Once upon a time, the road from Melbourne Victory's men to crosstown foes Melbourne City moved only in one direction. Players went from the former to the latter but none made the opposite journey until eight years into the rivalry, when Anthony Lesiotis featured as a late substitute in a Victory win over Brisbane Roar, 3,085 days after the then-Heart's first game. That now seems almost quaint, especially in the wake of Patrick Kisnorbo being unveiled as the new A-League Men coach of Victory, announced on a three-year deal on Tuesday; the former City captain, who won them two premierships and a title as coach, tasked with leading Melbourne's navy contingent back to glory.
With hindsight, the separation that Victory maintained over their rivals was never going to last. Such a quarantine isn't a thing in even the most bitter of rivalries in this modern age of football, and, given the restrictions imposed by a salary cap and foreign player limits (to say nothing of the cottage industry that is the Australian game), it was certainly never going to be sustainable in the A-League Men. Thus, playing a key role in the appointment of Kisnorbo was Victory director of football John Didulica, who previously spent nearly seven years at Heart / City in the same role, while City alumni Bruno Fornaroli, Daniel Arzani, and Jordi Valadon shape as first-team contributors next season.
The impact of Kisnorbo making the move to Victory, therefore, can't be said to have been as seismic as it might once have been. Given the slow drip of leaks surrounding the process -- a report from News Corp in early June claimed Didulica had been courting Kisnorbo since May, despite Tony Popovic still being under contract -- it can't even be said to have been a surprise.
And removed from the context of the rivalry, one can see Victory's thought process. Beyond the Didulica connection, Kisnorbo brings with him a pedigree of (recent) A-League Men success and a reputation for leading a pitiless, unrelenting, and attack-minded team. With Nick Montgomery set to join Ange Postecoglou at Tottenham Hotspur, the 18-time Socceroos defender was the most successful Australian coach available, and his résumé of rapid success -- winning silverware in his first season with both City's women and men -- seems suited to taking over a squad largely built to win now; Fornaroli, Arzani, Roderick Miranda, Zinédine Machach, Paul Izzo, Ryan Teague and Nishan Velupillay are all under contract, with more signings to come.
But we can't pretend the context of the rivalry isn't relevant.
Plenty have crossed the divide in recent years, but a coach doing so, one who had been so indelibly part of City, feels a bit different. A coach is a standard bearer of a club, someone given the privilege of having their philosophy and values represent it on the pitch and speaking on its behalf every week. For years, as a player and in the dugout, Kisnorbo was the avatar of City -- Victory is his first job outside the City Football Group since he left Leeds United as a player in 2013 -- and opposition fans therefore associated him with their rivals and what they stood for. But now he's been entrusted with representing Victory, of being the standard bearer and representative of their badge.
Angst was inevitable. The level of angst is unique to the individual, but to view this appointment without acknowledging the history is to cheapen not only what we're told is a derby rivalry but also the emotions that both supporter groups have poured into it. City and Victory fans alike have stories associated with Kisnorbo, and this will guide their reaction. Some of the former will now feel betrayal, while others battle anger or despair at a club legend whose legacy they feel is now tainted -- an intersection of emotion colliding with the reality that Kisnorbo is a coach with a family to support and that he needs a job.
For Victory fans, their stories have guided their initial responses but will also dictate expectations. And mostly, these revolve around winning and, given the profile of the squad, winning now. For those not vehemently opposed to the appointment, their restraint largely rests on the contingency that silverware will wash away the sins of City association. They're not content now but they can at least look at the trophy cabinet he built and allow themselves the possibility of being happy if he delivers the same success for them. Even those outright opposed to his arrival will likely develop begrudging respect, even in the absence of affection, should trophies come.
For winning, ultimately, is what matters at Victory. It matters everywhere, of course, but a combination of self-mythologising and a legacy of success means the club has fostered an identity wherein any season without silverware, even if it isn't a failure, can't be considered a proper success. Attacking football is preferred but even that proved subservient to the need (not desire, need) to win when defence-minded Popovic arrived in 2020 to (successfully) repair the rot. Kisnorbo's path to acceptance is clear: start winning quickly, and keep doing it.
And it's here we arrive at another aspect of the appointment. The actual coaching bit.
Amid what will be a hellacious preseason, Kisnorbo will extol the process with his new side, refuse to acknowledge potential distraction -- don't be surprised if come Melbourne Derby time he posits that his history with City is irrelevant -- and will hammer the importance of mentality into his players. Victory didn't stage a press conference with their new coach, but their in-house interview hit all these notes, including a pledge to implement the same kind of heavy metal, attacking style he preached at City.
Indeed, having been at the core of his success with City, he will inevitably get his new side playing with ruthless intensity and aggression. In Bundoora, he added a layer of steel to a side with a reputation for mental weakness and throwing games away ("Hearting It"), the latter something that Victory also did with alarming regularity last season. Additionally, though Victory had the second-fewest defeats in the competition, they also drew more games than anyone and won only three games against finals-bound sides inside 90 minutes. When games were there to be killed off, they rarely did so.
But there is also a need for substance. Defensively, Victory were among the league's best but too often they became bogged in slow, ponderous possession against packed defences. The midfield never quite settled into a consistent rhythm, and up top they lacked a consistent goal scoring threat when Fornaroli -- who will start declining eventually -- was absent or wasn't firing. Addressing this will likely prove Kisnorbo with one of his most pressing, and illustrative, tests, especially when it comes to mid-game adaptations.
Also illustrative will be how he's grown since he was last in Australia, as, for all his A-League success, the 43-year-old's most recent role was with French club Troyes. He became the first Australian to coach in a "Big Five" league when he took over CFG-owned club in November 2022, but things quickly went south at the Stade de l'Aube with relegation from Ligue 1 occurring in Kisnorbo's first season. Les Aubiens' fans were in open revolt when he was eventually sacked in December 2023 -- by which time Kisnorbo had won just three of his 40 games in charge, with the side on a path that saw them relegated to the French third tier come season's end.
After such a tenure -- "invaluable experience," as Victory put it -- there will be pressure to demonstrate development and adaptation in approach after the lessons imparted by the brutal reality of European football. Especially given he has opted to return to Australia and not, as Kevin Muscat and Montgomery did, remain abroad.
But Victory provides a strong platform. Just as he did at City, Kisnorbo will inherit a side that fell in the previous season's Grand Final and, relative to the era of austerity the league finds itself in, a well-resourced one. Simultaneously, however, it's not a roster that stands a class above the rest of the league, as he had at City; nor do the resources at his disposal dwarf the rest of the competition. And while the foundation left by Popovic is strong, his tenure won't be marked by a continuation of his predecessor's style, as was the case when Kisnorbo took over for Erick Mombaerts. It's a good situation, but it's still a project he can put his stamp on and claim whatever success comes as his own.
Indeed, in a way, Kisnorbo's arrival at Victory is simultaneously high and low risk. The ingredients are there for it to be a slam dunk that benefits both in the long run, but, given the overarching context, that's almost a base requirement for success. The proud Victory fanbase won't be affording the City legend much benefit of doubt with anything less.