Liam Miller

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Liam Miller
Personal information
Full name William Peter Miller
Date of birth February 13, 1981 (1981-02-13) (age 27)
Place of birth    Cork, Republic of Ireland
Height 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Playing position Central midfield
Club information
Current club Sunderland
Number 12
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
1997–2004
2001
2004–2006
2005–2006
2006–		 Celtic
→ AGF Aarhus (loan)
Manchester United
→ Leeds United (loan)
Sunderland		 26 (2)
18 (0)
09 (0)
28 (1)
54 (3)   
National team2
2004- Republic of Ireland 18 (1)

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of 14:37, 14 May 2008 (UTC).
2 National team caps and goals correct
as of 29 May 2008.
* Appearances (Goals)

William Peter "Liam" Miller (born 13 February 1981) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Premier League club Sunderland. He previously played for Leeds United, Manchester United, AGF Aarhus and Celtic.

Miller began his career with Celtic where he played 26 games and scored 2 goals; he was then loaned to Aarhus in 2001, scoring zero goals in 18 appearances for the Danish Superliga club, and debuted for Ireland in 2004 against Czech Republic. In 2004, he joined Manchester United, playing nine times and scoring no goals. He was later loaned to Leeds United during the 2005–06 season, making 28 appearances and one goal. In 2006, he joined Sunderland, his current club. He was then linked with a move away from the Stadium of Light because of alleged time keeping issues.

Contents

[edit] Background

Miller was born in Cork, Ireland,[1] and attended Coachford College.[2] Manutdzone described him as "a slight, but strong-running midfield player [who] is blessed with good pace and a high level of stamina", which brought a comparison to his idol Roy Keane, who is also from Cork.[3] In a web chat, Miller revealed that family has been his largest influence in football, and that Martin O'Neill and Sir Alex Ferguson were also influential to his career.[4] Miller is married and has one son.[5]

[edit] Club career

[edit] Celtic

Miller joined Celtic in 1997 as a youth player, and made his professional league debut against Dundee United on 21 May 2000.[3] His UEFA Cup debut came against Luxembourg based club Jeunesse Esch on 24 August 2000 in a 7–0 win, and come close to scoring in the 64th minute.[6] During his time at Celtic Park, he had been on a six-month loan spell with Danish football club, AGF Aarhus, during the 2001–02 season, making 18 appearances without scoring a goal.[7] They considered signing him permanently for £300,000.[8]

His first Scottish Premier League goals came in a 5–0 win over Hearts on 18 October 2003, his first goal came after nine minutes when Stilian Petrov drilled the ball in low and Miller finished it off, and completed the scoring in the 50th minute with five yard finish.[9] Martin O'Neill offered Miller a long term contract following his goal against Lyon as Celtic won 2–0 in order to keep him at the club; both O'Niell and Miller were pleased about the impact of his presence.[10][11] In his time at Celtic, Miller scored 2 goals in 26 appearances.[1]

[edit] Manchester United

He joined Manchester United for free on 1 July 2004 after signing a pre-contract agreement in January that same year.[12] According to Irish Abroad, "His departure from the Glasgow giants—after only 26 appearances for the Bhoys—led to outrage among the club’s supporters who perceived Miller to be showing a distinct lack of loyalty considering the Celts’ support of him through long-term injury."[13] He scored his first goal for Manchester United on 26 October 2004 against Crewe Alexandra.[14] After the start of his career for the Red Devils, he found first-team opportunities rare towards the end of the 2004–05 season, however, making only 22 first-team appearances since arriving from Celtic.[1]

On 4 November 2005, Miller joined Leeds United for three months,[15] though this was later extended to the end of the 2005–06 season.[16] He scored one goal during his time at Leeds—the winning goal in the 4-3 away win against Southampton on 19 November 2005[17]—and helped Leeds to reach the Championship play-off final with a 3–1 on aggregate over Preston North End. Miller featured in the play off final, however, Leeds failed to overcome Watford, being beaten 3–0 and so were not promoted to the Premier League.[18] During his time at Elland Road, he had scored one goal in 28 games.[1]

In July 2006, The Telegraph reported that Miller would be allowed to leave Manchester United, should the Red Devils receive a suitable offer.[19] It was made clear that Miller was not part of Alex Ferguson's plans when he was still only a substitute in the opening game of the Red Devils' tour of South Africa against Orlando Pirates on 16 July 2006; despite the huge number of senior players missing.[20] On 31 August 2006, he moved to Sunderland for free on a three-year deal,[21] joining up with new Sunderland manager and former teammate Roy Keane. He left Manchester United after playing just nine league games in two seasons, scoring no goals.[1]

[edit] Sunderland

Miller playing against Cork City in Sunderland's pre-season tour of Ireland.
Miller playing against Cork City in Sunderland's pre-season tour of Ireland.

Miller made his debut for Sunderland in a 2–1 win over Derby County on 9 September 2006 at the Stadium of Light,[22] and scored his first goal in the following game against Leeds United on 13 September 2006 in a 3–0 win shooting across the goalkeeper from 14 yards.[23]

On 6 January 2007 he was sent off by referee Iain Williamson in a FA Cup match against Preston North End in the 37th minute after receiving his second yellow card for a foul on David Nugent; Sunderland went on to lose the match 1–0.[24] He scored his first Premier League goal for Sunderland on 22 September 2007 against north-east rivals Middlesbrough in the 89th minute with a 20 yard left foot shot, the game being the 125th Tees-Wear derby.[25] He was sent off for the second time in his Sunderland career by Peter Walton; against Chelsea on 8 December 2007 for a push on Claudio Pizarro. Sunderland went on to lose the game 2–0.[26]

Manager Roy Keane placed him on the transfer list on 27 February 2008 due to a 'lack of discipline' and 'poor timekeeping', evidenced by his frequent lateness arriving to training sessions.[27] He was linked with a move to Toronto, a Canadian club having ties with Sunderland players Danny Dichio, Carl Robinson and Andy Welsh.[28]

[edit] International career

Miller in action against Brazil.
Miller in action against Brazil.

Miller played as a regular for the Ireland under-21 team.[12] He was fielded in a game against Albania despite having been suspended after receiving two yellow cards in UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship games against Switzerland and Albania.[29] The Irish FA admitted the mistake and apologised to UEFA.[29] Miller's debut for the first team came on 31 March 2004 against Czech Republic in a 2–1 win; he was debuted as a substitute for Matt Holland.[30] His first goal for Ireland came in a 3–0 win over Sweden on 1 March 2006 where he had made a run and a 25 yard shot rifled into the top of the net.[31]


[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Liam Miller", Soccerbase. Retrieved on 2008-04-10. 
  2. ^ "Life after Coachford College - Past Pupils", Coachford College. Retrieved on 2008-04-10. 
  3. ^ a b "Liam Miller", Manutd zone. Retrieved on 2008-04-10. 
  4. ^ Webchat with John O'Shea & Liam Miller (Web Chat). Eircom. Retrieved on 2008-04-10.
  5. ^ Dunphy, Eamon. "Dunphy slams “disgraceful” Sunderland chief", Eleven a side, 2008-03-03. Retrieved on 2008-04-10. 
  6. ^ "Celtic hit a magnificent seven", BBC Sport, 2000-08-24. Retrieved on 2008-04-11. 
  7. ^ Alexander, Nick. "Miller makes it five", Sunderland A.F.C., 200-08-31. Retrieved on 2008-04-15. 
  8. ^ Fisher, Stewart. "Time is right for Miller's tale to unfold; Celtic may have unearthed", Daily Herald, 2003-11-09. Retrieved on 2008-04-10. 
  9. ^ "Five-star Celtic crush Hearts", BBC Sport, 2003-10-18. Retrieved on 2008-04-11. 
  10. ^ O'Niell, Martin (2003-10-01). Miller to win new deal. BBC Sport. Retrieved on 2008-04-17. “I am going to make sure that we get him on a new contract as soon as possible—a 35-year deal if I can manage it.”
  11. ^ Miller, Liam (2003-10-01). Miller to win new deal. BBC Sport. Retrieved on 2008-04-17. “It was a great team performance, but that is the highlight of my career so far"”
  12. ^ a b "Man Utd clinch Miller deal", BBC Sport, 2004-01-09. Retrieved on 2008-04-10. 
  13. ^ Brennan, Robert. "Miller time is nearly up", Irish Abroad. Retrieved on 2008-04-11. 
  14. ^ "Crewe 0 - 3 Man Utd", Soccernet, 2004-10-26. Retrieved on 2008-04-11. 
  15. ^ "Miller makes Elland Road switch", BBC Sport, 2005-11-04. Retrieved on 2008-04-11. 
  16. ^ "Miller extends loan deal at Leeds", BBC Sport, 2005-01-06. Retrieved on 2008-04-11. 
  17. ^ "Southampton 3-4 Leeds", BBC Sport, 2005-11-19. Retrieved on 2008-04-11. 
  18. ^ "Leeds 0-3 Watford", BBC Sport, 2006-05-21. Retrieved on 2008-04-11. 
  19. ^ Template error: argument title is required. 
  20. ^ "Orlando Pirates 0-4 Man Utd", BBC Sport, 2006-07-16. Retrieved on 2008-04-11. 
  21. ^ "Irish trio make Sunderland switch", BBC Sport, 2006-08-31. Retrieved on 2008-04-10. 
  22. ^ "Derby 1-2 Sunderland", BBC Sport, 2006-09-09. Retrieved on 2008-04-11. 
  23. ^ Walker, Michael. "Calls for Blackwell's head as Keane's men stride on", The Guardian, 2006-09-14. Retrieved on 2008-04-11. 
  24. ^ "Preston 1-0 Sunderland", BBC Sport, 2007-01-06. Retrieved on 2008-04-11. 
  25. ^ McKenzie, Andrew. "Middlesbrough 2-2 Sunderland", BBC Sport, 2007-09-22. Retrieved on 2008-04-11. 
  26. ^ Mercer, Nathan. "Chelsea 2-0 Sunderland", BBC Sport, 2007-12-08. Retrieved on 2008-04-11. 
  27. ^ "Championship - Miller alerts Championship sides", Eurosport, 2008-02-27. Retrieved on 2008-04-10. 
  28. ^ "Toronto eye Miller swoop", Eleven a side, 2008-03-05. Retrieved on 2008-04-11. 
  29. ^ a b "Irish admit U21 blunder", BBC Sport, 2003-06-10. Retrieved on 2008-04-10. 
  30. ^ "Rep of Ire 2-1 Czech Rep", BBC Sport, 2004-03-31. Retrieved on 2008-04-10. 
  31. ^ "Rep of Ireland 3-0 Sweden", BBC Sport, 2006-03-01. Retrieved on 2008-04-10. 

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Sunderland A.F.C. – current squad

1 Gordon • 2 Halford • 4 Etuhu • 5 Nosworthy • 6 McShane • 7 Edwards • 8 Whitehead • 9 Stokes • 10 K. Richardson • 11 Murphy • 12 Miller • 13 Ward • 14 Higginbotham • 15 Collins • 16 Chopra • 17 Jones • 18 Leadbitter • 19 Yorke • 20 Reid • 21 Anderson • 23 O'Donovan • 24 Carson • 25 Mvoto • 26 Bardsley • 28 Kavanagh • 29 Hartley • 31 Connolly • 32 Fülöp • 33 Wallace • 39 Waghorn • 40 Dowson • 44 Evans • 45 Prica • –– Arnau •

Manager: Keane


Persondata
NAME Miller, Liam
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Liam Miller
SHORT DESCRIPTION Footballer
DATE OF BIRTH February 13, 1981
PLACE OF BIRTH Cork, Republic of Ireland
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH