From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 Jun 2027
Renato Hyshmeri damages knee ligaments — 26 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 26 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.
Player ratings28 Jun 2027
Donald Kodia beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 36. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match26 Jun 2027
The wait goes on for Shirak
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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Alexandr Mishiev is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
The deal with OGC Nice is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Transfer targets28 Jun 2027
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Porto is saying, and nobody at Shirak is enjoying the guessing.
Squad28 Jun 2027
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.
Squad28 Jun 2027
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 terraces28 Jun 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Suren Tsarukyan has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad21 Jun 2027
33 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Shirak lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Match16 Jun 2027
Shirak bow out of the cup
Noah go through and Shirak go home, 1‑2 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Match19 Jun 2027
4 matches without a win for Shirak
The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Shirak are no longer polite ones.
Squad21 Jun 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Shirak this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad21 Jun 2027
The step up is real for Sem Eekhout
At 20 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Transfer targets21 Jun 2027
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.
Match19 Jun 2027
0‑2 to Alashkert, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout21 Jun 2027
“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.
Player ratings21 Jun 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
In brief
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The dugout
The view from the dugout
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Squad
A row about effort at Shirak
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Transfer targets
A loan move for Gustavo Borges is in the works
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Jun 2027
42 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Shirak lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
No thanks: Ernest Kacou rejects the move
Shirak 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.
Player ratings14 Jun 2027
Donald Kodia beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 23. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad14 Jun 2027
A falling-out at Shirak
Lyova Mryan and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad14 Jun 2027
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.
Boardroom14 Jun 2027
Van will keep picking him until June and will get nothing for him after it. Hayk Khachatryan has pre-agreed a move to Shirak, and the only people who lose in that arrangement are the ones who let the contract run down.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Noah have kept their man, and Shirak go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market14 Jun 2027
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Karen Mkhitaryan 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.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
A loan enquiry to Exeter City: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad7 Jun 2027
49 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Shirak lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market7 Jun 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Transfer targets7 Jun 2027
The deal with Ararat is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Squad7 Jun 2027
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.
Squad7 Jun 2027
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.
Match5 Jun 2027
Van take the points off Shirak
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout7 Jun 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad7 Jun 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ruben Karagulyan and Shirak agree another 3 years.
The dugout7 Jun 2027
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad31 May 2027
56 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Shirak lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The dugout31 May 2027
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Shirak have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad31 May 2027
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 May 2027
Aleksa Vidić 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 terraces31 May 2027
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Sergey Manukyan has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Match29 May 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Lyova Mryan. 1‑0 against Pyunik, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The dugout31 May 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings31 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings31 May 2027
Nobody on the pitch touched Lyova Mryan
7.95, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. Shirak had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad24 May 2027
Renato Hyshmeri damages knee ligaments — 64 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 64 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.
Squad24 May 2027
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.
Squad24 May 2027
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.
Match22 May 2027
A point taken on 90 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 ratings24 May 2027
Lyova Mryan beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 17. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Match22 May 2027
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
The dugout24 May 2027
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
The dugout24 May 2027
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Shirak told Martin Grigoryan something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The dugout24 May 2027
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad17 May 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Renato Hyshmeri
72 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Shirak lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Player ratings17 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 43. 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.
Squad17 May 2027
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.
Squad17 May 2027
Tempers go at Shirak
Rimal Haxhiu was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The dugout17 May 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout17 May 2027
Levon Spertsyan dropped after a run of poor form
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
The dugout17 May 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Armen Khachatryan was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Shirak dressing room was either.
Match15 May 2027
No goals between Shirak and BKMA
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. BKMA will be the happier side with the point.
The dugout17 May 2027
Martin Grigoryan 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
Crisis
Squad10 May 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Renato Hyshmeri
82 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Shirak lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad10 May 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 19 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings10 May 2027
Donald Kodia 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.
Squad10 May 2027
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.
Match8 May 2027
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Market10 May 2027
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Karen Sarkisov 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.
Squad10 May 2027
23 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
The dugout10 May 2027
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 0‑2 Armen Khachatryan left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout10 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ruben Karagulyan, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad3 May 2027
Renato Hyshmeri damages knee ligaments — 89 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 89 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.
Squad3 May 2027
27 days out for Artak Bayramyan 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.
Player ratings3 May 2027
Two goals and a mark of 8.09 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Squad3 May 2027
Tempers go at Shirak
Lyova Mryan 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.
Squad3 May 2027
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.
Match1 May 2027
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Donald Kodia. 2‑1 against Urartu, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
The dugout3 May 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Match3 May 2027
Shirak at the halfway mark
Half the programme played, position 5, 13 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
The dugout3 May 2027
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Armen Khachatryan on a 2‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad26 Apr 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Renato Hyshmeri
96 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Shirak lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 34 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Player ratings26 Apr 2027
A brace, and Donald Kodia takes the afternoon — 8.11
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Donald Kodia provided it, and the 8.11 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad26 Apr 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Shirak this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Apr 2027
25 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Match24 Apr 2027
Three points for Shirak, 2‑1 the final word against Ararat in a contest settled by the finer margins.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
The manager makes an example of Renato Hyshmeri
“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 ratings26 Apr 2027
Rimal Haxhiu did the work nobody counts — 7.64
10 combined actions and 7.64. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
The dugout26 Apr 2027
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑1, Armen Khachatryan could afford to be generous.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad19 Apr 2027
104 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Shirak lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad19 Apr 2027
A fracture rules Artak Bayramyan out for 42 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Shirak will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad19 Apr 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Levon Spertsyan commits to Shirak for another 3 years.
Squad19 Apr 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Shirak this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match17 Apr 2027
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alexandr Mishiev, and the manager let it.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Armen Khachatryan after 1‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
Somebody else is better right now than Levon Spertsyan
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Renato Hyshmeri trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad12 Apr 2027
Renato Hyshmeri damages knee ligaments — 112 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 112 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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Tempers go at Shirak
Lyova Mryan 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.
Match10 Apr 2027
Noah take the points off Shirak
Beaten 1‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad12 Apr 2027
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.
Market12 Apr 2027
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Karen Sarkisov 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 dugout12 Apr 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑3 defeat, delivered by Armen Khachatryan to a room that had heard them before.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
Lyova Mryan 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 Lyova Mryan is on it.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Apr 2027
Renato Hyshmeri damages knee ligaments — 121 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 121 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.
Match3 Apr 2027
Cup progress for Shirak
A 0‑0 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?
Match31 Mar 2027
Shirak through in the cup
A 3‑1 win over Van, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Match31 Mar 2027
Donald Kodia wins it after the whistle should have gone
96 minutes played. Donald Kodia found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Van went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Squad5 Apr 2027
Donald Kodia takes the match ball home
3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.
Squad5 Apr 2027
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.
Match3 Apr 2027
6 unbeaten for Shirak
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Shirak did not have in the autumn.
Squad5 Apr 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Desley Ubbink commits to Shirak for another 2 years.
Player ratings5 Apr 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad29 Mar 2027
Renato Hyshmeri damages knee ligaments — 129 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 129 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.
Player ratings29 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 38. 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.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Squad29 Mar 2027
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.
Match27 Mar 2027
Three points for Shirak, 1‑0 the final word against Pyunik in a contest settled by the finer margins.
Player ratings29 Mar 2027
Defensive actions: 18, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
The dugout29 Mar 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad29 Mar 2027
Narek Janoyan 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 dugout29 Mar 2027
“That is what I want every week. Not the result, the way they went about it.” The manager, after 1‑0, already talking about the next one.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad22 Mar 2027
Renato Hyshmeri damages knee ligaments — 137 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 137 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.
Player ratings22 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 35. 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.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
Alexandr Mishiev: 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.” Shirak have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Match20 Mar 2027
No end in sight to Shirak's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Shirak has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad22 Mar 2027
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.
Match20 Mar 2027
The goals have deserted Shirak
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Shirak can tell you which week it ends in.
Squad22 Mar 2027
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.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Armen Khachatryan was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Shirak dressing room was either.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad15 Mar 2027
Renato Hyshmeri damages knee ligaments — 144 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 144 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.
Player ratings15 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 45. 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.
Market15 Mar 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Shirak, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad15 Mar 2027
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.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Words at Shirak training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Narek Janoyan is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Armen Khachatryan was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Shirak dressing room was either.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
Match13 Mar 2027
Point won or two lost for Shirak?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against BKMA? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Looking ahead15 Mar 2027
Gandzasar next, and one man in the Shirak dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad8 Mar 2027
Renato Hyshmeri damages knee ligaments — 151 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 151 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.
Player ratings8 Mar 2027
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Renato Hyshmeri commits to Shirak for another 2 years.
Squad8 Mar 2027
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.
The terraces8 Mar 2027
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
The manager makes an example of Renato Hyshmeri
“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.
Squad8 Mar 2027
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Shirak can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
When it matters, Lyova Mryan 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 dugout8 Mar 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Armen Khachatryan was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Shirak dressing room was either.
In brief
-
Boardroom
Shirak say no to the training-ground money
-
The dugout
Somebody else is better right now than Martin Grigoryan
-
Match
Point won or two lost for Shirak?
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad1 Mar 2027
Renato Hyshmeri damages knee ligaments — 158 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 158 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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
A falling-out at Shirak
Lyova Mryan and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad1 Mar 2027
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.
Squad1 Mar 2027
The captaincy has been taken off Renato Hyshmeri. Shirak will call it a decision about the team; a dressing room reads it as a verdict on a man.
The dugout1 Mar 2027
Renato Hyshmeri 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.
Looking ahead1 Mar 2027
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Tigran Khachiyan’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Shirak needing him to play as if none of it matters.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad22 Feb 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Shirak this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad22 Feb 2027
A row about effort at Shirak
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Narek Janoyan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad22 Feb 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” David Ghazaryan and Shirak agree another 3 years.
Market22 Feb 2027
The name of Rafik Misakyan keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Shirak say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to David Ghazaryan, and the manager let it.
The dugout22 Feb 2027
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets15 Feb 2027
No thanks: Leonel Ortíz rejects the move
Shirak had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Nueva Chicago, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad15 Feb 2027
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.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Lyova Mryan, and the manager let it.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Words at Shirak training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Narek Janoyan 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.
Squad15 Feb 2027
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Shirak has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
The dugout15 Feb 2027
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
Transfer targets8 Feb 2027
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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
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.
Transfer targets8 Feb 2027
Shirak asked and Noah said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market8 Feb 2027
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. David Ghazaryan is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
When it matters, Lyova Mryan 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 dugout8 Feb 2027
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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Shirak would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Shirak close the window on a squad of their own making
3 in and 0 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Gimnasia y Tiro is saying, and nobody at Shirak is enjoying the guessing.
Squad1 Feb 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Hovhannes Grigoryan and Shirak agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad1 Feb 2027
A falling-out at Shirak
Lyova Mryan and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad1 Feb 2027
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.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Estoril Praia have kept their man, and Shirak go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Transfer targets1 Feb 2027
Shirak have made the call to Kokand 1912. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Shirak than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
The dugout1 Feb 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
No thanks: Nicola Anelli rejects the move
Shirak had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Renate, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad25 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Shirak this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Transfer targets25 Jan 2027
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.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Words at Shirak training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Narek Janoyan 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 targets25 Jan 2027
A loan enquiry to Gimnasia y Tiro: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Squad25 Jan 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Levon Spertsyan commits to Shirak for another 3 years.
Market25 Jan 2027
The name of Rafik Misakyan keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Shirak say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout25 Jan 2027
Gagik Akulyan 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
Squad18 Jan 2027
Tempers go at Shirak
Lyova Mryan 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.
Squad18 Jan 2027
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.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
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 dugout18 Jan 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Transfer targets18 Jan 2027
A loan enquiry to Renate: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
The dugout18 Jan 2027
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
Squad11 Jan 2027
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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Alexandr Mishiev is 22, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
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.
Market11 Jan 2027
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Levon Spertsyan has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Market11 Jan 2027
Signings arrive with a picture of the club in their head, and this one’s picture was bigger than the building. He will play well and he will be gone, in that order, and everybody knows it.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at Shirak training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Narek Janoyan 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 targets11 Jan 2027
Estoril Praia have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Transfer targets11 Jan 2027
Shirak have made the call to Siracusa. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
Lyova Mryan 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
Squad4 Jan 2027
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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Words at Shirak training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Narek Janoyan 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 targets4 Jan 2027
Urartu have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
Transfer targets4 Jan 2027
A loan enquiry to Trabzonspor: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Boardroom4 Jan 2027
Open for business: Shirak enter the window
The registration window is open and the phone has started. Between now and the deadline this club will be linked with forty players and sign three, which is the usual ratio.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad28 Dec 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.
Squad28 Dec 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.
Squad28 Dec 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Artak Barseghyan and Shirak agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout28 Dec 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.
Market28 Dec 2026
The name of Rafik Misakyan keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Shirak say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout28 Dec 2026
Gagik Akulyan 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 Gagik Akulyan is on it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Dec 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.
The dugout21 Dec 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.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at Shirak training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Narek Janoyan 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 dugout21 Dec 2026
Lyova Mryan 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.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Squad21 Dec 2026
A manager forgives a bad Saturday far more readily than a bad Tuesday, because one of them he can explain and the other one he chose. The reports this week have not been good.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Dec 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.
Market14 Dec 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.
Market14 Dec 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Tigran Khachatryan is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at Shirak training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Narek Janoyan 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 dugout14 Dec 2026
Lyova Mryan 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 Lyova Mryan is on it.
The dugout14 Dec 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Dec 2026
A falling-out at Shirak
Lyova Mryan and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad7 Dec 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.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Emil Papikyan commits to Shirak for another 4 years.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad30 Nov 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Shirak this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Shirak training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Donato Ianzano 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.
Market30 Nov 2026
He is 20, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
Market30 Nov 2026
The name of Rafik Misakyan keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Shirak say nothing, which says plenty.
Market30 Nov 2026
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
Gagik Akulyan 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 Gagik Akulyan is on it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad23 Nov 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.
Squad23 Nov 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Hovhannes Grigoryan and Shirak agree another 3 years.
The dugout23 Nov 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
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.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Lyova Mryan 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
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.
Market9 Nov 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Hovhannes Grigoryan has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The dugout9 Nov 2026
The manager makes an example of Lyova Mryan
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad2 Nov 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 19 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad2 Nov 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Vahan Karapetyan and Shirak agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Uriel Ramos 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at Shirak training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emiljano Vila 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 dugout2 Nov 2026
Lyova Mryan 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.
Market2 Nov 2026
The name of Rafik Misakyan keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Shirak say nothing, which says plenty.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Oct 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 27 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Tempers go at Shirak
Lyova Mryan was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad26 Oct 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Oct 2026
A fracture rules Renato Hyshmeri out for 35 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Shirak will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad19 Oct 2026
The step up is real for Uriel Ramos
At 19 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
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.
The dugout19 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 dugout19 Oct 2026
Lyova Mryan 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 Lyova Mryan is on it.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at Shirak training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Narek Janoyan is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Oct 2026
A fracture rules Renato Hyshmeri out for 42 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Shirak will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad12 Oct 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Emiljano Vila falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Market12 Oct 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Artur Khachatryan is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market12 Oct 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Artur Barseghyan has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Too much change too quickly at Shirak
10 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
Squad5 Oct 2026
49 days out for Renato Hyshmeri 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.
Squad5 Oct 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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
“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 Shirak know it.
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.
Market5 Oct 2026
The name of Rafik Misakyan keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Shirak say nothing, which says plenty.
The dugout5 Oct 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
Squad28 Sep 2026
56 days out for Renato Hyshmeri 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.
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
A row about effort at Shirak
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Narek Janoyan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Sep 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 63 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
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
Emiljano Vila falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The manager makes an example of Levon Darbinyan
“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 dugout21 Sep 2026
Lyova Mryan 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 Lyova Mryan is on it.
Market21 Sep 2026
Experience through the door at Shirak
Desley Ubbink arrives at 33 with nothing left to prove and plenty left to pass on. Legs are a young man's currency; knowing where to stand never ages.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Sep 2026
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 71 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Shirak
Tomás Bais was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad14 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Sep 2026
A fracture rules Renato Hyshmeri out for 79 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Shirak will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Deadline passes with 22 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
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Temperley keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Squad7 Sep 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
9 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at Shirak training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Narek Janoyan 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 dugout7 Sep 2026
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
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
A season-long look at somebody else’s player: Uriel Ramos arrives from Defensa y Justicia with something to prove and a return ticket in the drawer. Good loans make everybody richer; this one starts Saturday.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad31 Aug 2026
A fracture rules Renato Hyshmeri out for 87 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Shirak will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
The paperwork begins on Uriel Ramos
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Shirak have done the hard part with Defensa y Justicia, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
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
Emiljano Vila 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 targets31 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Apollon have kept their man, and Shirak go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad31 Aug 2026
No place for Rimal Haxhiu 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
Squad24 Aug 2026
A fracture rules Renato Hyshmeri out for 95 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Shirak will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Match19 Aug 2026
The cup run ends for Shirak
2‑3 against Ararat-Armenia, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.65, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A muscle injury and 16 days out for Aleksa Vidić
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Shirak will quote 16 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
$140.0K on the table at Urartu. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Squad24 Aug 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.
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.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
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 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 Armen Khachatryan left the room before anybody could ask which.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Squad17 Aug 2026
A fracture rules Renato Hyshmeri out for 103 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Shirak will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
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?
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
A brace, and Donald Kodia takes the afternoon — 8.00
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Donald Kodia provided it, and the 8.00 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody 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.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Alashkert have kept their man, and Shirak go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
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
A row about effort at Shirak
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Narek Janoyan was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match12 Aug 2026
Shirak hit back inside 3 minutes
Van held the lead for 3 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. Shirak answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
A loan move for Tomás Bais is in the works
Shirak have made the call to Lanús. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
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.
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.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Emiljano Vila 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 targets10 Aug 2026
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.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Sargis Khachatryan 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. Hakob 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.
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.
Market3 Aug 2026
The shirt still fits. Martin Grigoryan is back at Shirak, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
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.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
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.
Squad3 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.
Market3 Aug 2026
The clock runs on Rafik Misakyan's contract
49 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
Alashkert have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.