'It is great to be back in
(Dec 19th 2000)Scotland,'
Lekovic told the press. 'We are back in our old home and
I have been back to watch Kilmarnock and see my old friends.
'I watched the League Cup match
against Hibernian and, since then, I have been training with Henry
Smith at Ayr and then Tom Hendrie at St Mirren.
'There was an opportunity for me
to play for St Mirren as a trialist while Ludovic Roy was injured, but
it turned out to be easier for them to sign Ian McCaldon on loan from
Livingston.
'There was a slight problem over
the return of my work permit, but I have spoken to an immigration
lawyer and I believe everything will be fine.'
'People said that I was greedy
when I left Kilmarnock,' . 'I didn't think that was fair because there
was a clause in my contract which allowed me to go for that fee.
'We had won the Scottish Cup in
97 and everyone said I had played well in the Final but,
unfortunately, the club's financial position meant they could not
offer me an improved contract.
'People blamed me, but how could
I not go to Spain when the first
three games for Gijon were against Mallorca, Barcelona and Real
Madrid?'
Gijon were already doomed to
relegation, having collected only three points from 22 matches, when
Lekovic arrived in Spain in the midst of winter.
'I didn't want to move but the
two clubs (he transfered to Malaga.) were owned by the same company
and I was given little choice,' . 'My problems just continued.
'When the NATO bombing campaign
began, I received five warnings from home that my future, and that of
my family, would be in danger if I continued to play.
'Of course, I stopped playing,
as every Yugoslav player did at the time. But the club president fined
me a huge sum of money and put me out of the team.
'Eventually, my family returned
to our original home in Montenegro, on the Adriatic coast, until my
contract with Malaga ran out in September.
'A few weeks later I brought
Valentina and the boys - Marko, nine, Milos, six, and 18-month-old
Malajan - back to our old home in Kilmarnock.
'Now people stop us in the
street and ask if I am back to play. I think I still have three good
seasons left, so I hope I can say "yes" to their questions.'
Drago is pictured above in April of 2005, as
he returned to Rugby Park to take in the Inverness CT home game as a
guest of the club.
