Jozic had been with Zeleznik since January 2004, when he made the move to his native Serbia after a spell with French side Auxerre. When he joined, along with Brazilian duo Ronaldo Aparecido Viana and Gefferson da Silva Goulart, coach Mile Tomic boasted, “We have a team that can win trophies.”

Zeleznik completed 2004/5 in fifth place, and slumped to ninth last time around, conceding 45 goals in their 30 League matches, with the commanding centre-half completing around half of those clashes. Ironically the Serbian club, like the Shrimpers are also looking at moving to a state-of-the-art new stadium in the town.

With Auxerre, Jozic played in just nine games, although he did manage to break into the Serbian Under-21 side. He was also a substitute in the French club’s UEFA Cup run after linking up with the club from Eintracht Frankfurt. In fact, the Serbian national was born in Germany, although he was never deemed good enough for the former German League winners.

Robert Craven
www.thelittlegazette.com