Ljubo Milicevic practices during a training session, Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2005 (AP Photo/Daniel Luna)
The A-League has farewelled one of its true characters to European football, and the competition is poorer without him. Love him or hate him, Ljubo Milicevic was never boring.
The former Newcastle Jet has been a constant source of drama in the A-League, both good and bad.
While he has performed on the pitch, forming the meanest defence in the A-League this season with Nikolai Topor-Stanley, he has also done some ‘entertaining’ off it.
Bust-ups with teammates (Kasey Wehrman), the coach (Branko Culina), drumming with supporters in the stands and making bold comments about other teams (Gold Coast and Melbourne Victory), have all been part of the Milicevic package.
His comment about Robbie Kruse and the Victory in December certainly came back to bite him, with Kruse setting up a last-minute winner against the Jets.
But putting all that aside, Milicevic is a quality player.
At 29 he has had a good career and achieved more than most at that age. After coming through the Melbourne Knights ranks as a teenager, he moved to Perth in 1999 when the Glory were the best team in the country. In 2000 he was the youngest player ever to score in an Australian grand final, as the Glory dramatically succumbed to the Wollongong Wolves on penalties.
He had a celebrated international career at youth level, captaining both the Young Socceroos and the Olyroos. Milicevic moved to Switzerland in 2001 and spent six years there playing for different teams, featuring in the Champions League and attracting interest from English clubs.
Lacking a work permit, he never made it across the channel, but did break into the Socceroos side in 2005. He’s got just six caps for Australia, but that is perhaps not surprising considering his sometimes divisive personality.
His public criticism of Pim Verbeek certainly ended any chance he had of playing for the Socceroos during the past three years or so.
Milicevic made the move back to Australia in 2007, lasted with the Melbourne Victory for all of about five minutes (seemingly falling out with everyone), and then finally ended up at the Newcastle Jets in 2009.
This was after dropping out of professional football and battling depression. But he has resurrected his career at the Jets, and is back to his best form. At his peak Milicevic has been one of Australia’s best central defenders, a classy stopper who plays the game intelligently.
A fan favourite in Newcastle, he has certainly livened up the A-League in his two and a bit seasons. A somewhat unusual figure, standing 193cm and with a lisp, you could often spot him along Newcastle’s Darby St or at the Newcastle Knights’ home games.
Ljubo is certainly a player that divides opinion.
Many think he is nothing more than a big-mouth; someone who speaks too often without thinking. It’s true he’s not afraid to give his opinion and speak his mind. I think he has been a blessing for the A-League in a time when the competition has produced some brilliant football but lacked characters and personalities.
Milicevic’s performance on Fox Sports a few weeks ago summed him up. The human-headline was at his usual best – opinionated, controversial, self-deprecating but always entertaining.
On the Newcastle Jets’ supporters group, the Squadron, he said: “The good and bad they’ve been there for us, and we’ve had some tough times while I’ve been there. I’ve caused a few. But to be honest, it’s about them. The club is the fans.”
On the Sydney FC photoshoot where Finnish striker Juho ‘The Surgeon’ Makela was cutting up a Melbourne Victory player: “I think we need more of it. We want to watch characters and personalities. At the end of the day, you don’t go and watch a movie if it doesn’t have characters, so why would you watch football?”
On the Brisbane Roar: “They’re the best team I’ve seen [in the A-League]. They’re all athletes, but they’re all good on the ball [more importantly]. To all the sports science people out there, you’ve got a place but if you can’t kick a ball you’ve got nowhere to go.”
And on his bust-up with the Melbourne Victory: “When you play professional sport, sometimes egos collide, and you move on. In Europe it’s different; they don’t try and ruin you. In Australia I’ve learned the Shakespearean way… they get out the daggers. Now I’ve given a few out over the years, but that’s life. Life goes on. It’s in the past.”
It was vintage Ljubo and it was great to see a player unafraid to say what he really thinks and not be hamstrung by media managers or PR people. He won’t win any popularity contests, but it’s not just the Jets but also the whole A-League that will feel his absence.
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