In his first press conference since being named as Ufuk Talay's replacement at Sydney, Kisnorbo was eager to set the record straight over his exit from Victory in December 2024 which came just seven ALM games into a three-year contract.
In his short time at Victory, Kisnorbo took the club to the Australia Cup final before accepting an offer in Japan with Yokohama F. Marinos as an assistant coach.
"I won't lie because I never will, I still have people from Melbourne Victory calling me to this day," Kisnorbo said.
"If I was that bad, why would they ring me?"
The 45-year-old was an unpopular choice at Victory due to his time at Melbourne City, where he coached their ALW team and led their men's side to a championship and two first-placed finishes.
But Kisnorbo took issue with the narrative surrounding his Victory exit where it was widely perceived he was eager to jump ship.
He said was reluctant to leave the club in the lurch and claimed he was encouraged to head to Japan in a move which strengthened Victory's bottom line.
"When the opportunity came to go to Japan, Yokohama contacted the club and when that happened I spoke to the hierarchy," Kisnorbo said on Tuesday.
"If I didn't get their blessing to take on the opportunity I wouldn't have gone because I know a lot of people there who are friends to this day.
"Once they told me, listen it's a great opportunity', then it's hard to let go and what happened after that is disappointing.
"They're the ones that said I just left and this and that. Also the club got a fee for me so financially I looked after (them) and they got compensated.
"I didn't leave because it came from me, it was a well thought out decision and at the start I didn't want to go because we were doing well at the time."
Kisnorbo moved to the J-League as an assistant and then became Yokohama's head coach, but was sacked after just 10 games in charge.
The ex-Socceroo was also axed by French club Troyes with just three wins from 40 games in between his spells at City and Victory, but insists the move to Sydney won't be decisive in the future of his career.
"I don't need to prove anything, what I need to prove is that I'm a good person within the club and everything else is irrelevant for me," he said.
Kisnorbo has the Sydney job until the end of the regular season and will take charge of the Sky Blues' final four games, which start with an away trip to Brisbane on Thursday.
Sydney sit fifth on the ladder and spent the last week being put through their paces by Kisnorbo.
"Maybe my fitness (expectation) is harder than a lot of other people's but the expectations are that if you want to be successful you can't hide and be lazy," Kisnorbo said.
"The players have adapted well and are motivated.
"They're not wearing army uniforms but if you're at an elite level you need to work elite consistently."
