Miller insists Killie’s spirit will triumph
LEE MILLER suffered relegation last season after a revolving door was installed in the Carlisle United dressing room. A disparate bunch, inflated by a huge influx of loan signings, they were never likely to have the unity required in a survival scrap.
The experienced striker now detects far stronger bonds within Kilmarnock. Despite a club-record run of seven straight defeats, Miller remains confident the team ethic at Rugby Park will ultimately prevail.
Gary Locke’s side head to Firhill today knowing victory over Partick Thistle would all but guarantee avoiding the play-offs with a game to spare.
This incentive has existed for weeks, but hasn’t been sufficient to force them over the line.
Yet if the public front reflects what is going on behind the scenes, then the peril of their position — just three points clear of Motherwell — hasn’t seen a sense of doom descend on Killie.
Miller insists the build- up to facing Thistle has been buoyant, with the entire squad enjoying a laugh together in a quiz planned by manager Locke.
That sense of camaraderie appears in stark contrast to the scenario which saw Carlisle slide into England’s League Two 12 months ago.
‘At Carlisle, i t was a totally different situation because we had a new manager who brought in a lot of loan players and they didn’t really mi x , ’ recalled the 31-year-old.
‘It was hard. I think we had to beat Wolves something like 6-0 on the final day, so it was done before that. All the boys here will muck in together. If we go out for a lunch, then we’ll all go together, which is brilliant.
‘ Carlisle is isolated. You had players travelling from Manchester, Liverpool, all over the place. I stayed up here and travelled.
‘So if there was a club lunch not many would make it.
‘You were in training and then away you went. Of course, everyone has families and stuff but you do need that togetherness within a club.
‘We went through something like 40 or 50 players last season, which is crazy. Here, it is our own futures on the line. The whole club needs to be in the Premiership.
‘It is in our own hands, so we must concentrate on what we are good at. We proved we are a good side at the start of the season. We have just had a horrible run.’
Miller also flirted with the drop in his first full season of senior football when Falkirk finished second bottom of the First Division in 2002 — only to be spared by Airdrie’s financial collapse.
‘We stayed up due to Airdrie going bust,’ he recalled. ‘I was still a young lad, so I tried to switch off and enjoy my summer holiday. The next thing I knew we were staying in the league.
‘A new manager came in, Ian McCall, and we were signing players. It was a big turnaround and, although I didn’t think much about it at the time, it was probably the making of me.’
Locke will now look towards Miller’s experience to help Kilmarnock cope with their current plight. The manager has made a specific effort to introduce a bit of levity to this week’s work, having detected signs of anxiety beginning to inhibit certain players.
‘The mood is right and we have been preparing well all week,’ claimed Miller, capped three times by Scotland between 2006 and 2009.
Dealing with the psychology of their situation is key for Killie. While Motherwell and Ross County have long known they were mired in relegation trouble, the realisation has only recently dawned in Ayrshire.
‘It’s not a position we envisaged, but we have two matches left and we don’t need to rely on anyone else,’ said Miller. ‘If we win our games, we are safe.’