Aussie Kisnorbo slams players as Troyes face the drop
Patrick Kisnorbo, the first Australian to coach a team in one of Europe's big-five leagues, is looking odds-on to be the first to take one down too as he was left raging about Troyes' latest capitulation in their French Ligue 1 relegation scrap.
Troyes went down 2-0 at home to Clermont on Sunday, stretching Kisnorbo's woeful run without a league victory to 13 matches, stretching back to the start of the year.
The former Melbourne City boss, who's overseen 11 defeats in his last 14 matches in all competitions in France, appears to be losing his patience with the team and accused some of his players of not giving 100 per cent effort in the latest loss.
The Clermont defeat leaves Troyes in last but one place in Ligue 1, with just the doomed Angers below them.
With four teams to be relegated, Kisnorbo's side also look to be heading for the trap door, lying effectively eight points from safety with just eight matches remaining.
Two goals for Clermont's Muhammed Cham and Johan Gastien in the space of four minutes just before the half-hour effectively sealed Troyes' loss, with Kisnorbo telling reporters: "After that first goal, we completely stopped being competitive.
"This is the problem today, it's the hardest part to accept. To be a competitor, you have to have resilience, courage. I am not happy with today's performance.
"Making mistakes happens to everyone, but we must not give up. We had 70 minutes left to play in this match after the goals conceded but when the team behaves like this, they get punished.
"That's what happened today. Some of our players didn't give 100 per cent of what they could do for the team. Losing is okay, but that I don't accept."
The appointment of the 42-year-old former Socceroo defender was hailed as a trailblazing moment for Australian soccer coaches when he joined Troyes in November.
It all began well enough too when Kisnorbo earned a draw and victory in his first two matches at a club which has often yo-yoed between French football's top two divisions.
But they haven't won a match since, with the team slipping from 13th to 18th.
