From Armenia to the Top of the World

LOCAL BUSINESSMAN TAKES OVER PYUNIK, VIULEN AYVAZYAN EARNS 1ST ARMENIA CAP AS THEY DROP DOWN TO #169

"There is confirmation by the board and manager of Pyunik Yerevan of the recent takeover bid by local businessman Aram Melkonyan. Previous Chairman Samvel Alexanyan said he could not continue in football anymore, and will now remain as a Pyunik supporter and watch them from the stands. What will happen to the club now? Sacking of the Manager? Investments? Find out here, the statement in full by both Aram Melkonyan and Hamoudi Fayad:

'Hello, I am Aram Melkonyan. I am the new chairman of Pyunik Yerevan and hopefully for many years to come. I have been a fan of Pyunik since they were first created back in 2001, and honestly, Hamoudi Fayad… he has done wonders at this club.
His project, is simply fantastic! He has won 4 titles in a row, 2 cup wins, and has taken us into the Europa League Group Stages 4 times. He has made Pyunik the best in Armenia, the football they play, is just amazing. He plays the possession game but with an attacking way against smaller teams, and the reason he has caused upsets against big teams is simply because he has found a way to communicate with the team.
He will stay here as manager for sure, and I know how he would love to become the manager of Armenia, hopefully he will, soon enough, and take Arkadi Yepremyan's place. The #169 ranking is a total embarrassment to Armenia. Finally, there will be no investments into the club as we are healthy (financially) and our progress will improve. Thank you very much, let's hope for the best, Pyunik!' -Aram Melkonyan

'I am very pleased for Aram Melkonyan to take over the club, we had a talk and it has drastically improved the morale in the changing room. Samvel Alexanyan was a vey respectful man, and whenever I needed his support he gave it to me in a flash. I wish him good luck on his future. Now, this is not a blip in our project, as we will continue to rise over the years, I promise!' -Hamoudi Fayad



"Armenia have dropped to a record low World Ranking under Arkadi Yepremyan, to #169. In the past 10 matches, they had only won twice. A qualifying win over Switzerland, and an scrappy win against San Marino. There are rumors that Armenian FA President Ruben Hayrapetyan is upset with the current Armenian team, but he has refused to comment on the current situation. In other news, Pyunik Player of the Season Viulen Ayvazyan has earned his 1st Armenia Cap against Wales. There was nothing special in his performance but he thanked Fayad for nurturing him this season to earn his 1st cap. He avoided the name of Arkadi Yepremyan's name on his lips, possibly showing that Pyunik do actually have a hint of dislike towards Armenian Manager, Arkadi Yepremyan."



"That is it, the end of our Armenian season! Pyunik win the double as Banants win the SuperCup. Although, the season is not over for Pyunik Yerevan who still have a tough Europa League Group Stage ahead of them, all of Armenia will be cheering for Pyunik, so good luck to them."

Europa League: Group Stages

Just a reminder, our Group is:



"We start off at home against Tottenham, then Away to Werder Bremen. Two games in a row against FK Austria Wien before playing Tottenham and Werder Bremen - Away & Home - respectively. Let's begin with the results."

Pyunik Yerevan vs. Tottenham, UEL - 15.9.2016

"I didn't expect anything from this match, so I have no comments really. Trumped 3-0 at home."

Werder Bremen vs. Pyunik Yerevan, UEL - 29.9.2016

"Aghhhh! A tough game to lose really, Markovic got sent off so I thought we had an easier chance, a 1-0 loss would've been better as we held on for most of the game but Petersen scored again."

FK Austria Wien vs. Pyunik Yerevan, UEL - 20.10.2016

"Wow! A 2-0 win away from home! I thought we would draw, and even this came as such a shock to the media and fans! A beautiful defensive display by our players!"

Pyunik Yerevan vs. FK Austria Wien, UEL - 3.11.2016

"A beautiful display from our Honduran attacking left-back Reynaldo Mejia won us the game as he won MOTM. Werder Bremen are 3 points ahead of us, and we are definitely going to lose to Tottenham, so I hope FK Austria Wien defeat Bremen."

Tottenham vs. Pyunik Yerevan, UEL - 17.11.2016

"We couldn't do it, we tied up the game with Mkrtii's goal but they were too much for our defense and we couldn't draw. Werder Bremen won so we are eliminated. Hard luck."

Pyunik Yerevan vs. Werder Bremen, UEL - 1.12.2016

"I couldn't really care less about this game, and we lost 2-0. We got 3rd place, and improvement from 4th in our last 2 group stages."

Final Table


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Youth Intake

"Our Youth Intake is improving and declining at the same time. We are getting more 2.5/3-star potential players yet we are getting half-star rated players too. We also have bad news, our Youth Facilities have been downgraded, but since our finances were very much into the black we easily paid for it and it will be done by April the 10th 2017, good news.

Season Review - 2016

Premier League

"We won the Premier League for the 4th time in a row to show that we are a dominant force in Armenia, a great performance by my team and especially; Viulen Ayvazyan."




"We started off with 4 wins, then a 3-game-blip, and then we won 8 games in a row. In the end our dominance was too much for Ulisses and Shirak."

Independence Cup

"We won the Independence Cup this year for the 2nd time after 3 years of failure."

UCL Qualifying Rounds

"A good showing in all games until Celtic, which was an impossible task. This is the farthest an Armenian team has ever went in the UCL, so a great achievement."

UEL Group Stage

"The toughest UEL Group we have ever been in and I am happy we came 3rd."

Player of the Season

"Of course, of course, him. Who else besides him? You all should know who he is. Viulen Ayvazyan."


His stats say it all:


His Achievements (This season only):

Pre-Season Fixtures Announced, A New Kit Deal, and Transfer Talk at the Vasgen Sargsyan

"The new season is only 2 months away, and we start off with the most fun and most boring part of the Season: Pre-Season. The reason it is fun = Transfers. The reason it is boring = The uncompetitive friendly games which are only used for fitness, tactics, money and what not. Anyways, we will start off with Pyunik Yerevan's pre-season, the current Champions of Armenia."

"First of all, they recorded a big profit this year, let this picture do all the talking:

"28% of their turnover came, but not in a loss, in a profitable way. This was all due to prize money that they earned in Europe last season."

"Second of all, they have announced a new kit deal, again with their previous sports brand: Lotto."



"Next, the board of Pyunik have announced the Season Expectations for next season, which is of course to win the league. Also, hackers managed to get info on the finances of Pyunik next season, revealing this image, to the outburst of Samvel Melkonyan."


"The last bit of info before the transfers is the pre-season fixtures. They were released as follows:
Idgir University (Turkey - Home)
Prometey Yerevan (Armenia - Home)
Igdirspor (Turkey - Home)
Yerevan United (Armenia - Home)
Kilikia (Armenia - Away)
Martuni (Armenia - Away)

"And finally, the transfers:
'First of all we will start with the departures:
4 youth players were released from the club, with goalkeeper Gor Manukyan and full-back Eduard Kakosyan left on a free to Ararat Yerevan. There were no other departures besides annoyed central defender Hamlet Asoyan, who left to Impuls for 70K, hoping to get some playing time.'

The Arrivals:
'Full-Back Alen Hambardzumyan was signed on a pre-contract for free from Gandzasar, the 24-year old was delighted to be a part of Hamoudi's plans. Former Pyunik striker Hovhannes Hovhannisyan - who was ironically deemed a waste of talent at Pyunik by Hamoudi - was signed back from Ulisses Yerevan for 525k! He was the top scorer of the league last season - something which Pyunik lacked, besides Viulen Ayvazyan of course. Finally, Alexey Kharitonov was brought it on a free. The 18-year old central midfielder is deemed to be in the starting line-up already, with star 25-year old midfielder Artak Dashyan leaving for Russia anytime soon.'

"That is it for the Pre-Season Guide for Pyunik, up next, second-placed Ulisses…"

January Round-Up

"On the Armenian Football Gazette today, we start off again with our champions; Pyunik Yerevan."

Friendlies

Transfers Round-Up, Squad, and More

Hamoudi Fayad:”Hello everybody, and this is our pre-season round-up. I have decided to demonstrate it myself, so I can show a new style and reveal the truth, rather than hearing fake reports from the media.”

“Anyways, I will talk about the pre-season, the transfers, and the squad.”

Pre-Season

“The Results were as follows:



“A 100% record with all fitness levels in good condition, also, our tactics have been trained on very hard as we are adapting new mentalities and styles around the squad.”

Transfers

“There were no more transfers than the ones that were mentioned on the Armenian Football Gazette last week although a few pre-contracts have been signed, both ins and outs.”

Outs:

Sarkis Voskanyan to Ulisses for 8k, with performance add-ons which can triple the price.
Vladimir Barseghyan to Banants - previously on a youth contract - which means we are due 170,000 pounds.

Ins:

Igor Kharin, 17 years old - Russia - Free.
William Garcia, 18 years old - Honduras - Free.
Christopher Watson, 18 years old - USA/El Salvador - LA Firpo.

“William Garcia is the pick of the players in my opinion, he will lead the defence with Igor Kharin in a few years with Christopher Watson hopefully leading the frontline.”

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“I have evaluated all of our signings, rating them by star ratings. Here is the guide:
1 Star = A leading star for the First League (2nd Division) (50%)
1.5 Stars = A good player for the Premier League (60%)
2 Stars = A Decent player for the Premier League (65%)
2.5 Stars = An exceptional player for the Premier League (70%)
3 Stars = A Very good player for the Premier League (75%)
3.5 Stars = An excellent player for the Premier League (80%)
4 Stars = An outstanding player for the Premier League (85%)
4.5 Stars = A role model for the Premier League (90%)
5 Stars = A leading star for the Premier League (100%)”

“Anyways, now we will rate our signings:

#1: Alen Hambardzumyan - Free - Gandzasar Kapan - [DR, DL, WBR]
CA: - PA:


#2: Hovhannes Hovhannisyan - 525k - Ulisses FC Yerevan - [ST]
CA: -
PA:


#3: Alexey Kharitonov - Free - [DM, MC]
CA: -
PA:


#4: Osmar Josue Carcamo - Loan - Future Fee: 0 - Marathon - [DC]
CA: -
PA:


#5: Marcos Pinheiro Pizzelli - Free - [AMC]
CA: -
PA:


#6: Ivan Yagan - 35k - WS Woluwe - [ST]
CA: -
PA:


#7: Jose Posas - Free - Vida - [GK]
CA: -
PA:


All Transfers:

Squad

BOLD = STAR PLAYER

Goalkeepers:

Squad Number - Name - Age - Nationality
12. Tigran Kandikjan - 24 - Armenia/Macedona
27. Karen Israelyan - 24 - Armenia/Russia
13. Albert Ohanyan - 23 - Armenia
78. Garik Krbashyan - 20 - Russia/Armenia
Arthur Magomedov - 18 - Russia
Armen Barseghyan - 18 - Armenia (OUT - LOAN)
Jose Posas - 19 - Honduras

Defenders

24. Alen Hambardzumyan - 25 - Armenia
3. Reynaldo Mejia - 19 - Honduras
20. Gael Andonian - 22 - France/Armenia
72. Arthur Meytikhanyan - 20 - Armenia
4. Robert Fatikhov - 19 - Armenia/Russia
36. Victor Kulik - 18 - Russia/Armenia
33. Artashes Karakulian - 18 - Armenia
5. Osmar Josue Carcamo - 20 - Honduras (IN - LOAN)
Zhora Grigoryan - 17 - Armenia
22. Ararat Arakelyan - 32 - Armenia
15. Mamuka Kobakhidze - 24 - Georgia
18. Hovhannes Hambardzumyan - 26 - Armenia
2. Kamo Hovhannisyan - 24 - Armenia
Artashes Markarov - 16 - Armenia

Midfielders

10. Marcos - 32 - Armenia/Brazil
21. Artak Yedigaryan - 27 - Armenia
6. Valter Poghosyan - 24 - Armenia
14. Ghukas “Ghuka” Poghosyan - 23 - Armenia
16. Viulen Ayvazyan - 22 - Armenia
40. Garnik Adloyan - 21 - Armenia
11. Ildar Zainutdinov - 21 - Russia
60. Vladimir Barseghyan - 21 - Armenia
58. Artak Voskanyan - 20 - Armenia
59. Edgar “Eddy” Mkhitaryan - 20 - Armenia
26. Alexandr Bazanov - 20 - Russia
8. Alexey Kharitonov - 20 - Russia

Attackers

9. Mkrtich “Mkrtii” Nalbandyan - 27 - Armenia
7. Ivan Yagan - 27 - Armenia/Belgium
23. Hovhannes Hovhannisyan - 23 - Armenia
Vardan Bakalyan - 21 - Armenia (OUT - LOAN)
65. Sarkis Voskanyan - 20 - Armenia
31. Andrey Pavlov - 20 - Russia
76. Ruslan Tkachuk - 20 - Russia

Viulen Ayvazyan Speaks to the Fans

“I want to thank the fans for an amazing season last season, and for the support they gave me. this season I will be looking to continue that form this season with the help of the manager, the players and the fans.”

“I want us to challenge for something else besides the Double, I mean of course this season we have the chance of the treble. If we win the SuperCup then I definitely think the Treble could happen if we work on it. Also, in these 2 seasons, we need to reach the Knockout Stages of the Europa League or the Group Stages of the Champions League.”

“We have the squad to do it. Now I know our strikeforce doesn’t look good as we are very bad at attacking but we all know that Europe is a very strong point for our attackers. Vardan Bakalyan once got 5 goals in a game, so did Norayr Gyozalyan. Mkrtii & myself have got 4 goals in a game too, and last season Albert Zarubjan got 2 goals in 8 minutes in his first European appearance.”

“Last season was our best, the double and the Europa League Stages... but I believe we can do better! And I know our stadium can fit only 15,000 people, therefore we cannot have more fans at the stadium... but the amount of support we get when playing at home is unbelievable and it is like European Nights at Anfield or Dortmund, but on a much lower level of course.”

“We take more than one step further this season, if only we can focus, and work as a team. We have the players, and now it is up to us to work as a team. Are you with me, Pyunik fans?”