Miller thinks inexperience may be a vital factor
Kenny Miller has more Old Firm experience than most. That’s how he knows that know-how isn’t everything. Miller starred in 25 Glasgow grudge matches across spells on both sides of the divide. The Old Firm inexperience of Steven Gerrard’s Rangers has been highlighted as a potential weakness ahead of today’s Celtic Park clash. But Miller reckons it could actually work in their favour. “I’ll be keen to see how Rangers cope with it,” said new Dundee star Miller. “They’ve a lot of new players going into the game, so I’ll be intrigued to see how they handle the occasion. “You can try to tell new players about the game as much as you want. “The atmosphere will be electric, you won’t be able to hear yourself think, let alone hear a team-mate trying to shout instructions, or a manager on the sidelines. “When you’ve been in them before, and you know them, and you understand it all, it can give you a platform because you’re going into it better prepared. “But there are positives for Rangers having a new group of players too. They’ve not had the bad experiences that the team have had at Celtic Park over the last few years, like losing 5-0 last season. “They haven’t got that ghost haunting them. “But there are still a lot of bodies there that have had those experiences, and they will want to rectify that.” Another point of intrigue for Scottish football fans is the future of Hampden Park. For Miller, a policy tweak on kick-off times, rather than a full-scale flit to Murrayfield, is all that is required. “I’ll always look at Hampden as the national stadium,” he said. “I think part of the reason people are looking for change is to do with scheduling. “In all my years as an international player, we probably played the majority of our competitive international games at 3pm on a Saturday, when the place was rocking. “It was always full, it was always a fantastic occasion, and that makes a huge difference. “There must be a bit of a compromise to be made there, where we try to schedule those games for when we know it will be sold out on a Saturday. “Then, if there’s a less glamourous game, we take it on the road in midweek, to Easter Road, Tynecastle, Pittodrie. “That way, you get the benefit of a sold-out Hampden when you need it, and full stadiums for the smaller games, too.”