Over-celebrating draw will fire up Celts, says Miller
THE prospect of making history ought to be enough motivation for Treble-chasing Celtic but Joe Miller is sure Brendan Rodgers’ players would have found an extra edge at the end of their last encounter with Rangers. After a late Clint Hill goal salvaged an unlikely Parkhead point for the visitors, the Rangers players cavorted jubilantly in front of their own fans.
Former Celtic striker Miller believes the celebrations went too far and will help fuel his old club as they face their biggest rivals in an attempt to make it to the Scottish Cup Final.
‘What happened after the last game will have been locked away by the Celtic players,’ says Miller.
‘I think Rangers did over-celebrate a wee bit. Maybe that was down to the tension of the previous week and there was a bit of relief. That’s what players do but sometimes others look at it differently.
‘I could see how unhappy and frustrated the Celtic players were from their body language that day — and also from speaking to a couple of them.
‘This semi-final is when they will be trying to make amends.’
Miller (above), who spent more than five years as a Celtic player, attended that league game but did not subscribe to the theory that the points gap between the sides would be reflected in the scoreline.
With new boss Pedro Caixinha watching on from the stand, caretaker boss Graeme Murty coaxed an organised, stubborn performance from Rangers that yielded a point.
‘It was one of those games when everybody was talking about Celtic winning by four or five beforehand.
‘But just before kick-off, I turned to Bertie Auld and said: “This could be 0-0 today”.
‘We have all played in games where there is so much hype before kick-off and they turn out tight, drab affairs.’
One such tense affair was the 1989 Scottish Cup Final in which Miller scored the winner and, in the process, denied Rangers their own Treble under Graeme Souness.
Having pounced on a short back-pass from Gary Stevens to net, the day ended with Miller being hoisted around Hampden on the shoulders of captain Roy Aitken. He continued: ‘We’d won the Double the previous season, which was the height of my career, but scoring the winner that day was a highlight.
‘But there was a lot of pressure on us to stop Rangers doing a Treble the year later. It was something we had to achieve and to score the goal was a bonus for myself.’
Today it’s the Rangers players, and their new manager, who will look to deny their rivals a shot at a clean sweep of Scottish football’s domestic honours.
Miller got to know Caixinha while they were both working towards their UEFA A-Licence qualification at Largs nearly ten years ago and recalls the Portuguese as an inquisitive and friendly character.
‘I did the full course with Pedro,’ continues Miller. ‘He came over with a couple of other young Portuguese coaches, including Elena Costa, and came through his A-Licence with flying colours.
‘He was very enthusiastic, I remember that. He spoke great English and you knew he was going to get jobs and work his way up in the game.
‘He was Googling all the ex-pros that were there and picking their brains.’
Joe Miller was speaking at a William Hill media event. William Hill is the proud sponsor of the Scottish Cup.