Plane speaking
FOOTBALL Kenny Miller’s message to his Rangers team-mates is a simple one as the club prepare for the European stage again. Graeme Macpherson reports
KENNY Miller’s durability and longevity are helping reopen doors he had thought long closed to him. At 37, the forward’s enthusiasm for the game burns as brightly as it did when he was a teenager making the breakthrough at Hibernian more than two decades ago.
In his third spell at Rangers, Miller continues to chalk up milestones and, perhaps more significantly, revisit career-high watermarks that he had thought were destined to remain in the past forever.
Last season he played in the Scottish top flight for the first time in five-and-a-half years, giving him the long-awaited chance to return to the Old Firm arena. And now, at the end of this month, he will take part in a European tie for the first time since December 2010.
The circumstances, though, will be somewhat different. Back then, Miller was playing – and scoring – in a Champions League group match against Bursaspor, a goal that helped earn him a move to the Turkish side a month later. This time, Rangers enter in the first qualifying round of the Europa League, one of four twolegged hurdles they must negotiate safely if they are to reach the group phase of European club football’s secondary competition.
The identity of their opponents will be revealed at tomorrow’s draw, the names a far cry from the glamour of facing Manchester United and Valencia in that same season seven years ago. Given everything Rangers as a club have endured since those days, however, Miller thinks just being back in Europe should qualify as a significant milestone.
“It will be great,” he said. “It’s all part of the process. It’s all small steps in getting us back to where we want to be. We’d love to do it in one huge step, but it’s going to take a bit of time. We are going to have to keep getting better. But looking at the standard of player we are bringing in, we will definitely be more equipped this year.
“After that [Bursaspor] game, when I left Rangers for the second time, I didn’t think I would have a chance of coming back to the club again. But when I knew there was a possibility then Europe becomes part of the thought process again, along with another Old Firm game.
“When you leave you think you will never experience a game of that size again. But I managed to do that. The next stage is European football, then winning the league and getting into the Champions League again.
“That’s where we want to be playing. But there’s a long way to go and a lot of hard work to achieve that, all starting with a Europa League qualifier.
“If we want to go through we are going to have to do it the hard way. I am not too sure about seedings and potential opponents, but we will just take it game by game. We will see who we get and take it from there.”
Other Scottish clubs have discovered in recent years that the “prestige” of qualifying for European football can come at a price. Rangers’ first tie will be on June 29 and, with the SPFL Premiership not finishing until May 13 next year, with a possible Scottish Cup final to follow, it makes for a long, arduous campaign.
“It’s been a quick turnaround so there’s always a feeling of two seasons rolled into one when you start on June 29,” Miller said.
“That’s still a full five weeks before the first league game, so even at that point you are just coming back in to get ready for a game in August.
“But with the numbers we are getting in the group as well – we will have a larger squad – and that will help accommodate the number of games we will have this season ... if we get through the qualifiers.
“If we lose a pre-season friendly, let’s be honest, it doesn’t matter. The purpose of pre-season friendlies is to get fit, get match sharpness up, and get everyone in the squad game time. But these European games, you need to win. You don’t get a second chance if you under-perform or get a poor result. It’s important we are right on the ball and ready to go.”
Rangers’ player recruitment continues apace. Ryan Jack has been the only Scot to sign so far but Miller hopes more will follow, including his former Scotland team-mate Graham Dorrans.
“If you look at the balance of the signings so far, it hasn’t really involved a Scottish core,” he said. “But I think we need to keep a level of British and Scottish players who know what’s required to play here.
“Graham would be a huge signing for us. We’d definitely be heading in the right direction if we can get a player of that quality. He’s played 10 years in England, all at Championship level or higher. In fact, probably more at Premier League standard. He’s an outstanding footballer. When I saw his name linked towards the end of last season I watched him playing for Norwich to see if he was still the player I knew.
“They played Brighton and he ran the game. I also met Russell Martin on holiday and he was very complimentary. Stevie Naismith reckons he’s maybe their best player. If we can get a player from Norwich, with his quality to this club, it would only be a positive thing for us.”
The next stage is European football, then winning the league and getting into the Champions League. That’s where we want to be. But there’s a long way to go to achieve that
Kenny Miller was promoting Rangers Soccer Schools. For further information or to book a course email Soccerschools@rangers.co.uk or contact 0871 702 1972 option 4 (calls cost 13p per minute plus network extras)