New Sydney FC coach Patrick Kisnorbo says his controversial and hasty exit from Melbourne Victory last season came with the club’s “blessing”, claiming he was wrongly cast as the villain in the saga.
Kisnorbo departed Victory just seven A-League games into a three-year deal with the Melbourne outfit to become an assistant coach at Japanese club Yokohama F. Marinos.
He eventually took over the top job at Marinos before being sacked after only 55 days in charge.
Kisnorbo said it was “disappointing” about the way Victory portrayed his departure.
“When this opportunity came to go to Japan, Yokohama contacted the club,” Kisnorbo said ahead of his first game in charge of Sydney, a clash with Brisbane Roar at Suncorp Stadium on Thursday night.
“Once that happened, I spoke to the hierarchy (at Victory), because if I didn’t get their blessing … I wouldn’t have gone.
“What happened after that is the disappointing bit because they’re the ones that said that I just left and this and that.
“Also, the club got a fee for me … they got compensated.”
Kisnorbo said he still had friends at Victory.
“I’ve still got people from Melbourne Victory calling me this day. If I was that bad, then why would they ring me?” said the A-League title-winning mentor, who added that he didn’t need to “prove anything” in terms of his coaching.
“What I need to prove is that I’m a good person within the club. and everything else is irrelevant for me.”
Kisnorbo was last week appointed by the Sky Blues until the end of the season following the departure of Ufuk Talay, who has since signed a two-year deal with Western Sydney Wanderers.
“That’s none of my business,” he said when asked about Talay’s move to the Wanderers.
“I’ll just worry about here, and he can worry about over there.”
