Kisnorbo’s Victory reunion adds fresh spice to Big Blue
Anna Harrington |
Sydney FC interim coach Patrick Kisnorbo looms as public enemy number one when the ex-Melbourne Victory boss returns to AAMI Park aiming to end his old employer’s season.
The A-League’s longest-running rivalry will take centre stage on Saturday night when Victory host the Sky Blues in a cut-throat elimination final.
A championship winner at Melbourne City, Kisnorbo was an unpopular option among Victory fans when he replaced Tony Popovic in 2024.
Kisnorbo took the club to the Australia Cup final before accepting an offer in Japan with Yokohama F. Marinos as an assistant coach in December 2024 – just seven A-League Men games into a three-year contract.
Kisnorbo has taken issue with the narrative he was eager to jump ship from Victory, instead insisting he was reluctant to leave but had to take the opportunity.
The 45-year-old had a brief, fruitless stint at Yokohama but earned the interim job at Sydney last month, and will now face Victory, coached by his former assistant Arthur Diles, for the first time.
“Nobody was expecting that for sure,” Victory skipper Roderick Miranda said on Monday.
“But in the end, it’s one more game. I think the occasion is bigger than any kind of playing against a former coach or former team. I think just the Big Blue speaks for itself.
“But speaking about Patrick – he’s a coach with a lot of titles already in Australia, so I think his CV speaks for itself. That will be a great game.”
Miranda insisted Victory players wouldn’t have anything to prove against their former boss.
“It’s part of the job. I think I said this in the press conference after he left – football sometimes gives these opportunities to coaches, players, people all across the sport. And sometimes you take, sometimes you don’t,” Miranda said.
“In that case, he took the opportunity to go. Of course, fans, maybe people here in the club will feel a little bit hurt about the decision.
“But in the end, it’s a personal decision he thought was the best for his career, and we as players need to move on – and we moved on after the decision.
“He’s a great coach with a amazing CV … but in our minds (we need to) win the game to keep going through the finals.”
Sydney certainly aren’t thinking about Kisnorbo’s Victory history – and skipper Rhyan Grant admitted he’d even forgotten about the brief stint.
“It doesn’t really add anything for us in terms of obviously his history with them,” Grant said.
“But the club’s history with Victory and myself – there’s a lot of big games, big finals series.
“It’s always a bit fiery, and I’m sure (Saturday) will be be no different, and I think that adds to the finals series, it adds value.”
Grant, who scored in Sydney’s grand final win over Victory in 2017, would love nothing more than to knock out Melbourne on their own turf.
“It’s always nice beating Victory, whether you’re playing during the season or in a final series,” Grant said.
“Hopefully we turn up and put in a good fight and get a satisfying win down there over a big rival in front of their fans.”
AAP