Bulpin to take charge of India U-19 side, meets AIFF officials

NEW DELHI: Former Philippines national team manager Desmond Bulpin is set to take charge of the Indian Under-19 football side which will be fielded in the I-League from the coming season, according to AIFF sources.

Englishman Bulpin was recommended to the All India Football Federation by the national coach and Bulpin's compatriot Bob Houghton for the job.

Bulpin was former manager of English Championship side Queens Park Rangers and youth team coach at English Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur where he discovered England international strikers like Peter Crouch and Jermain Defoe.

He met with All India Football Federation top brass at the AIFF headquarters on Monday and will be in Goa on Tuesday to have a first interaction with the players now based there.

"Bulpin is in the country and he will take formal charge shortly. He will meet the players in Goa," a top AIFF source said.

59-year-old Bulpin has more than 25 years of coaching experience at the top level and he had a stint with top Singapore side Tampine Rovers.

Before leaving for a two-month training tour of 29 national players to Portugal for the preparations of 2011 Asian Cup, Houghton had said that Bulpin will take over the Under-19 side soon.

The Under-19 side plays an important part in AIFF's scheme of things with the federation planning to groom the players for the 2018 World Cup qualifiers.