Thangboi Singto, Indian football fans have heard his name quite a number of times, now he joined Kolkata side East Bengal FC for the upcoming season as an assistant coach although the name of the head coach has been yet to be revealed by the club management.
The Manipuri born coach who first entered the Indian Football through Shillong Lajong and became an assistant of Desmond Bulpin in 2013, he then became the head coach of this I-League side. After the 2016-17 season, Shillong Lajong did not offer any contract to Singto. He was also a part of the inaugural ISL where he was the assistant manager of Guwahati side NorthEast United FC.
He was grabbed by the Kerala Blasters management as soon as he left Shillong Lajong FC and became the assistant manager of Kerala Blasters under former Manchester United player Rene Meulensten and also the Technical Director of the Blasters Youth Development Programme. He also served as the interim head coach for a few days before David James starts his second stint at Kerala Blasters.
In 2019, he joined Delhi Dynamos under the Spanish Joseph Gombau, he also served as the head of their Youth Development Programme. He also continued to serve the club after they relocate their base from Delhi to Odisha. At the end of the season, Odisha FC parted ways with the whole coaching staff while the Kolkata side East Bengal FC was looking for an Indian coach who would help the head coach to scout good quality, Indian players.
Next season, East Bengal has already agreed on deals with many experienced players like Balwant Singh, Eugeneson Lyngdoh, CK Vineeth, Sehnaj Singh, Rino Anto. Now they have added Thangboi Singto in their coaching staff as their assistant coach. Can East Bengal gets a hand to their much-awaited I-League trophy this season or gonna follow the footsteps of their arch-rivals Mohun Bagan AC and play Indian Super League?