Thangboi Singto, the 43-year old previously in charge of I-League side Shillong Lajong will take over as assistant coach of the Indian Super League side Kerala Blasters.

After parting ways with Lajong after five years in charge of their first team, which recorded its best-ever fifth-place finish this season, Singto will switch to the ISL, also taking up the post of Director of Youth Football.

This is not Singto’s first foray into the ISL, however. With Lajong a partner of Northeast United in the first ever ISL season, Singto was assistant manager of the Guwahati-based ISL team in 2014.

His tenure in charge of Lajong was the third longest by a coach in the I-League, behind Khalid Jamil’s seven years in charge of Mumbai FC and Armando Colaco’s six years as coach of Dempo FC.

During his time at Lajong, Singto managed to unearth several talents; the likes of Isaac Vanmalsawma, Nim Dorjee Tamang and Chinglensana Singh had impressed a lot in this I-League season.

The Kerala Blasters finished runners-up in last season’s ISL, repeating their best ever finish from the inaugural season.