Melbourne Victory boss Patrick Kisnorbo ready for derby battle with former club

Patrick Kisnorbo will be part of another Melbourne derby on Saturday night, but this time he will be in the other coaching dugout.

Victory coach Patrick Kisnorbo admits he’s unsure how he will feel trying to plot the downfall of his former club, but is certain his “professionalism” won’t allow any potential sentiment to get in the way of winning Saturday night’s Melbourne derby.

Kisnorbo, who guided Melbourne City to the A-League title in 2021, will coach against his old club for the first time this weekend at AAMI Park after taking charge of crosstown rivals Victory in June.

“I’m a professional,” the resolute former Socceroos defender said.

“Regardless of my past, I’m just concentrating on where I am now, and that’s at Melbourne Victory, and I’m trying to do the best I can for the club, the team and the fans.

“This is my first time (against City) so I could probably speak to you after the game about that feeling because I’ve never ever felt that.

“Right now, it’s just about me trying to prepare my players as best as I can for Saturday.”

Kisnorbo left City in November 2022 after almost 10 years at the club as a player and coach to take over at French outfit Troyes.

In terms of results, his spell in France was a disaster, with Troyes only winning three of 40 matches under Kisnorbo, who was sacked after a year at the helm.

Patrick Kisnorbo celebrate a win during his time as Melbourne City coach. Picture: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

However, the 43-year-old mentor is adamant he was on the right path at Troyes, particularly with his promotion of youngsters to senior football.

“We had a very young team over there, and when I say young, we were the youngest in the division by at least three years, and probably we were in the top three youngest in Europe,” Kisnorbo said.
“With all the young players that we were working with, some have moved on for bigger and better, and some are now professional footballers, so when I look at it like that, I knew we were doing the right things.”

Troyes currently occupying bottom place in the French second division is also further vindication for Kisnorbo that the club would have been better off in the long-term had he not been axed.

“If you look at where the club is now, and how they’re playing, to where we were, I think we were in a far better position, especially with the way we were playing,” he said.

“If you saw what we were doing then with a young squad, the style of play that we were introducing, a behaviour that we were creating, the environment that we were creating as to what it is now ... things don’t lie.”

Kisnorbo again won’t be shy to give younger players an opportunity at the Victory, and can see a similar trend throughout the A-League due to financial restrictions facing clubs working on reduced budgets because of the sizeable reduction in distribution dollars.

“Teams are giving opportunities to younger kids due to the current climate of the game, which is not necessarily a bad thing,” he said.

“All the clubs are adapting to what’s happened financially ... but there are so many great things in our game that we need to be positive about.”

Originally published as Melbourne Victory boss Patrick Kisnorbo ready for derby battle with former club