Kenny Miller

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Kenny Miller
Personal information
Full name	Kenneth Miller
Date of birth	23 December 1979 (1979-12-23) (age 28)
Place of birth	Edinburgh, Scotland
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Rangers
Number	TBA
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1996–2000 1998–1999 2000–2001 2001 2001–2006 2006–2007 2007–2008 2008–	Hibernian → Stenhousemuir (loan) Rangers → Wolves (loan) Wolves Celtic Derby County Rangers	045 (12) 011 0(8) 030 0(8) 005 0(2) 162 (50) 033 0(7) 030 0(4) 000 0(0)
National team2
2001–	Scotland	037 (11)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 11 June 2008. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 11 June 2008. * Appearances (Goals)

Kenneth "Kenny" Miller (born 23 December 1979 in Edinburgh) is a Scottish professional footballer playing for Scottish Premier League side Rangers and the Scottish national team. He is a centre forward.

Contents 1 Club career 1.1 Hibernian 1.2 Rangers 1.3 Wolverhampton Wanderers 1.4 Celtic 1.5 Derby County 1.6 Return to Rangers 2 International career 2.1 International goals 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Club career

[edit] Hibernian

Miller's big break came when he signed for Hibernian, and made his debut during the end of the 1997–98 season. A loan spell at Stenhousemuir saw Miller score five doubles - 10 goals - in 11 league and Scottish Cup games, before he returned to Hibernian to establish himself as a regular player. Highlights of his four years at the club included being top scorer in season 1999–00 and receiving the Scottish Young Player of the Year crown in 2000.

[edit] Rangers

Miller signed for Rangers at a cost of £2 million in June 2000.^[1] He made his debut against in a 4-1 win over FBK Kaunas on July 26 during a Champions League qualifier.^[2] His first goal came on 5 August 2000 during an SPL match away to Kilmarnock, scoring the the third in a 4-2 win.^[3]

Three months later, Miller netted five goals (a Scottish Premier League record) during a 7-1 home defeat of St Mirren.^[4] More goals followed against AS Monaco and Aberdeen and helped him to a tally of ten goals from just fourteen games. However, chances became limited thereafter and as the season came to a close he was to net only once more, against Brechin City in the Scottish Cup.

In September 2001, he went to Wolverhampton Wanderers (Wolves) on a three-month loan, scoring two goals in his first two games. However, during his third appearance, Miller broke his collarbone in a fall. During the next two months, Wolves and Rangers had lengthy discussions over his future. Wolves finally secured him on a permanent transfer at a cost of £3 million, on a four and a half year deal.^[5] Miller had made a total of 38 appearances and scored 11 goals for Rangers.

[edit] Wolverhampton Wanderers

In 2002–03 Miller found himself back in the starting 11, but he had only managed six goals in 19 starts. However, during the final six months of the season he scored 18 goals in his final 24 appearances of that campaign. He equalled a club record of scoring in six consecutive games. That helped Wolves gain promotion into the Premier League.

In the 2003–04 season, Miller started off the season in the physiotherapy room; it was not until October that he made his first Premiership start. He went on to play in a 4-5-1 formation for the following few months, situated in a right-wing role. This led to frustration on Miller's part, and his only goals up until January came in the League, and FA Cup – against Burnley – and a double against Kidderminster. The next Saturday, Wolves beat Manchester United 1-0 with Miller hitting the winner in the 65th minute. Miller then grabbed a last minute equalizer against Liverpool the following Wednesday. Despite starting many games from then on in a striker's role, those were to be Miller's only Premier League goals and Wolves were relegated by the end of the season.

In the summer of 2004, Miller handed in a transfer request over lack of first team opportunities. Despite having a tense relationship with the Wolves manager at the time, Dave Jones, he started the 2004-05 season in good form for the club scoring seven goals in his first 10 games at Wolves. The appointment of Glenn Hoddle signalled a new start for Miller, and he formed a successful partnership with Carl Cort, ending the 2004–05 season with 21 goals.

In the summer of the 2005–06 season, his form attracted the attention of the newly promoted Premiership team Sunderland, but Wolves rejected their £1m and £1.2m offers^[6] and Miller began the new season as a Wolves player. Despite only playing in his natural position on few occasions, Miller still ended the season with 12 goals, and ended the season as top scorer - the third time in Wolves last three Championship campaigns. Miller played more than 190 games for Wolves and scored more than 60 goals during his five years with the club.

[edit] Celtic

When Miller's contract expired at the end of that season, he transferred to Celtic for free under the Bosman ruling. He signed a pre-contract agreement in January after refusing to sign a new deal at Wolves a month earlier.^[7]

Miller became only the third player since the war to have played for both sides of the Old Firm - following Alfie Conn and Maurice Johnston.

He was handed the number nine jersey upon his arrival and, despite being praised by many for his overall performances, failed to score in his first nine games for Celtic. He finally scored his first goal, against Old Firm rivals and former employers Rangers at Celtic Park in September 2006.^[8] He proceeded to score in Celtic's 1–0 UEFA Champions League win against Copenhagen from the penalty spot^[9] and netted two in the 3–0 win over S.L. Benfica.^[10] By scoring in the 2006-07 Champions League season, Miller became the first player to score goals in the Champions League proper for both Rangers and Celtic. However, he ended the season with only four league goals. He did play in the clubs cup final, before being substituted because of an injury. Despite hints from the player himself that he would leave to get more first-team opportunities, Miller vowed to stay at the club and fight for his place at the club. Miller scored his first goal (his first appearance) of the 2007–08 season in a 3–1 victory over Falkirk. Miller added to his collection the following week by scoring two goals against Aberdeen.

[edit] Derby County

After days of speculation he would leave Celtic, Miller signed a three year deal with newly promoted Premier League club Derby County on 31 August 2007 for an undisclosed fee, rumored to be around £3 million, but later confirmed by Derby County manager Paul Jewell to be closer to £2.25m. ^[11]

Miller started well at his new club, scoring in his first two home matches, including the winner on his league debut for the Rams against Newcastle in a 1–0 win on 17 September 2007, a strike which won the club's Goal Of The Season award. However, following this initial success Miller netted just twice in his next 28 league fixtures.

With Derby looking likely candidates for relegation Miller expressed a desire to move just over 6 months after joining the club - with a return to Rangers his preferred destination ^[12], though his manager Jewell insisted any move would have to be financially fair for Derby. ^[11]

[edit] Return to Rangers

A fee of £2m was agreed between Rangers and Derby allowing Miller to enter into discussions about a transfer back to Ibrox on June 10, 2008.^[13] The deal was completed on June 13.^[14] Miller's return to Ibrox made him only the second player to cross the Old Firm divide twice. The first being Willie Kivlichan in the early 1900s.^[15]

[edit] International career

Since making his Scottish international debut in 2001, Miller has remained a constant presence in the Scotland team under the management of Berti Vogts, Walter Smith and Alex McLeish, often playing as part of a two-man attack or as a lone striker.

He has scored goals in crucial games against several teams, including Germany and Ukraine. In 2005, Miller scored in three consecutive internationals, with goals against Austria, Italy and Norway.

[edit] International goals

Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first.

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	29 March 2003	Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland	Iceland	1–0	2–1	UEFA Euro 2004 Qual.
2	7 June 2003	Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland	Germany	1–1	1–1	UEFA Euro 2004 Qual.
3	17 August 2005	UPC-Arena, Graz, Austria	Austria	1–0	2–2	Friendly
4	3 September 2005	Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland	Italy	1–0	1–1	2006 WC Qualifying
5	7 September 2005	Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo, Norway	Norway	1–0	2–1	2006 WC Qualifying
6	7 September 2005	Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo, Norway	Norway	2–0	2–1	2006 WC Qualifying
7	1 March 2006	Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland	Switzerland	1–2	1–3	Friendly
8	2 September 2006	Celtic Park, Glasgow, Scotland	Faroe Islands	4–0	6–0	UEFA Euro 2008 Qual.
9	6 September 2006	Darius and Girėnas Stadium, Kaunas, Lithuania	Lithuania	2–0	2–1	UEFA Euro 2008 Qual.
10	13 October 2007	Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland	Ukraine	1–0	3–1	UEFA Euro 2008 Qual.
11	26 March 2008	Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland	Croatia	1–1	1–1	Friendly

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Kenny Miller career stats at Soccerbase
• Kenny Miller profile at scottishfa.co.uk

Awards
Preceded by Barry Ferguson	Scottish PFA Young Player of the Year 2000	Succeeded by Stiliyan Petrov

v • d • e Rangers F.C. – current squad 1 McGregor • 3 Weir • 4 Buffel • 5 Papac • 6 Ferguson • 7 Hemdani • 8 Thomson • 9 Boyd • 10 Novo • 11 Adam • 15 Gow • 16 G. Smith • 17 Burke • 18 Naismith • 19 Darcheville • 20 Beasley • 21 Broadfoot • 22 Webster • 23 Dailly • 24 Cuéllar • 25 Alexander • 26 S. Smith • 27 McCulloch • 28 Whittaker • 29 Cousin •  Miller • Manager: W. Smith

Persondata
NAME	Miller, Kenneth
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Miller, Kenny
SHORT DESCRIPTION
DATE OF BIRTH	23 December 1979
PLACE OF BIRTH	Edinburgh, Scotland
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH