Savo Milosevic, the Aston Villa striker, paid the price for spitting at the club's supporters at Blackburn on Saturday when he was put on the transfer list. The Villa manager Brian Little, who initially refused to discuss the show of petulance by Milosevic during the 5-0 defeat at Ewood Park, met his chairman Doug Ellis yesterday before confirming that the 25-year-old Serb was on his way out of the club.

Little said: "After speaking with the chairman, the board of directors and the player, and studying video evidence, I spoke to Milosevic who made it clear he regretted his actions. However, they were not acceptable to this football club, and he has been placed on the transfer list with immediate effect."

The Villa manager refused to discuss the matter further, and would not reveal whether Milosevic had also been fined for the incident. At first it appeared Little did not realise the enormity of the fans' bitterness over the incident and was prepared to give the player merely a reprimand and then continue as normal. But clearly pressure has been brought to bear by Ellis and his fellow directors, after club shares plummeted to an all-time low of 653.5p within 48 hours of the Ewood Park incident, representing an overall loss of £51 million to Villa since flotation in April last year.

Milosevic joined Villa from Partizan Belgrade in the summer of 1995 for £3.5 million, but struggled to make an impact in the English game. He was due to sign for Italian club Perugia 18 months ago in a £4 million deal, but refused to go after claiming he was being "messed around" by Perugia officials.