ISL: Des Buckingham replaces Sergio Lobera as Mumbai City head coach

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], October 8 : Indian Super League (ISL) champions Mumbai City have announced that Sergio Lobera will be stepping down as head coach to continue his coaching journey with City Football Group (CFG).
The Club's new head coach will be Des Buckingham, who joins from CFG-owned A-League Champions Melbourne City FC. Des joins the Islanders ahead of the 2021-22 season on a two-year contract.
Sergio Lobera joined the Club in October 2020 and oversaw the Club's most successful campaign ever, when the Islanders became the first team in ISL history to secure both the ISL League Winners' Shield and the ISL Trophy, completing a double in the 2020-21 season.
After a highly decorated spell in India, Sergio will now be leaving the country to join CFG to work on a fresh challenge.
Englishman Des Buckingham, joins from Melbourne City FC, where he was assistant coach to Patrick Kisnorbo, helping the Club towards winning the A-League Premiership and Championship double. He made a significant contribution both on and off the pitch, taking charge of the team on three occasions during the 2020/21 season in the absence of Kisnorbo, in which he had a perfect winning record.
New Mumbai City head coach, Des Buckingham said: "I am thrilled to be joining Mumbai City at such a successful period in the Club's history. I've thoroughly enjoyed my time in Australia, but the opportunity to take control of the defending ISL Champions was impossible to turn down. I'm looking forward to arriving in India and learning as much as I can about the Club, the players and the culture and continuing to work with colleagues at CFG to develop our young players and drive the team forward on and off the pitch."
Des will arrive in India shortly and will undergo the stipulated quarantine before joining the Mumbai City bubble in Goa to commence pre-season preparations ahead of the 2021-22 campaign.