WE CAN COUNT ON KING KENNY
Ibrox defender Wilson hails returning hero Miller as veteran striker warms Rangers’ hearts
DANNY WILSON hailed the ‘massive influence’ of Kenny Miller on and off the field after the veteran striker came in from the cold to warm the hearts of an embattled Rangers support at Murrayfield.
Miller scored either side of half-time and conjured a classy assist for Josh Windass as Rangers ran out winners over Hearts in the first match since the firing of Pedro Caixinha and his coaching staff.
The departure of the Portuguese cleared the way for interim manager Graeme Murty to recall Miller and appoint him skipper. The move proved a masterstroke as Rangers staged a successful first step towards recovery from the wretched reign of Caixinha.
Defender Wilson was robbed of game-time by Caixinha, too, having not featured since the home loss to Hibernian in early August.
However, it was Miller’s axing that caused too much unnecessary controversy and Wilson acknowledged how vital it was for Rangers to welcome his return and get their season back on track under a new managerial appointment.
‘Kenny is a massive player for us,’ said Wilson, following his first start for six months. ‘He is a big influence on the dressing room and everyone saw here what he can bring to the team. He scored two
fantastic goals. His contribution hasn’t really changed throughout everything, he’s always been working hard.
‘And I’m delighted for him that he’s come back in and scored important goals. I’d say he proved a point.
‘As a striker, he scores goals. You know what you’re going to get from him. We were all satisfied — and with him scoring two goals, why wouldn’t he be satisfied? We won the individual battles and we won collective battles.
‘When you lose a semifinal of a cup and then draw in the league like we did, everything is on a downer. We went behind against the run of play and we could have let our heads go down but we didn’t. We picked ourselves back up and to a man were terrific.’
Murty insisted that Miller returning to lead the team after four games in exile was the only natural option.
‘It wasn’t my decision,’ said Murty. ‘He’s down as vice-captain — I didn’t give it two seconds’ thought.’
Miller had been sent to play for Murty’s development squad team at Brentford at the outset of the saga last month.
‘When he came down to the 20s, he was a model professional, always coaching and cajoling the young guys, giving them advice — sometimes in a stern manner!’ said Murty.
‘The guy is a winner, though, you can see it in his training, in small games and in shooting competitions. It makes it easy when you’re at a club and have the talent we have to call upon.
‘But out there it wasn’t just about him, it was about the team. Kenny will be the first say his goals were part of good team play. I’m pleased for him but we have players of quality who can go and do it for you.
‘The shift he put in for the team was excellent. I thought the players enjoyed it, the atmosphere in the changing room afterwards was something to behold.’
Murty admitted he ‘would find it difficult to turn down’ an offer from the club to make his second caretaker spell a permanent one, a shift in approach from the former Reading defender to when he took charge in the wake of Mark Warburton’s departure in February.
‘It won’t be down to me to select the manager,’ added Murty. ‘All I can do is give my best and work with the players we have. If that’s deemed to be good enough, fine. If not, the club will go in a different direction and I will be fully supportive of the guy who will be a very fortunate individual to take this club forward.’
Rangers are more likely to turn to an established boss such as Derek McInnes to fill the vacancy this time.
However, if that pursuit takes any length of time then the Rangers players will be satisfied to carry on under Murty’s command.
‘A lot of us have worked with him before, so we knew what we were getting,’ explained Wilson.
‘He handles himself impeccably and he gives us the responsibility and the licence to go out and perform. That’s what we did against Hearts. We knew it would be difficult after the week we’ve had but that’s the job we came here to do.
‘Everything always seems better after a win and this was a big win.’