Nathan Hall takes charge of United Sikkim FC

"The club has been giving a poor performance under the previous coach and club CEO Bhaichung Bhutia was the interim coach for five matches. The club did well under him, but since he is also a player and had other responsibilities also, we needed a full time coach and we are happy to have Nathan as our new coach," said United Sikkim senior manager Arjun Rai.

United Sikkim are presently in a relegation tussle in the 12th position of the I-League table with four losses, five draws and one win.

"It is a new and exciting challenge for me to help United Sikkim to stay in the I-League. Sikkim has been waiting for I-League for a long time and the team needs to stay. The target is to make sure that at the end, we are still in the I-League for the next season," said Hall, who took charge yesterday.

"The season so far has not been particularly good for United Sikkim but we still have a long way to go. I don't know much about Indian clubs but I know that we are a small club with less experience in I-League. We have potential in our squad and my first job is to improve our players and train them hard to be very competitive," Hall said.

Hall's first assignment will be to prepare the team for this weekend's clash against Mumbai FC at Pune. United Sikkim are leaving tomorrow to play three away matches before returning to Gangtok on December 30.

"Obviously the shape and organisation of the team needs to be better. Each player has to understand his role and position but you cannot give them too much quickly. We will have to take small steps. It will take 3-4 weeks for me to know each player," he said.

Commenting on his relatively young age, Hall said "I was the youngest professional coach in Asia and I don't care what people have to say. For me, performance matters."