Kenny is the heartbeat of the squad. He trains like a top pro and the lads follow his lead
SAYS JOSH WINDASS
THE recent, and much debated, absence of Kenny Miller from the Rangers first-team squad clearly hasn’t diminished his influence among colleagues. To midfielder Josh Windass, the veteran striker remains the ‘heartbeat’ of the Ibrox set-up.
At the age of 37, Miller still sets standards on the training field. His counsel to others trying to adapt to the club’s relentless demands is valued.
Windass, for one, feels in Miller’s debt for the assistance offered during 16 months at Ibrox.
Against that backdrop, it is safe to assume the other Rangers players have warmly welcomed Pedro Caixinha’s insistence that Miller remains ‘one of us’.
The ex-Scotland forward was dropped from the squad that faced Hamilton prior to the international break and was instead sent to Brentford to play for the Under-20s.
With Caixinha refusing to discuss whether his absence was linked to the public fall-out from a heated dressing-room meeting in the wake of last month’s Old Firm defeat, it seemed Miller’s third spell at Ibrox might be drawing towards a premature conclusion.
Caixinha has now stressed that is not the case. Miller has been restored to first-team training and, while his participation in tonight’s trip to St Johnstone might be affected by a minor fitness issue, the Portuguese manager has spoken of his ‘trust and confidence’ in the player.
If there was an ulterior issue, the air seems to have been cleared.
‘He has been training with us as normal, so nothing has been different around here,’ said Windass of Miller. ‘Kenny is the heartbeat of the squad. He’s got a good attitude, he trains like a top professional every single day. The lads bounce off him when he trains and try to follow his example.
‘He has helped me a lot. He has given me advice if I’ve not played well. If I ask him what he thinks, he will always give me an honest answer. He’s been really good for me.’
The merits of having a sounding board steeped in Ibrox expectations can hardly be overstated. Already six points adrift of Celtic and Aberdeen, Caixinha’s swathe of summer recruits are discovering that patience is a limited luxury.
Windass arrived under the previous regime but is now proving a more consistent influence for Mark Warburton’s successor. He has missed only one Premiership match this term after a debut season too often interrupted by minor injuries.
The 23-year-old is certainly keen to follow Miller’s example when it comes to being a model pro, recently adding a morning swim to his routine.
‘I just started doing it this season. I’m quite tired in the mornings, so I like to try and freshen myself up before training.
‘I’ve come across this new way of doing that and I’ve just carried it on. It seems to be working out all right.
‘I just come into the training ground a bit earlier and go into the pool. Davie Lavery (club masseur) isn’t too happy, because I’m making a bit of noise early in the morning, but it’s been good for me.
‘I swim, stretch — just boring stuff, really. I come in just after 8am to do it. There’s nothing particular behind it, it’s just something I liked doing.
‘Craig Flannigan (head of preparation and performance) has always encouraged us to go into the pool and stretch after training.
‘It might help in terms of cutting out some of the short-term injuries but I like to think I work hard away from football with the stuff I do.
‘At Accrington, I was playing every single game and didn’t train as much through the week.
‘But you train more here, as well as playing in the games, and that caught up with me a little bit last season. Everything seems to be all right this season.’
Mostly everything. While established as a regular on the left flank, the most memorable image of Windass so far this term came when he unwittingly wiped out Caixinha with a touchline sliding challenge in the 2-0 defeat from Celtic.
‘It’s been in a few of my mates’ group chats,’ grinned Windass. ‘The gaffer laughed about it, so it was all right.
‘I got a big grass burn from it at the time, so I wasn’t too happy. But the gaffer came up to me the next day and laughed about it. To be fair, he got up quicker than me at the time!
‘You have to gain the trust of any new manager who comes in. To stay in the team, he has to know
you can do a job for him. I think I’ve done that — maybe not at the start, but I think I’ve gained a bit of trust from him now.
‘I speak to him quite a bit and he tells me where I need to improve, what I need to do.
‘It’s about more concentration. He drums it into me all the time that I need to focus on the other side of the game, the defensive side.
‘He will show me video clips of where I haven’t done it, where I’ve done it wrong and where I have to improve.’
The Old Firm loss — and its aftermath — heaped pressure on Caixinha. While that was partly alleviated by the win at Hamilton, Windass knows it is essential for Rangers to start piecing together a consistent winning run when they head to Perth.
‘Since I’ve been at the club, it’s been a bit up and down,’ he admitted.
‘Obviously the Celtic game recently was disappointing, but we’ve had a few good results other than that and hopefully we can go to St Johnstone and put what we’ve been working on in training into practice.
‘To achieve anything, you have to be consistent and win regularly.
‘Hopefully we can start doing that and then climb up the table.’