OPaisley BE TEACHER’S PEST AT GERS
BY EUAN McLEAN THIS time last year Liam Millar was learning tough lessons from Steven Gerrard as part of Liverpool’s Under-23 team.
Now the on-loan Killie kid is aiming to build on his first senior goal against St Mirren on Monday by sticking it to his old boss at Ibrox on Saturday.
Millar grabbed the 87thminute winner for Killie in their 1-0 triumph in Paisley and it was fitting reward for his patience since coming to Scotland.
He said: “Steven Gerrard was my coach at Liverpool last year and was big for me. He helped me a lot.
“There was a time when I wasn’t playing well and he just dropped me.
“When he first dropped me he didn’t say anything. Then if I needed a rest he would explain it and say others needed game time.
“It helped me get over the disappointment of not starting. That helped me stay patient here because when you’re young you want to start all the time.
“Him doing that last year helped me to realise that it’s not how many minutes you get, it’s what you do with them that counts.
“I’m a young kid in a senior environment and I’m not expected to start every week. I know I have to prove my worth.
“Since I came up here I’ve had to wait patiently for my opportunity and it has been a bit frustrating but the difference between Under-23s and senior football is there will be more ups and downs and you have to deal with it.
“Me waiting and biding my time and being frustrated helps me.
“It meant I took the chance when it came and hopefully I can now get more opportunities.
“That’s my first senior goal and it will stay in my mind forever.
“Scoring goals with the Under-23s is fantastic but the way the fans were cheering and shouting is something I have never experienced before.”
Saturday’s trip to Ibrox won’t just be a reunion with Gerrard and fellow Liverpool loanee Ryan Kent. He’ll also square up to another familiar face in Scott Arfield as the pair became friendly through their involvement with the Canadian national team.
Millar, born in Toronto, said: “Scott will probably two-foot me!
“I know of Ryan Kent too having trained with him a couple of times. He’s a good guy and a good player.
“It will be a difficult game but now we’re back to winning again I hope we can keep going and score more goals on Saturday.” A LARGE section of the Rangers fans reckon they dodged a bullet when they failed to land Derek McInnes as their manager.
But the Aberdeen boss keeps coming back to haunt them as he effectively ended his old club’s chances of silverware for yet another season with last night’s 2-0 Scottish Cup replay win.
It’s two years since McInnes rejected the chance to succeed Pedro Caixinha after Gers had overlooked him to appoint the Portuguese flop as Mark Warburton’s successor.
Plenty of Light Blue legions were happy with that outcome, always believing that they should be aiming higher than the 47-year-old despite him twice beating them to runners-up spot since their top-flight return.
That’s something he’s unlikely to repeat this season – although understandable given the gulf in budget between the two clubs – yet it’s in the cups where he’s got the better of them.
First there was the Betfred Cup semi-final where Lewis Ferguson’s late goal at Hampden ended Gers hopes of a final place.
And last night his side defied the odds to repeat their Ibrox victory in the league late last year and scupper any chance of Old Firm semi-final showdown.
The criticism of McInnes is often that his side lack the mentality in big games but Gers wouldn’t mind his side’s recent record when the heat is on.
Not since the halcyon Sir Alex Ferguson days have Aberdeen enjoyed coming to Glasgow so much with last night’s 2-0 win coming just days after a battling draw against champions Celtic at Parkhead.
It was also the first win for the Dons at Ibrox in the Cup since Arthur Graham and Duncan Davidson scored in a 2-1 win in 1975.
Joe Lewis said his side had a swagger in Glasgow now. They ended a 19-year wait for a trophy with the 2014 League Cup Final win at Parkhead.
They brought to an end a 25-game winless Parkhead streak thanks to Andy Considine’s winner at the end of last season.
And after McInnes earned their first win at Ibrox since 1991 a couple of seasons ago they have now won twice on the trot and you can throw in a 16-year