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| Royal Wayingdoh coach Volker Hofferbert. Telegraph picture |
Shillong, June 25: If a good coach makes a good team, the recruitment of a Scot and a German as head coach of two top local teams brings hopes of a better future for soccer here.
After Shillong Lajong FC signed on former English Premier League coach Desmond Bulpin, Royal Wahingdoh FC wasn’t too far behind, as last week the team signed Volker Hofferbert, an international football coach with a UEFA Pro Licence, as the head coach.
While Lajong cemented its place in the I-League circuit and will be competing in the 2012-13 I-League campaign to be held later this year, Wahingdoh will look to try its luck to gain entry into the national course.
Earlier this year, Wahingdoh was one of the teams which participated in the final leg of the second division I-League.
However, it could not make it beyond the final leg to enter the I-League.
Lajong stood at 10th position in the 2011-12 I-League season, under Pradhyum Reddy as head coach.
“We expect better football from Lajong and Wahingdoh as they have engaged experienced hands to train their players. We hope that the appointment of Bulpin and Hofferbert would not be an exercise in futility as we desire to see quality football from the two top teams,” V. Jyrwa, a soccer aficionado, said.
In England, Bulpin had worked for football clubs such as Tottenham Hotspur, Queens Park Rangers, Bristol City, Bristol Rovers, Stockport County, Plymouth Argyle and Leicester City.
Hofferbert has over three decades of experience with coaching assignments in Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia, Iceland, Yemen, Romania and Laos.
How far these foreign coaches will be able to take football here to the next level remains to be seen.
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