Giving his recipe for lifting the country's sagging soccer standards, star striker Baichung Bhutia has suggested that leading clubs opt for foreign coaches and the National Football League be played over a longer period with more teams.

"If clubs hire coaches from abroad that will definitely be a good step, provided these foreigners have a good knowledge of the game," Bhutia replied, when asked whether such a move would improve domestic standards.

"But the coaches must be brought from countries which have a rich soccer tradition. Because only then can they enrich us through their experience at the highest level of the game," the country's soccer icon said.

The 26-year-old Sikkimese striker also felt that the top clubs must emulate his outfit, East Bengal, in hiring quality physical trainers to keep their players fit.

"This will not only improve the overall showing of the players domestically, but also ensure a steady supply of superbly fit players in national camps prior to international engagements," Bhutia said.

Bhutia, who created a sensation by becoming the first Indian play in the English professional league in 1999 by joining Bury FC, praised the AIFF for organising the high-profile NFL for the last seven years.

"It's a step in the right direction," he said.

However, Bhutia said the AIFF should increase, in a phased manner, the number of sides in the NFL.

Bhutia suggested that the AIFF should aim at including 18 or 19 clubs in the NFL in the next five to ten years. 

"The league will then cover the entire soccer season as it happens in Europe or other parts of the world," he said.

Bhutia also supported the present quota of foreigners in the NFL.

"Two players on the field and one on the bench is okay."

The Arjuna awardee, who had some time back regretted the AIFF's inability to market soccer, including the NFL, feels things are looking up now.

"The situation is definitely improving, though slowly. It's good that the AIFF has signed a deal with marketing agent STRATA," Bhutia said.

But he added in the same breath that the AIFF needs to do a lot of homework to realise its target of restoring the country's lost glory in the game. 

"Our soccer administrators can learn from the way the game is run in various countries," he said.