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Aston Villa fan Zat Knight finally achieved his goal of playing for
his boyhood heroes when he signed for the midlands outfit in the autumn
of 2007.
The 26 year-old central defender was bought to form the foundations
of a newly revamped Villa side, as manager Martin O'Neill looked to
stamp his personality on the team in only his second season in charge.
O'Neill was persuaded to part with around £3.5 million for the Solihull
born defender, whose stock was certainly rising in the football world
having represented England on two occasions during the 2005 tour to the
United States. Knight was already a crowd favourite at Villa Park even before he had
donned the famous claret & blue, as the then Fulham defender scored
an own goal in the Cottagers' 2-1 defeat to the Villains, in what
turned out to be Zat's last game for the Londoners. Despite that own
goal, Knight's previous performances clearly left O'Neill in no doubt
that the 6'5" stopper was the towering presence that Villa needed.
Zat's stock was to rise once more as he scored on his Villa debut in
the home win over title-chasing Chelsea. With crowd favourite Olof
Mellberg seemingly relegated to right-back to make way for the new
signing, Knight and the ever improving Martin Laursen were able to
nullify Chelsea's potent attack as Villa marched to a resounding 2-0
victory.
The Knight/Laursen centre-back partnership progressed well as the
season rolled on, although a difficult December led many to question
Zat's ability to perform consistently at the top level. His lack of
concentration at crucial times and apparent clumsiness left many of the
Villa faithful unconvinced by the quality of their new signing. Knight
was sent off for the first time in his Villa career in a fiery encounter
against Chelsea on Boxing Day, conceding the penalty which Andrei
Shevchenko converted on the stroke of half-time in a dramatic and highly
entertaining 4-4 draw.
By the time Knight had served his suspension, manager Martin O'Neill
had drafted in West Brom's up-and-coming centre back Curtis Davies in an
effort to shore up what was becoming an increasingly porous back line.
As a result, Zat was relegated to a watching brief as the Davies/Laursen
partnership moved from strength to strength. The unfortunate Davies,
however, was to tear his achilles tendon during a 1-1 draw at Arsenal on
1st March, thus opening the door for Knight to play the remaining two
months of the campaign in a bid to prove his worth as a starter.
Successive thrashings in March of Bolton, Derby and arch-rivals
Birmingham City, propelled Villa to a 6th place finish and a place in
Europe. While Villa had scored 71 league goals, the third bestÊrecord
behind champions Manchester United and free-scoring Arsenal, it was the
defence that was a constant headache; the Villains claiming theÊsecond
worst defensive record in the top half with a total of 51 goals shipped.
The beginning of the 2008-2009 season saw Curtis Davies make his move
from West Brom permanent, whilst Spanish centre-back Carlos Cueller was
bought in from Rangers and right-back Luke Young from Middlesbrough as
manager O'Neill looked to reinforce a shaky defensive unit. Knight once
again faced the prospect of warming the Villa Park bench for a
substantial part of the season.
Zat made his European debut in the Intertoto Cup away at Danish side
Odense, a 2-2 draw in Denmark, followed by a 1-0 win at Villa Park a
week later, seeing Villa through to the UEFA Cup proper. With Davies now
back to full fitness and forging a quality partnership with Laursen,
Knight was once again finding it difficult to break into the first team
and he failed to feature in the Premiership campaign until Boxing Day,
when scoring a dramatic 90th minute equaliser in 2-2 draw against title
chasing Arsenal at Villa Park. Although finding Premiership appearances few and far between, Zat did
appear as a regular in Villa's FA Cup and UEFA Cup campaigns, playing
in the now infamous defeat at CSKA in the UEFA Cup. With the tie
delicately poised at 1-1 from the 1st leg at Villa Park, manager O'Neill
took the unprecedented step of playing an under strength side in an
effort to aid Villa's quest for a Champions League spot. Villa were
soundly beaten 2-0 in a side made up of reserve and youth team players.
With Villa out of Europe, Knight made only seven more appearances for
the club, replacing the increasingly injury prone Laursen at regular
intervals during the last three months of the campaign. A 2-2 draw at
home to Stoke City in March essentially ended any lingering hopes of a
top 4 spot as Villa were forced to settle for a 6th place Premiership
finish for the second year running. Zat's last appearance in the claret
& blue came in the disappointing 3-1 defeat away at former club
Fulham on 9th May. In the summer he was sold to Bolton for around £4
million, with manager O'Neill looking to raise funds to bring in another
trio of defenders during the close season transfer window. (James Brazier)
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