Villa vs Coventry City, 1995 - Savo hat-trick

[Stu]

Inspired by the other Savo thread, this was, IMO, Savo's best performance for the Villa other than the LC Final against Dirty Leeds. Boom boom boom, let me hear you say Savo!

Part 2: click

Part 3: click

[Deano's Mullet]

Yes a classic. Yorke left the field with a broken nose that day if i recall rightly but Milosevic and Johnson were still too much for Coventry's defence. Richardson was sent off for them and i remember the Holte singing "Big Ron is a Villa fan".

[tomd2103]

Inspired by the other Savo thread, this was, IMO, Savo's best performance for the Villa other than the LC Final against Dirty Leeds. Boom boom boom, let me hear you say Savo!

Part 2: click

Part 3: click

If I remember rightly Stu, Savo was having a pretty poor game and then out of nothing, went and completed a hat-trick.  I remember sitting in the Holte that day and the bloke sitting behind was hammering Savo right up until he scored his 2nd and 3rd.  Strangely, he went very quiet after that!!

[PeterWithesShin]

I was a big Savo fan when he was with us. And doesn't he have the distinction of being the only player to be capped at senior level by 3 different countries?

[supertom]

39 goals between him and Yorkie in his first season. Had a few injuries the next year if I recall. When he was on it, he was quality. If he'd have started his first season, hitting the ground running he'd have banged in 20 goals easily. Just took him a while to get going.
It's a shame he fell out with the fans a little before he left.

[The Left Side]

I loved that Villa era, we weren't afraid of anyone.. well maybe Robbie Fowler

[Stu]

If I remember rightly Stu, Savo was having a pretty poor game and then out of nothing, went and completed a hat-trick.  I remember sitting in the Holte that day and the bloke sitting behind was hammering Savo right up until he scored his 2nd and 3rd.  Strangely, he went very quiet after that!!

You're probably right, I can't really remember much about the game other than the goals. It was the first match I went to with my mates and no parents to keep an eye on us. I bought a Nike jumper from Capolito Roma in town before the game, it was my pride and joy for about a year. That cost me something like £30, and, I think, £10 for a concession in the Holte and my paper round money I'd saved for six weeks was gone in a day.

Jumped the trains home, of course!

[somec]

I have fond memories of going to this game.

Although in no way our real rivals, since Cov hate us so much, it was always nice to give them a good stuffing.

I had a similar experience to the above poster around this time.  95/96 was the last season I went entirely with my Dad and the following season I started going with my mates to midweek and some away games.

I was also a paperboy at that time and the manager of the shop was a bloser.

In those days they knew their place and didn't mouth off so much, but just after we won the league cup in 1996 there was some kind of testimonial or 'friendly' beteween Villa and blues at St Andrews.

I remember the boss saying to me 'It's gonna be a tight game, I can't see there been many goals in this one.'

Of course we went there and stuffed them 6-0!

 IIRC Blues put out a strong team but our weakened side demolished them, and in the second half Brian Little, Allan Evans and John Gregory came on as subs and ran rings round them.

Strangely the boss was absent the next day, I can't think why!

If anyone has any footage of that game please post it on here!

[LeeB]

Classic Super Tommy Johnson there.

[LeeB]

That bit where Savo takes the ball down, goes between three defenders and then sprays a magnificent ball, with the outside of his boot to Wright, only to slice the sitter wide was his entire Villa career encapsulated in 10 seconds.

As someone said in the fanzine at the time, a he was a sublime mix of skill and shite.

[danno]

and even tho it was only December, taunting the cov fans with: "you're going down with the forest" was great fun.

[tomd2103]

Watching that again, if we had signed Dion Dublin then and not a few years later, we might have been able to really challenge.

[Dio1874]

Think they were his first goals down Villa Park, Was quite happy till the hatrick goal went in
as i'd got the lions to win 3-1, bastard lost me £40.00