With the A-Leagues All Access film crew in tow, mic’d up Melbourne City head coach Patrick Kisnorbo arrives at the club’s training facility to greet his players at breakfast.
Sat around a table are City team-mates Jamie Maclaren, Andrew Nabbout and Tom Glover.
“You got the vest on?” Maclaren asks Kisnorbo.
“Snitches get stitches, ah?” Nabbout adds.
Kisnorbo laughs. “This is the first and only time I’ll ever wear a wire.”
From the first scene in A-Leagues All Access – No Hours in Football, we see a side to Patrick Kisnorbo which, from the outside, we simply do not get; an insight into the man manager who has enjoyed immense success in a short period of time as a Head Coach in football.
This is what we learned about Patrick Kisnorbo in Episode Three of A-Leagues All Access.
WATCH: AAA EPISODE 03: ‘NO HOURS IN FOOTBALL’
READ: ‘ARE YOU GOING TO LET NIGRO DOMINATE YOU? HUH?’: KISNORBO’S ROCKET SETS TONE FOR DERBY SPEECH
MORE: WHO IS THE REAL PATRICK KISNORBO?
‘There is a human behind the player, the coach, the staff member’
After greeting Glover, Nabbout and Maclaren at breakfast, Kisnorbo spends time mingling with his players.
It’s a relaxing, downbeat beginning to a day at the club which ultimately turns to focussed intensity on the training park.
“Every morning I come here and speak to the players, and see how they are,” Kisnorbo says. “Just chat for five minutes, two minutes, to give them a bit of personal time.
“There is a human behind the player, the coach, the staff member.
“I care about the players because I was once a player. I want to see them do well – because if they do well, our whole game does well.”
‘The more hours you put in, the better the results’
Kisnorbo is a coach dedicated to doing the extras.
On his off days away from the club, he convenes with assistant coach Ralph Napoli to review game and training footage, to help both preparation for the weekend, and to improve training sessions.
“It helps us focus, and think with a clear mind,” he says.
“The more hours you put in, the better results you get.”
After debriefing over coffee, Kisnorbo and Napoli travel to Clifton Park in Brunswick, Melbourne.
Together they envisage the match and training scenarios they discussed, visualising the moments on the turf around them.
“People might think I’m mad,” Kisnorbo says. “But it’s the small details that makes you win or lose.”
“He adds: “I want to be one of the best coaches in the world.
“I want the players to be the best version of themselves, and all of them to fulfil their dreams.
The only way to do that is through time and effort.”
‘You need to go through some pain to grow’
Last season’s Isuzu UTE A-League Grand Final ended in heartbreak for Patrick Kisnorbo and his City side.
Ending the regular season on the top of the table, the premiers were looking to become the first side to win consecutive premiership-championship doubles.
But John Aloisi’s Western United put on a comprehensive grand final display, winning 2-0 at AAMI Park.
“Losing in the grand final, it doesn’t go away. There’s moments where you do think of it,” Kisnorbo says.
“I don’t think we were the better team over 90 minutes. You think about it and think of the what if’s: could we have done this better. It’s part of it for a young coach like myself where you have to learn from it.
“The feeling isn’t great – but again, you need to go through some pain to grow. That’s what we’re trying to do.”
But what do his players think of Kisnorbo?
Kisnorbo is comprehensive in his preparation off the pitch – and similarly thorough out on the track.
“When we train, it’s flat out,” he says.
“We push the boundary because we want resilient players here, that can mentally and physically cope with the style we play.”
His players are accustomed to his methods.
“He demands a lot,” says Mathew Leckie, Socceroos and City winger. “He’s very ruthless in the way we want to play – and if you’re not doing the right things he’ll hopefully tell you.
“But also off the pitch he’s very easy to talk to and he likes to have a laugh as well.”
Young City forward Marco Tilio is asked to summarise his thoughts on his club boss.
“PK? Yeah, he’s a tough cookie,” he says.
“Every day in training, every little thing, he’s onto it. For us, especially young boys, we get hammered quite a lot – but I think it comes from a good place. That’s where it will help us grow as footballers.”
‘Maybe sometimes I’m unrealistic… but you always want to be better’
Round 3’s Melbourne Derby is the central point of Episode Three of A-Leagues All Access, and there’s a dramatic change in Kisnorbo’s demeanour at full-time of his side’s 2-0 win.
Before the game and at half-time Kisnorbo is all steel, all focus, and unwilling to let his side drop their focus, or standards, for one moment.
At full-time, he’s all smiles. His players get an arm around the shoulder. Smiles. There’s a kiss on the head for both Valon Berisha and Tilio.
It’s a brief moment of respite between one match week and another, where Kisnorbo’s relentless pursuit of high performance pauses for but a moment.
“This is what we do, week in, week out – prepare for 90 minutes,” Kisnorbo says. “I’m always looking for something extra. Maybe sometimes I’m unrealistic with maybe myself or what I see, but you always want to be better. I want to get better as a coach and I want the team to get better, and the players to get better.
“The only way to do it is to keep pushing and trying to find extra.”
