Sydney FC’s Patrick Kisnorbo has criticised Mark Milligan’s doubters, who ruled the Newcastle Jets coach out only a few weeks into the current Isuzu UTE A-League season.
The 45-year-old has admitted he’s impressed by what his opposite number has achieved since his arrival in Newcastle, having recovered from 5 losses in their first 7 games to become Premiers.
Leading into their semi-final decider against Newcastle Jets this Saturday night, the coach is delighted with the turnaround from Milligan and his team as they go head to head in the second leg of the Isuzu UTE A-League semi-finals at McDonald Jones Stadium.
“It’s good to see another young coach apply his trade.
“He’s done a great job…they’ve earned the right to be where they are.
“What people here forget is, at the start it was difficult, people were writing him off, which for me is incredible because the coach [Milligan] hadn’t had any time.
“He’s shown through hard work, consistency and belief what he’s done.”
Ahead of their second leg, the coach, who’s still unbeaten at Sydney FC, said the Sky Blues know how big Saturday’s clash will be, with his side committed to focusing on the game and their own improvement, despite being away from home.
“I don’t need to tell them about tomorrow,” he said.
“They can’t rest on last week’s game, tomorrow’s game is a completely different game, and to be at a high level, you need to replicate performances like last week.
“They’ll learn a lot from the game tomorrow. I’m sure they’ve learned a lot, going into it.
After beating Victory in Melbourne in the Elimination Final, Kisnorbo believes that the crowd won’t affect his side in Newcastle.
“It’s outside noise, to be honest. Crowds will always be crowds, whether you’re at home, you’re away, that’s part of the game. We just got to focus more on the football instead of the occasion.
“The main thing for us is to concentrate on ourselves and go up there and do what we have to do and perform at a high level.”
Kisnorbo also provided updates on wingers Joe Lolley and Al-Hassan Toure, outlining the players’ injury status and where they sit ahead of this weekend’s matchup.
“It’s a balancing act,” Kisnorbo noted, discussing Joe Lolley’s playing time.
“You’ve got to be smart…we’ll think about it today, about what we’re gonna decide going into tomorrow.
“Emotionally, probably yes [on whether Lolley could start]…if you ask the player, he’ll probably always say that they’ll be able to start, because it’d be great.
“But, it’s [about] being realistic and knowing what’s best for the team.”
Addressing Toure’s absence from the squad list, Kisnorbo said:
‘He won’t be ready this week. So, we have to keep ticking along. What will happen after tomorrow? I can’t tell you, but he’s traveling in a good way.”
‘PK’ and the Sky Blues travel north to McDonald Jones Stadium this Saturday night looking to extend Kisnorbo’s unbeaten run as Head Coach against the Premiers and secure a place in the Isuzu UTE A-League Grand Final, with kick-off at 7:40pm.
