Santosh Trophy 2018: Bhaichung Bhutia set to manage Sikkim

What's the story?

Bhaichung Bhutia is all set to don the manager's hat in the upcoming Santosh Trophy. Bhutia will be seen managing his home state Sikkim in the country's most prestigious interstate competition.

After the qualifying stage, if Sikkim are elevated into the final stage of the competition, Bhutia will continue in his new role as the manager.

In case you didn't know...

Sikkim are included in the East Zone and will face Bihar and Orissa in their qualifying group. The top teams from each of the two groups will further cement their place in the final stage of the competition. The qualifiers are set to take place in Patna.

Group A: Bihar, Sikkim, Orissa

Group B: West Bengal, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand

The heart of the matter

Bhutia has been involved with the proceedings of Sikkim football for a long time now, but this is the first time where the former Indian football captain will take on such an important role.

A few years ago, when United Sikkim were in the I-League, Bhutia had managed them for a few games at the end of the campaign. 15 players of his United Sikkim side are currently in the coaching camp for the Santosh Trophy side with Bhutia having an idea about every player's strength and weaknesses.

What's next?

Bhutia, who has a basic coaching license is now set to acquire higher licenses after his stint in the Santosh Trophy. But he has also suggested that he has no immediate plan to get into coaching on a long-term basis.

Author's take

Sikkim has now emerged as one of the hotbeds of Indian football. With the emergence of the Sikkim league, many youngsters have come up on the scene and now with reports of Bhaichung Bhutia managing this side coming to the fore, this Sikkim side will be the one to watch out for in this year's Santosh Trophy.