PLAY AS HE IS SOGROUNDED
MARTIN RENNIE believed he was helping Kenny Miller after spending as much time in the sky as on the playing surface.
That didn’t stop the ex-Scotland striker pulling aside his then Vancouver Whitecaps gaffer to let him know in no uncertain terms he wanted minutes not mollycoddling.
That’s why new Falkirk boss Rennie knows if his No.2 feels the urge to lace up the boots once more, dropping him will be a difficult ordeal.
The Bairns’ management team saw their debut cut short last weekend as fog forced their clash with East Fife, which they led 1-0, to be abandoned.
Aidan Keena grabbed that goal on only his second start since midOctober, although Rennie could have further firepower closer to hand.
Ex-Rangers and Celtic frontman Miller turns 42 today, having last lined up for Partick Thistle two years ago next month.
Asked if Miller would be tempted to pull back on the boots, Rennie said: “It’s hard to say. He loves playing, he’s obviously played until he was 40. He probably would still be playing if he hadn’t got the chance to go and coach in Australia, so we’ll see.
“I could see him little by little trying to get into training and stuff.
“I remember when I was coaching him in Vancouver when he was playing for Scotland. He had to fly from Vancouver to London, London to Glasgow then Scotland played Wales. They had to fly to Serbia then back to Glasgow, to London, then to Vancouver. We flew from Vancouver to Dallas.
“Dallas is over 100 degrees, boiling hot and he was desperate to play. After an hour I took him off because I don’t even think he even knew what country he was in.
“We get back to the hotel and he pulled me aside and said, ‘I want to play, I don’t want to get taken off, I came to play’.
“I was saying that to him there and he said, ‘That’s the only game I can remember where I didn’t even know what was going on’.
“He’s just that kind of guy. So if he does want to play it will be hard to drop him if he wants to do it. But we’ll see. It just shows the enthusiasm he has and I think that will be a good part of our partnership.”
Asked how valuable Miller will be as his No.2, Rennie said: “Very valuable. Look at the career he had and the amount of hard work he put in to become the player he was.
“That’s a really great example for all the players we’ve got here. I just think he loves football, he’s got an amazing intensity for it and he’s a very good coach.
“He brings really good experience of Scottish football and respect from people within Scottish football. I felt that that would be important for me coming in as a bit more of an unknown quantity.
“We’re very ambitious and want to do well. We want to impart that to the players.”