| Few players have divided opinion among the Villa faithful like the
Serbian Savo Milosevic. For some he was a precociously talented striker,
a match winner with a goal scoring track record, while for others he
was a laboured, petulant character, unable to adapt to the rigours of
the British game.
With two Yugoslavian League titles under his
belt by the age of just 21, Villa boss Brian Little was persuaded to
part with £3.5 million for the gifted youngster based on the strength of
video evidence alone, in an effort to replace the Galatasaray bound
Dean Saunders and form a strike partnership with Dwight Yorke.
Milosevic
made his debut in Villa's 3-1 opening day win over a young Manchester
United team, a result that prompted pundit Alan Hansen to utter the now
infamous phrase; 'You can't win anything with kids.'
Milosevic
scored his first goal in Claret & Blue in Villa's 1-1 draw at
reigning champions Blackburn Rovers, and went on to complete his first
hat-trick for the club in a 4-1 demolition of Midlands rivals Coventry
City. Savo was on his way to achieving cult status on the Holte End as
he fired in the opener from 20 yards, as Villa went on to lift the
Coca-Cola Cup for the second time in three years, beating Leeds United
3-0 in the final. Villa also reached 4th in the Premiership in what was a
highly successful season for the Midlands outfit, but it was
Milosevic's blossoming partnership with Dwight Yorke that gave the fans
encouragement that Villa would be lifting more than just the Coca-Cola
Cup in the coming seasons.
After the success of both his and
Villa's 1995/96 season, much was expected of the Serbian in the new
campaign, especially as strike partner Dwight Yorke had notched up 17
league goals during the previous season. While Milosevic scored a brace
in front of the Villa fans in a 2-2 draw with Arsenal in the second game
of the season, the Serb then failed to hit the league net again until
late December, earning the striker the unfortunate nickname 'Savo
Misa-lot-evic'.
Despite the optimism of the previous season,
Villa had to settle for a 5th place finish in the Premiership, one place
worse off than the previous season, and were dumped out of the Uefa Cup
in the first round stage by unfancied Swedish outfit, Helsingborgs.
While Yorke continued his excellent scoring record, Milosevic's return
of just 10 goals in his second season was not considered enough to deter
manger Brian Little from signing Liverpool's Stan Collymore for a club
record £7 million.
The start of the 1997-1998 season saw
Milosevic benched in favour of the Yorke/Collymore strike partnership,
but it was at the back where Villa were most vulnerable, losing their
first 4 games to all but end any faint hopes of a title challenging
season. While the Villans were making headway in the Uefa Cup, their
league form had dipped alarmingly and it was the languid Milosevic who
was targeted by the Villa faithful after a string of less than inspired
performances. During a 5-0 drubbing at the hands of Blackburn Rovers in
January '98, the clearly unsettled Serb was seen to spit in the
direction of the travelling Villa fans, an incident which led to him
being transfer listed and all but sealed his fate as the latest Villa
Park Villan.
With Villa 15th in the league in February, and in
real danger of relegation, Brian Little was sacked and replaced with
Wycombe boss John Gregory, who managed to turn the side into a top 10
team by May. Rarely in the starting XI and short on confidence,
Milosevic was sold to Spanish side Real Zaragoza at the end of the
season for £3.7 million. His final appearance in a Villa shirt came
during a 3-1 home defeat at the hands of Bolton Wanderers where he was
replaced after just 58 minutes. (James Brazier)
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