4 hours Ago By Alex Conrad
Former Leeds star Patty Kisnorbo dished out crunching tackles as a player, but now he has found himself on the wrong end of a two-footed challenge - as a manager. Kisnorbo carved out a reputation as a hard-nosed defender across stints at Hearts, Leicester City and Leeds . The Australian has gone on to become a coach, with his latest stop at A-League club Melbourne Victory .
However, the 43-year-old wouldn't have envisaged his first league game in charge of the four-time A-League champions would have involved him pulling up a rival player by the scruff of his shirt. Kisnorbo's side had travelled up to Gosford to take on defending champions Central Coast Mariners in the A-League season opener. But rainy conditions left players slipping and sliding all across the pitch in the first-half.
Kisnorbo may have thought he was safe from the carnage on the pitch, but how wrong he was. Central Coast defender Lucas Mauragis looked to bring the ball up the left flank but was nudged off it by Victory's Zinedine Machach. However, Mauragis was powerless to stop his slide and upended Kisnorbo with a two-footed challenge.
Kisnorbo quickly sprang to his feet and hauled Mauragis up to his feet by the front of his shirt. Thankfully there were no hostilities between the Victory manager and Mauragis as play quickly resumed from a throw-in. Commentator Robbie Thompson joked Kisnorbo will have wanted VAR to take a look at Mauragis' tackle.
"Oh, great tackle from Mauragis on Kisnorbo," Thompson said. "Is he going to ask for the video review of that one?" Co-commentator Andy Harper added: "Machach, too good, too strong. Mauragis, that's two feet, sir.
Two feet." It turned out to be a tough first A-League game in charge of Victory for Kisnorbo. Striker Bruno Fornaroli smacked a penalty against the post in the first-half while former Benfica and Wolves defender Roderick Miranda was sent off in the second-half for a high challenge.
Despite the man advantage, the Mariners, managed by another former Leeds defender Mark Jackson, were unable to find the back of the net as the contest finished 0-0. Melbourne Victory is the third stop in Kisnorbo's managerial career having begun at the club's bitter cross-town rivals Melbourne City, who are owned by the City Football Group. Kisnorbo led City to their maiden A-League championship in his first season in charge, beating Sydney FC 3-1 in the final.
The Australian secured a move to French club Troyes - also a member of the City Football Group - in November 2022 but won just three out of his 40 games in charge before he was sacked a year later, having overseen their relegation to Ligue 2..
