NEUFC rope in Israeli Balbul as head coach

The northeast club was left without a manager since the departure of Khalid Jamil — who became the first Indian coach at the helm of an ISL team with his NEUFC signing in 2021 — after a disastrous last season, where they finished tenth and just one spot shy of the wooden spooners. While the club was known to be in an advanced stage of talks with the Israeli gaffer, the tweet on the club’s handle confirmed the signing of the 55-year-old as their man-in-charge.

The former assistant coach of the Israel national team, Balbul has managed 160 games in Israeli first division while recording 74 wins, 42 draws and 44 defeats. He began his coaching career at the Israeli club Maccabi Haifa in 2002 and worked as an assistant manager till 2005. It was in 2007 that he was offered the role of the first team manager at Hapoel Be'er Sheva. While his first sojourn at the helm was short-lived, he has since managed clubs in his home country like Maccabi Haifa, Maccabi Petah Tikva and Bnei Sakhnin. He was also the assistant manager at Partizan Belgrade in 2012. Between 2012-16, he was the head coach of the Israel U21 team. The first challenge for the new Highlanders manager will be to guide the northeast side in their first Durand Cup campaign which starts next Wednesday. With all ISL clubs set to compete at the domestic tournament, which will also be the first time that Assam hosts the event, NEUFC could have the advantage of playing at their home ground of Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium. However, the primary job for Balbul will be to use the Durand Cup as a preparation for the ultimate goal of a better show in ISL 9. He will have to make the players retained from a tumultuous last season to emulate their show in 2018-19 where they