Lobi Stars appoint Finnish Mika Lönnström as new head coach

Lobi Stars have appointed Mika Lönnström, a Finnish tactician, as the team’s new head coach. 

The club announced the manager’s arrival in a tweet on X on Saturday.

Lönnström holds a UEFA Pro Licence and will work with Daniel Amokachi, recently appointed Lobi’s technical adviser. 

The Finnish manager will fill the role left by Eugene Agagbe’s dismissal following the Makurdi-based side’s poor start to the new NPFL season.

Lönnström attended Lobi’s training session on Saturday and is expected to be in the dugout when the club faces Remo Stars in Ikenne on Sunday. 

The 50-year-old tactician began his managerial career at 16. He managed his native Myllykosken Pallo-47 from 2005 to 2011.

In 2012, he became the director at Roi Et Academy in Thailand and was promoted to manager of Roi Et United, where he won the country’s 2013 regional league.

Lönnström was named the assistant coach of the Thailand U-16 national team in 2014 but left the job and became the manager of Police United FC, also in the country. 

He also has a coaching spell in the Maldives. His last engagement was as the sporting director of HIFK Fotboll Ab, a second-division club in Finland.

Lobi have won just two from nine games in the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) this season. The club occupy the 17th position on the table with nine points out of a possible 27.