Although he was initially appointed to train the national team for the AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers that will kickoff this week in Kathmandu, Roberts´ stay in Nepal might get extended as the country braces for four major tournaments this year. [break]
Impressed by his working style, the All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) is very much likely to extend Roberts´ contract. ANFA President Ganesh Thapa has hinted that the former Chelsea and Tottenham player will get an added responsibility.
"We appointed him for the Challenge Cup and we are quite impressed with his working style," said Thapa. "We might assign him the coaching responsibility for U-16 and U-19 teams as well," he added.
Nepal are competing in the World Cup qualifiers, SAFF Championship as well as AFC U-16 and U-19 qualifiers later this year.
Nepal´s national team will face East Timor in the first round matches of the World Cup qualifiers in late June and early July. Nepal will also compete in the SAFF Championship in the winter.
Likewise, the U-16 team and U-19 teams will compete in the group stage matches of the AFC qualifiers in September and October respectively.
Although the outcome of the Challenge Cup will be of great significance, ANFA President Thapa argues that a coach should not be judged by the performance in a single tournament.
"It is our desire to see Nepal advance into the second round of the Challenge Cup and I believe we can do it. But it is not fair to judge Roberts or any other coach on the basis of a the team´s performance in a single tournament," he said. "That´s why we want to retain him for some more time," added Thapa.
After his arrival from England Roberts has also expressed his desire of taking up the job of coaching Nepali teams for a long time.
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