From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Nov 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 87 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words exchanged at Shirak
Lyova Mryan 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
A row about effort at Shirak
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Rafik Misakyan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad9 Nov 2026
94 days out for Wilson Barrios after a fracture
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Shirak will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Squad9 Nov 2026
A falling-out at Shirak
Rafik Misakyan and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at Shirak training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dillon Hoogewerf 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.
Market9 Nov 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Aram Adamyan has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market9 Nov 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Vahan Khachatryan has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
Lyova Mryan 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 Shirak, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad2 Nov 2026
Arthur Coneglian 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Tempers go at Shirak
Bahlul Jafarov 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
8 new faces, and Shirak 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
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.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Seryozha Urushanyan trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Oct 2026
Words at Shirak training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rafik Misakyan 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
A falling-out at Shirak
Rudik Mkrtchyan and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
Nobody at Shirak will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Shirak
Rafik Misakyan and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Dillon Hoogewerf 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 dugout19 Oct 2026
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 Ruben Karagulyan is on it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Oct 2026
A falling-out at Shirak
Prince Ukachukwu and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Dillon Hoogewerf falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Market12 Oct 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Grigor Simonyan has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market12 Oct 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Arman Khachatryan has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Levon Darbinyan, and the manager let it.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Donald Kodia 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 Donald Kodia is on it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Shirak this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Shirak training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rafik Misakyan 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Too much change too quickly at Shirak
11 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Shirak
Rafik Misakyan was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Dillon Hoogewerf 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 dugout28 Sep 2026
Lyova Mryan 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 Shirak, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
Nobody at Shirak 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 dugout28 Sep 2026
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.
Squad28 Sep 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at Shirak
Rafik Misakyan and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad21 Sep 2026
A row about effort at Shirak
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dillon Hoogewerf was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Lyova Mryan 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 Lyova Mryan trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Ruben Karagulyan has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Shirak 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 dugout21 Sep 2026
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Shirak. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Squad21 Sep 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets14 Sep 2026
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Gubbio keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Rafik Misakyan 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.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at Shirak
Bahlul Jafarov and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Market14 Sep 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Aram Bayramyan has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market14 Sep 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Henrikh Haroyan has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
Donald Kodia has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Shirak will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Deadline passes with 24 signed and 0 gone
That is the business done at Shirak until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Kokand 1912 is saying, and nobody at Shirak is enjoying the guessing.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Dillon Hoogewerf falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words exchanged at Shirak
Rudik Mkrtchyan 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Bahlul Jafarov is the division's best young player this month
At 21 he has spent a month being better than everybody his age in the league, which is a different and harder thing than one good afternoon. Shirak will try very hard not to make too much of it.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Too much change too quickly at Shirak
11 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
Emil Papikyan 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 Emil Papikyan is on it.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
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 Levon Darbinyan has written the date down.
Market7 Sep 2026
Window shut, Lyova Mryan still here
Shirak spent the window trying to move Lyova Mryan on and nobody came. He trains with a squad that has already told him he is not part of it, and both sides now wait for the next one.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Shirak have done the hard part with Kokand 1912, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Colón is saying, and nobody at Shirak is enjoying the guessing.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Shirak
Rafik Misakyan 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words at Shirak training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Dillon Hoogewerf 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 targets31 Aug 2026
Shirak asked and Lecco said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad31 Aug 2026
No place for Bahlul Jafarov in the new shape
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Shirak are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match19 Aug 2026
The small margins put Shirak out
Out, 2‑3 to Ararat-Armenia, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 25. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Shirak
Prince Ukachukwu 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.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Van have kept their man, and Shirak go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Rafik Misakyan 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 dugout24 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mher Tarloyan, and the manager let it.
Squad24 Aug 2026
There is a level at which a footballer stops being tested and starts being contained, and he reached it some time ago. Shirak know it, and so does everybody who watches him.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
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 2‑3 Sargis Haroyan left the room before anybody could ask which.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Shirak will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match12 Aug 2026
Cup progress for Shirak
A 2‑1 win over Van, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Squad17 Aug 2026
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Seryozha Urushanyan is living that version at Shirak, and it tends to show in the first month.
Market17 Aug 2026
Tskhinvali come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Shirak did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market17 Aug 2026
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Shirak
Rafik Misakyan and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Shirak
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Dillon Hoogewerf was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Shirak asked and Uruguay Montevideo 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 terraces17 Aug 2026
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Squad17 Aug 2026
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. Shirak will not keep him by pretending otherwise.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad10 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Lyova Mryan and Shirak agree another 3 years.
Market10 Aug 2026
Shirak pay Noah $91.0K for a proper upgrade
Noah did not want to sell and the number is why they did. $91.0K for Arthur Coneglian, and the expectation that arrives with him is the kind no amount of settling-in period softens.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
$120.0K on the table at Noah. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Shirak
Rafik Misakyan was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Shirak asked and Notts County said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Artak Barseghyan is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market10 Aug 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Petros Barseghyan has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Mkhitar Mkhitaryan is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The dugout10 Aug 2026
Lyova Mryan 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
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Squad
Words at Shirak training over how hard people work
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Squad
Too much change too quickly at Shirak
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 Aug 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Rafik Misakyan and Shirak agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
Shirak have gone to Noah with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Lyova Mryan 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 Shirak this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Words at Shirak training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rafik Misakyan 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.
Squad3 Aug 2026
No place for Wilson Barrios in the new shape
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Shirak are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
Market3 Aug 2026
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.