition

The Noah Courier

19 Feb 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Artur Movsesyan is on his way

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.

Squad

Sergey Muradyan 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.

Squad

Gustavo Sangaré 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.

Market

Kalifala Doumbia told to find a new club

“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Kalifala Doumbia has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Noah.

The dugout

Gustavo Sangaré 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 dugout

A promise honoured at Noah

Something was said to Yuri Martirosyan and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.

Squad

Yuri Martirosyan has outgrown this division

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.

The dugout

Kalifala Doumbia 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 Noah and Yuri Martirosyan

“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 Yuri Martirosyan.

In brief

133 Edition

The Noah Courier

12 Feb 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

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.

Squad

A row about effort at Noah

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gustavo Sangaré was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Squad

Alexandre Rosado stays put

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

Squad

6 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 dugout

Valentin Costache 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 dugout

The manager makes an example of Alexandre Rosado

“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 Noah Courier

5 Feb 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Boardroom

Noah close the window on a squad of their own making

2 in and 5 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.

Market

Wanre Daikreo 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 Noah can pretend not to have heard.

Market

Gandzasar watching Rob Nizet

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

Squad

Hélder Ferreira 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.

Squad

Kalifala Doumbia 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.

The dugout

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.

Squad

Noah take the armband off Gor Manvelyan

It will be explained as a change for the team and it may even be one. Nobody who has worn one believes that, and neither does the man who has just had it taken away.

Squad

This league is too small for Daniel Molina

He is doing things on a Saturday afternoon that nobody around him can answer, which is flattering for about one season and a problem after that. Noah will not keep him by pretending otherwise.

Boardroom

Noah sign a deal worth $443.2K a year

Commercial news is the news nobody sings about and everything else is paid for with. The board will call it a partnership; the accountants will call it the difference between this squad and a smaller one.

In brief

131 Edition

The Noah Courier

29 Jan 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

The view from the top for Noah

42 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.

Squad

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.

Squad

A row about effort at Noah

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gustavo Sangaré was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

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.

Market

The Matheus Aiás 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.

The dugout

A door opens for Gor Manvelyan

He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.

Market

The shop window has Alexey Amelin in it

Noah have let the market know Alexey Amelin can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.

The dugout

The manager plants his flag on Gustavo Sangaré

“Judge me on him.” Managers do not say that kind of thing by accident — it moves the pressure from Gustavo Sangaré’s shoulders onto his own, and both of them know it.

Squad

Evgeny Kharin finally belongs at Noah

The language has come, the shrug has gone, and he argues in training like a man who expects to be here next year. None of it shows up on a fee and all of it shows up on the pitch.

In brief

  • Squad Rok Frešer takes up the language
  • Boardroom Noah board back the manager
130 Edition

The Noah Courier

22 Jan 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Hizdion Sulejmani

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.

Market

Only the photograph left for Artur Movsesyan

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Artur Movsesyan will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Noah the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

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.

Squad

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.

Transfer targets

Inter tell Noah: Orkhan Nazarov is not for sale

The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.

The dugout

Gustavo Sangaré 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 dugout

The manager makes an example of Dani Figueira

“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.

The dugout

A door opens for Nathanael Saintini

He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.

Market

The David Sualehe 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.

In brief

129 Edition

The Noah Courier

15 Jan 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Hizdion Sulejmani

31 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.

Transfer targets

Narek Aghasaryan turns down Noah

The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Urartu keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.

Boardroom

Noah to lose Hizdion Sulejmani for free

There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Hizdion Sulejmani 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.

Squad

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.

Squad

Sergey Muradyan 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.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Arayik Eloyan

Noah asked and Ararat-Armenia said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

The dugout

No hiding place for Kalifala Doumbia

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

Squad

Noah are still strangers to each other

5 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.

The dugout

When it matters, Valentin Costache plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

In brief

128 Edition

The Noah Courier

8 Jan 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Hizdion Sulejmani

39 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.

Market

Artur Movsesyan has said yes to Alashkert

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.

Market

Noah say no — this time

The offer from Gandzasar for Rob Nizet 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

Wanre Daikreo 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 Noah, and it is not being withdrawn.

Transfer targets

Narek Aghasaryan due for a Noah medical

Everything agreed with Urartu, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.

Squad

Gor Manvelyan signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Gor Manvelyan and Noah agree another 3 years.

Squad

Hélder Ferreira 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.

Squad

Gustavo Sangaré 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.

Transfer targets

Noah rebuffed over Erik Simonyan

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Pyunik have kept their man, and Noah go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

In brief

127 Edition

The Noah Courier

1 Jan 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

The knee: Hizdion Sulejmani out for 46 days

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.

Match

The view from the top for Noah

42 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.

Squad

Matheus Aiás honoured for the season

The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Noah had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.

Market

Jefferson Jefferson asks to leave Noah

“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.

The dugout

Daniil Antsiperov 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.

Squad

A falling-out at Noah

Sergey Muradyan and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad

Gustavo Sangaré 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 dugout

The manager makes an example of Nathanael Saintini

“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.

The dugout

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.

In brief

126 Edition

The Noah Courier

25 Dec 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

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.

Squad

Words at Noah training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sergey Muradyan 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.

Squad

Arsen Beglaryan stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Arsen Beglaryan and Noah agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

The dugout

When it matters, Gustavo Sangaré plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

The dugout

Kalifala Doumbia has been promised minutes

A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Kalifala Doumbia has written the date down.

Market

The David Sualehe 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.

In brief

125 Edition

The Noah Courier

18 Dec 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Gustavo Sangaré 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.

Squad

A falling-out at Noah

Kalifala Doumbia and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

The dugout

Valentin Costache 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.

Market

The Valentin Costache question follows Noah around

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

Squad

A season on the outside for Magomedkhabib Abdusalamov

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.

Squad

Daniil Antsiperov has had enough of the bench

“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Noah will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.

In brief

124 Edition

The Noah Courier

11 Dec 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Hélder Ferreira 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.

Squad

Words at Noah training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gustavo Sangaré 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.

Squad

Kalifala Doumbia stays put

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

Squad

Henrikh Adamyan out for 15 days

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

The dugout

When it matters, Hélder Ferreira plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

The dugout

Daniil Antsiperov 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

123 Edition

The Noah Courier

4 Dec 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Noah are top

42 points and nobody above them. The word is not being said around the ground yet, and it is being thought in every seat.

Squad

Evgeny Kharin arrives at the club he grew up with

Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Evgeny Kharin has, at Noah, and the first month will show what that does to a man.

Squad

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.

Squad

Words at Noah training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sergey Muradyan 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.

Market

No place for Hélder Ferreira in the plan

“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Hélder Ferreira has his answer from Noah; what he does with it is the next window’s story.

The dugout

No hiding place for Kalifala Doumbia

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

Squad

Evgeny Kharin stays put

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

The dugout

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.

Market

Evgeny Kharin brings the grey hairs Noah lacked

At 33, he has seen every situation this season can produce, twice. The legs will be managed; the head is the purchase.

In brief

122 Edition

The Noah Courier

27 Nov 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

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.

Squad

Gustavo Sangaré 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.

Squad

Archie Baptiste signs on for more

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

Squad

6 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 dugout

Gustavo Sangaré 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 dugout

Aram Khamoyan 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 David Sualehe 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.

Market

Archie Baptiste joins Noah on a free

No fee and no drama: Archie Baptiste has signed at Noah, and the wage bill is the only line that moved.

The dugout

A door opens for Kalifala Doumbia

He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.

In brief

121 Edition

The Noah Courier

20 Nov 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Boardroom

Noah have won it

This is the season the town will measure the next twenty against. The trophy travels home with the squad, and the route through the streets was agreed days ago.

Squad

Matheus Aiás honoured for the season

The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Noah had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.

Squad

Magomedkhabib Abdusalamov gets the move he always wanted

Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Magomedkhabib Abdusalamov has just signed for Noah, and for once the answer mattered.

Squad

Tempers go at Noah

Sergey Muradyan 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

A row about effort at Noah

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gustavo Sangaré was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

No hiding place for Nathanael Saintini

“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 dugout

Valentin Costache 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.

Market

The Valentin Costache question follows Noah around

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

The dugout

Kalifala Doumbia 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 Kalifala Doumbia trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

In brief

120 Edition

The Noah Courier

13 Nov 2028
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Boardroom

Noah have won it

This is the season the town will measure the next twenty against. The trophy travels home with the squad, and the route through the streets was agreed days ago.

Match

The run at home goes on for Noah

24 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.

Squad

Matheus Aiás is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.74 with 25 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Match

Gustavo Sangaré sends Noah through

Cup ties wait for somebody to seize them, and Gustavo Sangaré obliged against Alashkert. 4‑1 on the night, and the name in the next round’s hat is Noah.

Player ratings

Valentin Costache beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 29. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Market

Only the photograph left for Zaven Khudaverdyan

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Zaven Khudaverdyan will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Noah the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Player ratings

Gustavo Sangaré goes up and wins it — 7.71

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 7.71 for the rest of it.

Match

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.

Squad

Hélder Ferreira 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.

In brief

  • Squad Words at Noah training over how hard people work
  • Player ratings A masterclass from Matheus Aiás
  • Match Noah settle it inside twenty minutes
119 Edition

The Noah Courier

6 Nov 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Nobody above Noah

First, on 42 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.

Squad

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.

Market

Matthew Corran is on his way

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.

Squad

Words at Noah training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gustavo Sangaré 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.

Squad

Rob Nizet signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Rob Nizet commits to Noah for another 3 years.

Squad

A last season at home is what Cristián Magaña is after

It is sentimental, it is completely genuine, and it is the beginning of a departure nobody has announced. The club can be gracious about it or it can pretend not to have heard.

The dugout

When it matters, Matheus Aiás plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

Market

The Matheus Aiás 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.

The dugout

Ilja Petrov 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

118 Edition

The Noah Courier

30 Oct 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Rob Nizet is on his way

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.

Squad

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.

Squad

Words at Noah training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gustavo Sangaré 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.

Squad

Arsen Beglaryan stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Arsen Beglaryan and Noah agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Home is on Cristián Magaña'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; Noah are dealing with a man who wants a different country.

The dugout

When it matters, Gustavo Sangaré plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

In brief

117 Edition

The Noah Courier

23 Oct 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

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.

Squad

Sergey Muradyan 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 dugout

Sergey Muradyan 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 dugout

Jefferson Jefferson has been promised minutes

A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Jefferson Jefferson has written the date down.

Market

David Sualehe linked with a move away

The name of David Sualehe keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Noah say nothing, which says plenty.

The dugout

Zaven Khudaverdyan 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 signature from Rob Nizet

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

Market

Luís Eduardo placed on the list

Noah have made Luís Eduardo available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.

The dugout

The manager comes out for Gustavo Sangaré

Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Gustavo Sangaré has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.

In brief

  • Boardroom The Noah board put their names to it
  • Squad Arsen Beglaryan is out on the grass again
116 Edition

The Noah Courier

16 Oct 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Zaven Khudaverdyan is on his way

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.

Squad

Hélder Ferreira 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.

Squad

A row about effort at Noah

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gustavo Sangaré was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Squad

Noah are still strangers to each other

6 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.

The dugout

Hélder Ferreira 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 Hélder Ferreira is on it.

Market

The Valentin Costache 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.

The dugout

The manager makes Jefferson Jefferson a promise

Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Noah. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.

The dugout

Zaven Khudaverdyan 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

Daniil Antsiperov wants out of the dugout

“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Noah will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.

In brief

115 Edition

The Noah Courier

9 Oct 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Nobody above Noah

First, on 42 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.

The dugout

Dani Figueira: 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.” Noah have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

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.

Market

Matthew Corran is on his way

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.

Squad

Nathanael Saintini signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Nathanael Saintini and Noah agree another 3 years.

Squad

A row about effort at Noah

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gustavo Sangaré was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Squad

A muscle injury and 14 days out for Arsen Beglaryan

The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Noah will quote 14 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Alexey Ploschadny

“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.

The dugout

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.

In brief

114 Edition

The Noah Courier

2 Oct 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

The dugout

Alexey Ploschadny: 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.” Noah have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Market

Rob Nizet is on his way

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.

Squad

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.

Squad

Felipe Gutiérrez arrives at the club he grew up with

Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Felipe Gutiérrez has, at Noah, and the first month will show what that does to a man.

Squad

Sergey Muradyan 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.

Squad

A step back for Alexey Ploschadny at Noah

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.

Boardroom

Noah release $1.4M for the manager

The board have put money on the table rather than an encouraging word. What happens to it now is somebody else's problem, and somebody else's job.

The dugout

Gustavo Sangaré 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 Gustavo Sangaré is on it.

The dugout

Nathanael Saintini 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 Nathanael Saintini trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.

In brief

113 Edition

The Noah Courier

25 Sep 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

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.

Squad

A row about effort at Noah

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sergey Muradyan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

Sergey Muradyan 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 Sergey Muradyan is on it.

Squad

Oleg Korotkov is a square peg at Noah

The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.

The dugout

Jefferson Jefferson has been promised minutes

A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Jefferson Jefferson has written the date down.

Market

David Sualehe linked with a move away

The name of David Sualehe keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Noah say nothing, which says plenty.

The dugout

Kalifala Doumbia 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

Gustavo Sangaré has company in his position

The competition arrived without a word said to him about it. Gustavo Sangaré keeps the shirt for now, at Noah's convenience rather than his own.

Market

Still no signature from Rob Nizet

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

In brief

112 Edition

The Noah Courier

18 Sep 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Kalifala Doumbia agrees terms with Aktobe

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.

Market

Zaven Khudaverdyan has one foot out of the door

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.

Squad

Hélder Ferreira 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.

Squad

Gustavo Sangaré 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.

Squad

6 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.

Squad

Oleg Korotkov stays put

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

The dugout

Hélder Ferreira 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 Hélder Ferreira is on it.

Market

The Valentin Costache 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.

The dugout

Jefferson Jefferson 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.

In brief

111 Edition

The Noah Courier

11 Sep 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A fracture rules Jefferson Jefferson out for 15 days

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.

Match

Noah are top

42 points and nobody above them. The word is not being said around the ground yet, and it is being thought in every seat.

Squad

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.

Market

Matthew Corran has one foot out of the door

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.

Market

Kalifala Doumbia attracts admirers

The name of Kalifala Doumbia has come up in conversations Noah were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.

Squad

Sergey Muradyan 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.

Squad

Home is on Wanre Daikreo'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; Noah are dealing with a man who wants a different country.

The dugout

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.

The dugout

No hiding place for Kalifala Doumbia

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

In brief

110 Edition

The Noah Courier

4 Sep 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Whatever happens, Noah do not lose

20 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.

Match

Nobody wins at Noah

23 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.

Squad

Matheus Aiás is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.74 with 25 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Match

Noah march on in the cup

Ararat-Armenia are out and Noah go through, 4‑0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.

Squad

22 days out for Jefferson Jefferson after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Noah will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Player ratings

Brian Oddei scores twice — 8.93

Two goals and a mark of 8.93 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Market

Davit Davtyan agrees terms with Urartu

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.

Player ratings

No sign of nerves from Zaven Khudaverdyan at 21 — 7.69

The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Zaven Khudaverdyan did not need any: 7.69, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.

Market

Only the photograph left for Rob Nizet

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Rob Nizet will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Noah the goodbyes have quietly begun.

In brief

  • Boardroom Noah close the window on a squad of their own making
  • Market Wanre Daikreo puts it in writing
  • Squad Alexey Amelin arrives at the club he grew up with
109 Edition

The Noah Courier

28 Aug 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A fracture rules Jefferson Jefferson out for 30 days

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.

Market

Pyunik come back empty-handed

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

Squad

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.

Squad

Words at Noah training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Gustavo Sangaré 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.

Squad

Arsen Beglaryan signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Arsen Beglaryan commits to Noah for another 1 years.

The dugout

When it matters, David Sualehe plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

The dugout

The manager makes Jefferson Jefferson a promise

Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Noah. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.

Market

The David Sualehe story refuses to die

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

The dugout

Zaven Khudaverdyan 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.

In brief

108 Edition

The Noah Courier

21 Aug 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

37 days out for Jefferson Jefferson after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Noah will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Market

Rob Nizet agrees terms with Gandzasar

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.

Market

Only the photograph left for Zaven Khudaverdyan

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Zaven Khudaverdyan will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Noah the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Market

Noah say no — this time

The offer from Urartu for Davit Davtyan 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

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.

Squad

A row about effort at Noah

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sergey Muradyan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

Gustavo Sangaré 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 Gustavo Sangaré is on it.

Market

The Valentin Costache question follows Noah around

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

The dugout

Dani Figueira has been promised minutes

A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Dani Figueira has written the date down.

In brief

107 Edition

The Noah Courier

14 Aug 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

A fracture rules Jefferson Jefferson out for 44 days

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.

Market

Yan Eteki says no to Pyunik

“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Yan Eteki had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.

Match

The view from the top for Noah

42 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.

Market

Noah turn down Aktobe for Kalifala Doumbia

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

Squad

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.

Squad

A row about effort at Noah

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sergey Muradyan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Market

The Rob Nizet conversation is coming

Everyone has stopped pretending: Gandzasar will make the call about Rob Nizet this week. Noah have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.

The dugout

When it matters, Hélder Ferreira plays

It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.

The dugout

Kalifala Doumbia 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

106 Edition

The Noah Courier

7 Aug 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

51 days out for Jefferson Jefferson after a fracture

A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Noah will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.

Squad

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.

Market

Matthew Corran has one foot out of the door

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.

Market

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.

Market

Eyes on Kalifala Doumbia again

The phone has started ringing about Kalifala Doumbia again, and this time the name on the line is Aktobe. Noah are listening politely and promising nothing.

Squad

Brian Oddei signs on for more

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

Squad

A row about effort at Noah

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and David Sualehe was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

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.

The dugout

Alexey Ploschadny 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

105 Edition

The Noah Courier

31 Jul 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Hélder Ferreira 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.

Market

Maxim Tarasov is on his way

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.

Squad

Sergey Muradyan 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 dugout

Jefferson Jefferson 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.

The dugout

David Sualehe 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 David Sualehe is on it.

The dugout

Ilja Petrov 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 dugout

A door opens for Dani Figueira

He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.

Market

Zaven Khudaverdyan runs his contract down

4 months remain and no agreement is close. Every week without a signature costs Noah money.

Market

The Brian Oddei question follows Noah around

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.

In brief

104 Edition

The Noah Courier

24 Jul 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

The dugout

Ilja Petrov: 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.” Noah have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Market

Zaven Khudaverdyan has one foot out of the door

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.

Boardroom

Zaven Khudaverdyan signs for Ararat-Armenia while still at Noah

The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Zaven Khudaverdyan has agreed terms with Ararat-Armenia for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.

Squad

A row about effort at Noah

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sergey Muradyan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Squad

A falling-out at Noah

Kalifala Doumbia and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

The dugout

The manager makes an example of Artem Korneev

“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.

The dugout

Gustavo Sangaré 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 Gustavo Sangaré is on it.

The dugout

The manager makes Jefferson Jefferson a promise

Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Noah. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.

Market

David Sualehe linked with a move away

The name of David Sualehe keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Noah say nothing, which says plenty.

In brief

103 Edition

The Noah Courier

17 Jul 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

The view from the top for Noah

42 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.

Market

Yan Eteki turns Pyunik down

“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.

Market

Denis Gnedoy 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 Noah, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

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.

Squad

A row about effort at Noah

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Gustavo Sangaré was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout

Hélder Ferreira 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 Hélder Ferreira is on it.

The dugout

Kalifala Doumbia 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

The formation has left Wanre Daikreo behind

Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Noah will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.

Market

The Valentin Costache story refuses to die

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.

In brief

102 Edition

The Noah Courier

10 Jul 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Matthew Corran asks to leave Noah

“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

Sergey Muradyan signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Sergey Muradyan and Noah agree another 5 years.

Squad

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.

Squad

Words at Noah training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sergey Muradyan 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.

Market

Pyunik expected to open talks for Yan Eteki

Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Noah will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.

Squad

Noah lose Matthew Corran

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

The dugout

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.

Market

The Matheus Aiás 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.

The dugout

A promise honoured at Noah

Something was said to Wanre Daikreo and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.

In brief

101 Edition

The Noah Courier

3 Jul 2028
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Whatever happens, Noah do not lose

19 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.

Match

Noah make home a hard place to visit

22 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.

Squad

Matheus Aiás is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.74 with 25 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Match

Noah finish in position 1

42 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.

Player ratings

Hélder Ferreira beats them one at a time

Successful dribbles: 31. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.

Player ratings

A brace, and Matheus Aiás takes the afternoon — 8.83

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Matheus Aiás provided it, and the 8.83 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Market

Shakhter come back empty-handed

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

Market

Enri Mukba asks to leave Noah

“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

Matthew Corran has agreed to leave Noah for nothing

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.

In brief