Alex Miller

For other people named Alex Miller, see Alex Miller (disambiguation).
Alex Miller
Personal information
Full name Alex Miller
Date of birth (1949-07-04) 4 July 1949
Place of birth Glasgow, Scotland
Playing position Defender
Youth career
Clydebank Strollers
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
1967–1982 Rangers 197 (17)
1983 South China
1983 Morton 8 (1)
Total 205 (18)
Teams managed
1983 South China
1983 Morton
1983–1986 St Mirren
1986–1996 Hibernian
1997–1998 Aberdeen
2008–2009 JEF United Chiba
2010 AIK
2012 Sibir Novosibirsk
2015 St Mirren (caretaker)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

† Appearances (goals)

Alex Miller (born 4 July 1949) is a Scottish football manager and former player. As a player, he had a 15-year career with Rangers. As a manager, he won the 1991 Scottish League Cup with Hibernian. He subsequently worked for Premier League club Liverpool for nine years,[1] assisting Gérard Houllier and Rafael Benítez.

Playing career

As a player Miller started out his career with Clydebank Strollers before he made the move to Rangers. Miller played for Rangers from 1967 until 1982 before finishing his playing career in Hong Kong. He made 306 appearances during his spell at Rangers and scored 30 goals. After being coached by David White he was promoted to the first team. In the autumn of 1970 he won his first title with the team, the 1970 Scottish League Cup Final. Under coach William Waddell, he was mostly just a second choice player. Therefore, in one of the biggest successes of the club's history, the triumph in the 1972 European Cup Winners' Cup Final, Miller was not on the pitch. It was only after Jock Wallace took over as coach, Miller became increasingly used. As a regular player after the mid-1970s, he won multiple titles. He was something of a legend at Ibrox having played in the 1971 Scottish Cup Final against Celtic despite having a broken jaw.[2][3]

Coaching career

Early coaching career

Miller was appointed as player-manager when he played briefly for South China in Hong Kong in 1983, but was unable to save the club from relegation.[4] He was then briefly manager of Greenock Morton in 1983 before contentiously joining their rivals from Paisley, St Mirren, who were at that time in a higher division.

St Mirren

Miller managed St Mirren from 1983 until 1986. He moulded a side that would win the 1987 Scottish Cup Final, later in the season that he left the club. Miller guided St Mirren to qualification for European competition. One of Saints all-time great nights came in a European campaign when in 1985, Slavia Prague were knocked out after a 3–0 Saints win at Love Street.

Hibernian

He was then manager of Hibernian from 1986 to 1996, through a "difficult" period in the clubs history, as the club came through financial problems.[1][5] He led Hibs to victory in the 1991–92 Scottish League Cup,[1] beating Rangers in the semi finals (1–0) and Dunfermline Athletic in the final (2–0). Hibs qualified for the UEFA Cup, losing on the away goals rule to RSC Anderlecht. Hibs reached the 1993 Scottish League Cup Final, but this time lost out to Rangers (1–2). Hibs finished the 1994–95 season in third place in the league. Miller was sacked by Hibs in 1996, with some observers accusing him of having betrayed Hibs' "cavalier ideals".[1]

Coventry and Aberdeen

He then moved to Coventry City, accepting an offer from his Scottish compatriot Gordon Strachan to become assistant manager. A year later, unable to resist the challenge of being his own man again, he moved to Aberdeen taking over the manager's post from Roy Aitken. However this stint was not a successful one and he was replaced in 1998 by Paul Hegarty.

Liverpool

Miller joined English Premiership side Liverpool as Director of Scouting under Gérard Houllier in 1999. However, when Rafael Benítez was appointed manager of Liverpool in 2004, he overhauled the scouting system. Miller then subsequently worked as first team coach, helping the club win the Champions League in 2005 and the FA Cup in 2006. Miller left Liverpool in May 2008 to manage Japanese side JEF United Chiba.[6][7]

JEF United Chiba

Despite taking over the club when they had taken just two points from eleven games, Miller managed to guide the team to safety from relegation.[8] However, following a string of poor results in the next season which the club was in the relegation zone, Miller's contract was terminated by the club in July 2009.[9]

AIK

After a year left without commitment, Miller was appointed manager of Swedish team AIK in June 2010 as the successor of Mikael Stahre and the interim solution Björn Wesström.[10] He left in November 2010, after less than five months in charge.[11][12] AIK had been in some danger of relegation when Miller was appointed, but they eventually finished 11th in the 16-team division.[12]

Sibir Novosibirsk

Miller was appointed head coach of Russian First Division club Sibir Novosibirsk in January 2012.[13] Miller became the first British head coach in Russian football.[13] Miller left the club after just nine matches in charge.[14]

Return to St Mirren

Miller returned to St Mirren on 3 November 2015, as assistant manager to Ian Murray.[15] He became caretaker manager after Murray resigned in December.[16]

Managerial record

Manager Statistics

As of 20 April 2012
TeamNatManagerial TenurePWDLWin %
South ChinaHong Kong Hong Kong1983 0
Greenock MortonScotland Scotland1983 0
St MirrenScotland Scotland1 August 1983 – 16 December 1986 0
HibernianScotland Scotland15 November 1986 – 30 September 199645215416013834.07
AberdeenScotland Scotland21 November 1997 – 8 December 19984311131925.58
JEF United ChibaJapan Japan2008 – 2009 0
AIKSweden Sweden22 June 2010 – 10 November 201024941137.5
Sibir NovosibirskRussia Russia10 January 2012 – 20 April 2012915311.11

Personal life

Two of Miller's sons, Graeme and Greg, both played for Hibs while Miller was manager there. Miller also employed Greg as a coach while he was manager of JEF United Chiba.[1]

Honours

Manager

Hibernian
Aberdeen

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Saturday Interview: Miller's outlook brighter after stint in Land of Rising Sun". The Scotsman (Johnston Press). 10 October 2009. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
  2. ↑ Linklater, John (23 October 1993). "Sparks still fly as electrician Miller generates the will to win". Herald Scotland. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  3. ↑ McDade, Gerard. Celtic the Supersonic 70s. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  4. ↑ 莫逸風, 黃海榮 (July 2008). 香港足球誌. Hong Kong: 上書房 UP Publications. pp. 115–116. ISBN 978-988-17735-2-4.
  5. ↑ "Club Higtory". Hibernian official site. Archived from the original on 10 May 2008.
  6. ↑ "Rafa confirms Miller departure". Liverpoolfc.tv. 8 May 2008. Archived from the original on 11 May 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-08.
  7. ↑ "Miller exits Liverpool for Japan". BBC Sport (BBC). 8 May 2008. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
  8. ↑ McDaid, David (5 December 2008). "Miller time in Japan". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
  9. ↑ "Miller axed as JEF United coach". BBC Sport (BBC). 28 July 2009. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
  10. ↑ "Swedes go for Miller". Scottish Sun. 23 June 2010. Retrieved 23 June 2010.
  11. ↑ Mellerborg, Stefan. "Alex Miller och AIK Fotboll går skilda vägar" (in Swedish). AIK Football. Archived from the original on 12 November 2010. Retrieved 10 November 2010.
  12. 1 2 "Alex Miller parts company with AIK". The Scotsman (Johnston Press). 10 November 2010. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
  13. 1 2 "Alex Miller proud to be first Briton to manage in Russian football". BBC Sport (BBC). 10 January 2012. Retrieved 10 January 2012.
  14. ↑ "Alex Miller Leaves Russian Club After 9 Games". RIA Novosti. 20 April 2012. Retrieved 20 April 2012.
  15. ↑ "Alex Miller appointed St Mirren assistant manager". BBC Sport. BBC. 3 November 2015. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
  16. ↑ Lamont, Alasdair (14 December 2015). "St Mirren: Buck stops with players - Jamie Langfield". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 14 December 2015.

External links

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