Search: ' Savo Milosevic'

Wednesday 4 High drama at Barnsley who beat Spurs 3-1 in their replayed Cup tie. With the game scoreless, Stephen Clemence is sent off after collecting a second booking for a dive in the area. (Gerald Ashby is later described by Les Ferdinand as giving "the worst refereeing display I have ever seen".) Late in the game Jurgen Klinsmann is taken off with a suspected broken jaw. Two goals from Alan Shearer prove just about enough to see off Stevenage at St James' Park, 2-1 the final score, though Kenny is still up for a whinge: "Off the pitch they left a lot to be desired. They need to learn a lot about manners". (The crash you can hear is stones being thrown in a glass house).

Saturday 7 A very odd day with Man Utd the only one of the leading clubs to manage a point, Andy Cole getting a late equaliser against Bolton at Old Trafford where the match was preceded by wreath-laying in memory of the Munich air crash. Liverpool miss a chance to close the gap, losing 3-2 at home to Southampton – "It's nice for a bluenose to come here and win. I'm going to have a pint now and a gloat," says David Jones – and Blackburn come badly unstuck against Spurs at Ewood Park where the visitors score twice in the last minute in a 3-0 win. If the papers are right, this saves Christian's job, with Jurgen supposedly about to take over as manager had the match been lost (he'd be in no position to shout instructions for a while, though). The three clubs promoted last season are now in the bottom three places though Barnsley are now level with Bolton after a 2-2 draw with Everton. Newcastle give home debuts to three new signings, including Gary Speed who cost £5.5 million from Everton, but still lose to a Stan Lazaridis goal for West Ham. In Division One the three clubs relegated last season hold the top three places, with Sunderland moving up to third after winning at Wolves. Forest stay top after a 1-0 win at Portsmouth where the Vince Wolanin consortium is poised to make another takeover bid. In Scotland Rangers slip up again, conceding a last-minute equaliser at home to Dunfermline.

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Savo Milosevic never made the grade at Aston Villa, but David Wangerin thinks he didn't have a fair crack of the whip

This was the season Savo Milosevic was supposed to come of age, the year Brian Little’s most obscure signing stepped forward and justified his manager’s faith in him. Needless to say it didn’t happen, and as I write Savo seems to have kicked his last ball, or tuft of grass, or cubic metre of air, for Aston Villa. Few players can expect much else after spitting at their own supporters.

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Tuesday 2 West Brom drop down to fourth in Division One after losing 1-0 at home to (gasp) Man City while Sheffield Utd move above them following a 3-2 over Stoke. In Division Three a League record is equalled at Wigan where Bristol Rovers have four players sent off, together with one from the home side. Three go after a mass brawl triggered by the first dismissal, of Rovers defender David Pritchard. "It was atrocious, abysmal and an absolute disgrace," says Rovers manager Ian Holloway, talking of the refereeing rather than the fighting. Doncaster get their first win of the season, 2-1 v Chester, to take them to within six points of Brighton.

Wednesday 3 West Ham beat Crystal Palace 4-1 in a restaging of the match abandoned due to floodlight failure last month. The game is watched by officials from Juventus said to be considering investing in Palace for reasons that remain obscure, possibly some form of collective madness.

Thursday 4 So-so World Cup draw for England who'll be playing Tunisia, Romania and Colombia, harder for Scotland, up against Brazil in the opening match of the tournament (traditionally a low-scoring game, though) then Norway and Morocco. Ray Harford resigns as manager of West Brom as a prelude to taking up the QPR job, saying "At times there were problems with the travelling. A chance came that was going to be better geographically." Did he fly home from Blackburn every day then?.

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Hungary came close to qualifying for the World Cup, only to spectacularly fall at the last hurdle. Simon Evans chronicles their humliating play-off defeat

Hungarian fans belong to an elite group who have earnt themselves the prefix ‘long-suffering’. Having watched their national team and domestic league get steadily worse over the past decade, a uniquely silly Finnish own goal gave their team a point in Helsinki and a final chance of making it to France 98.

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Tuesday 2 Rio Ferdinand is dropped from the England squad for the Moldova game after being arrested for drink driving. His mum blames it on alcopops still in his system from the day before when he'd celebrated his England call up with West Ham team-mates. If we're reading Glenn's complex moral code correctly, Rio would have been OK if he'd only beaten his girlfriend. Scottish Secretary Donald Dewar criticizes the SFA for not postponing their World Cup match against Belarus due for Saturday, the day of Princess Diana's funeral, saying, "The government wants Saturday to be a day of remembrance not a day of sport." "Colin Hendry is out and big Donald would be a welcome addition to the back four," chirps the SFA's Jim Farry.

Wednesday 3 Scotland's match is moved to Sunday afternoon after it is established that FIFA weren't opposed to the rescheduling. The Rangers players in the squad had threatened to pull out if the match went ahead on Saturday, their decision possibly not unconnected to the fact that the club's vice-chairman Donald Finlay has led the calls for Jim Farry to resign. In the First Division Nottingham Forest lose their 100% record with a 3-1 home defeat against Manchester City.

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