Northeast United FC have appointed Israeli manager Marco Balbul as the new head coach for the upcoming season. The 55-year-old replaces outgoing coach Khalid Jamil at the club.
Born in the city of Tirat Carmel in the Haifa District in Israel, Balbul’s career as a footballer began as a youth academy player at Israeli Premier League club Maccabi Haifa. He transitioned to the senior team and spent most of his career at the club eventually retiring with them in 2002. The defender won the Israeli Premier League and the Israeli State Cup multiple times with Haifa. He also represented the Israeli National Team.
Marco began his coaching career with Maccabi Haifa as assistant manager in 2002. Over the next few years, he took up head coach and assistant coach roles at multiple clubs in Israel. He also briefly managed clubs in Thailand and Serbia.
In 2014, Balbul returned to Maccabi Haifa as their head coach for the remainder of the season. His next role was as manager of the Israeli U-21 side following which he returned to coach Haifa for a couple of seasons.
From March 2021 to February 2022, Marco was assistant coach for the Israeli National Team – his most recent coaching assignment.
According to transfer markt, his overall record:
| Matches | W | D | L | Goals | Points | PPM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 186 | 87 | 45 | 54 | 267:195 | 306 | 1.65 |
NEUFC had a disastrous campaign in the league last season finishing 10th (11 teams). With little to no activity in the transfer market this season, Balbul will have his task cut out to put up a fight in the upcoming season of the ISL.
Englishman Paul Groves will be the assistant coach at Northeast United FC
[…] Earlier today, ISL side NEUFC announced the departure of Marco Balbul under whom Northeast United haven’t won a game this season (eight games) and are rooted to the bottom of the table. The Israeli manager Balbul was appointed prior the start of the ISL 2022-23 season. […]