Kenny Miller

For other people named Kenneth Miller, see Kenneth Miller (disambiguation).

Kenny Miller

Personal information
Full name	Kenneth Miller
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s)	Striker
Team information
Current team	Rangers
Number	9
Youth career
1996–1998	Hibernian
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1998–2000	Hibernian	45	(12)
1998–1999	→ Stenhousemuir (loan)	11	(8)
2000–2001	Rangers	30	(8)
2001	→ Wolverhampton Wanderers (loan)	5	(2)
2001–2006	Wolverhampton Wanderers	162	(50)
2006–2007	Celtic	33	(7)
2007–2008	Derby County	30	(4)
2008–	Rangers	66	(33)
International career‡
2000–2001	Scotland U21	7	(2)
2003	Scotland B	1	(0)
2001–	Scotland	47	(11)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 15:59, 28 August 2010 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 14 August 2010

Kenneth "Kenny" Miller (born 23 December 1979 in Edinburgh) is a Scottish footballer who currently plays for Scottish Premier League side Rangers and the Scottish national team.

Miller began his career at Hibernian before moving on to Rangers then to the English First Division side Wolverhampton Wanderers, where he won his first career honour, the 2003 First Division play-off final. After five seasons with Wolverhampton, Miller returned to Scotland, signing for the other side of the Old Firm. In his first derby match since returning to Glasgow, Miller netted the second goal in a 2–0 win for Celtic on 23 September 2006. He finished the season with a Scottish Premier League and Scottish Cup winners medal and soon after moved to Derby County. After only one season with Derby he returned to Scotland for the second time in his career to play with Rangers.

Club career

Hibernian

Miller's big break came when he signed for Hibernian, and made his debut during the end of the 1997–98 season. A loan spell at Stenhousemuir saw Miller score five doubles—10 goals—in 11 league and Scottish Cup games, before he returned to Hibernian to establish himself as a regular player. Highlights of his four years at the club included being top scorer in season 1999-00 and receiving the Scottish Young Player of the Year award in 2000.

Rangers

Miller signed for Rangers at a cost of £2 million on 26 June 2000. He made his debut in a 4–1 win over FBK Kaunas on 26 July during a Champions League qualifier. His first goal came on 5 August 2000 during a Scottish Premier League match away to Kilmarnock, scoring the third in a 4–2 win.

Three months later, Miller netted five goals (a Scottish Premier League record) during a 7–1 home defeat of St. Mirren. More goals followed against AS Monaco and Aberdeen and helped him to a tally of ten goals from just fourteen games. However, chances became limited thereafter and as the season came to a close he was to net only once more, against Brechin City in the Scottish Cup.

In September 2001, he went to Wolverhampton Wanderers on a three-month loan, scoring two goals in his first two games. However, during his third appearance, Miller broke his collarbone in a fall. During the next two months, Wolves and Rangers had lengthy discussions over his future. Wolverhampton finally secured him on a permanent transfer at a cost of £3 million, on a four and a half year deal. Miller had made a total of 38 appearances and scored 11 goals for Rangers.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

In 2002–03 Miller found himself back in the starting 11, but he had only managed six goals in 19 starts. However, during the final six months of the season he scored 18 goals in his final 24 appearances of that campaign, including in the play-off final that saw the club win promotion.

In the 2003–04 season, Miller started off the season in the physiotherapy room; it was not until October that he made his first Premiership start. He went on to play in a 4–5–1 formation for the following few months, situated in a right-wing role. This led to frustration on Miller's part, and his only goals up until January came in the League, and FA Cup, against Burnley, and a double against Kidderminster. The next Saturday, Wolves beat Manchester United 1–0 with Miller hitting the winner in the 65th minute. Miller then grabbed a last minute equalizer against Liverpool the following Wednesday. Despite starting many games from then on in a striker's role, those were to be Miller's only Premier League goals and Wolves were relegated at the end of the season.

In the summer of 2004, Miller handed in a transfer request over lack of first team opportunities. Despite having a tense relationship with the Wolves manager at the time, Dave Jones, he started the 2004–05 season in good form for the club scoring seven goals in his first 10 games at Wolves. The appointment of Glenn Hoddle signalled a new start for Miller, and he formed a successful partnership with Carl Cort, ending the 2004–05 season with 21 goals.

In the summer of the 2005–06 season, his form attracted the attention of the newly promoted Premiership team Sunderland, but Wolves rejected their £1m and £1.2m offers and Miller began the new season as a Wolves player. Despite only playing in his natural position on few occasions, Miller still ended the season with 12 goals, and ended the season as top scorer – the third time in Wolves last three Championship campaigns. Miller played 191 games for Wolves and scored 63 goals during his five years with the club.

Celtic

When Miller's contract expired at the end of that season, he transferred to Celtic for free under the Bosman ruling. He signed a pre-contract agreement in January after refusing to sign a new deal at Wolves a month earlier. Miller became only the third player since World War II to have played for both sides of the Old Firm – following Alfie Conn and Maurice Johnston.

Miller was handed the number nine jersey upon his arrival and despite his overall performances he failed to score in his first nine games for Celtic. He finally scored his first goal, against Old Firm rivals and former employers Rangers at Celtic Park in September 2006. He proceeded to score in Celtic's 1–0 UEFA Champions League win against Copenhagen from the penalty spot and netted two in the 3–0 win over Benfica. By scoring in the 2006–07 Champions League season, Miller became the first player to score goals in the Champions League proper for both Rangers and Celtic. However, he ended the season with only four league goals. He did play in the 2007 Scottish Cup Final, before being substituted because of an injury. Despite hints from the player himself that he would leave to get more first-team opportunities, Miller vowed to stay at the club and fight for his place at the club. Miller scored his first goal in his first appearance of the 2007–08 season in a 4–1 victory over Falkirk and added to his collection the following week by scoring a brace against Aberdeen. He netted 11 goals in total for the club in 46 appearances. Miller left Celtic for Derby County, for a fee worth up to £3.50 and 10 gingees.

Derby County

After speculation he would leave Celtic, Miller signed a three year deal with newly promoted Premier League club Derby County on 31 August 2007 for an undisclosed fee, rumoured to be around £3 million, but later confirmed by Derby County manager Paul Jewell to be closer to £2.25m.

Miller started well at his new club, scoring in his first two home matches, including the winner on his league debut for the Rams against Newcastle United in a 1–0 win on 17 September 2007, a strike which won the club's Goal Of The Season award. However, following this initial success Miller netted just twice in his next 28 league fixtures.

With Derby looking likely candidates for relegation Miller expressed a desire to move just over 6 months after joining the club – with a return to Rangers a possible destination , though his manager Jewell insisted any move would have to be financially fair for Derby.

Return to Rangers

A fee of £2 million was agreed between Rangers and Derby allowing Miller to enter into discussions about a transfer back to Ibrox on 10 June 2008. The deal was completed on 13 June. Miller's return to Ibrox means he is one of only a few players to cross the Old Firm divide twice.

Miller made his second debut for the club on 30 July 2008 in a UEFA Champions League qualifier against FBK Kaunas, who he played during his first Rangers debut. He netted a brace in the first Old Firm game of the season on 31 August 2008. He followed this up with a further two goals against former employers Hibernian at Easter Road a month later. Miller played in the League Cup Final in March 2009 but Rangers lost the match 2–0 to Celtic after extra time. However in the same season he won a league winners medal with Rangers after winning the title on the final day of the season and followed it up with a Scottish Cup winners medal.

Miller had an injury ridden start to the 2009–10 season, but gave a Man of the Match performance in the first Old Firm game of the season, scoring both of Rangers' goals in a 2–1 win. In March 2010, he scored the winning goal in the League Cup Final against St. Mirren, after Rangers had been reduced to nine men.

Miller was handed the number 9 shirt after Kris Boyd moved to Middlesbrough. He scored his second Rangers hat-trick against former club Hibernian on 22 August 2010.

International career

Miller made his international debut under Craig Brown on 25 April 2001. He was a 80th minute substitute for Scott Booth during a 1–1 friendly match against Poland. He had to wait nearly two years for his second appearance when he was selected for a 2004 UEFA European Championship qualifyier by the then manager Berti Vogts in March 2003. Miller started the match at home to Iceland and scored within the first ten minutes to give Scotland the lead.

Miller has remained a constant presence in the Scotland team under the management of Berti Vogts, Walter Smith, Alex McLeish, George Burley and Craig Levein, often playing as part of a two-man attack or as a lone striker.

He has scored goals in crucial games against several teams, including Germany and Ukraine. In 2005, Miller scored in three consecutive internationals, with goals against Austria, Italy and Norway.

International goals

Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	29 March 2003	Glasgow, Scotland	Iceland	1–0	2–1	UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying
2	7 June 2003	Glasgow, Scotland	Germany	1–1	1–1	UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying
3	17 August 2005	Graz, Austria	Austria	1–0	2–2	Friendly match
4	3 September 2005	Glasgow, Scotland	Italy	1–0	1–1	FIFA World Cup 2006 qualifying
5	7 September 2005	Oslo, Norway	Norway	1–0	2–1	FIFA World Cup 2006 qualifying
6	7 September 2005	Oslo, Norway	Norway	2–0	2–1	FIFA World Cup 2006 qualifying
7	1 March 2006	Glasgow, Scotland	Switzerland	1–2	1–3	Friendly match
8	2 September 2006	Glasgow, Scotland	Faroe Islands	4–0	6–0	UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying
9	6 September 2006	Kaunas, Lithuania	Lithuania	2–0	2–1	UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying
10	13 October 2007	Glasgow, Scotland	Ukraine	1–0	3–1	UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying
11	26 March 2008	Glasgow, Scotland	Croatia	1–1	1–1	Friendly match

Career statistics

As of 28 August 2010

Club	Season	League		Scottish Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Hibernian	1997–98	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	0
Stenhousemuir	1998–99	11	8	2	2	0	0	0	0	13	10
Stenhousemuir	1998–1999	11	8	2	2	0	0	0	0	13	10
Hibernian	1998–99	7	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	8	1
	1999–00	31	11	5	1	2	1	0	0	38	13
Hibernian	1998–2000	45	12	5	1	3	1	0	0	53	14
Rangers	2000–01	27	8	3	1	1	1	4	1	35	11
	2001–02	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
Rangers	2000–2001	30	8	3	1	1	1	4	1	38	11
Wolves	2001–02	22	2	1	0	0	0	2	0	23	2
	2002–03	43	19	4	3	2	1	3	1	52	24
	2003–04	25	2	3	2	2	1	0	0	30	5
	2004–05	44	19	2	0	1	1	0	0	47	20
	2005–06	35	10	2	0	2	2	0	0	39	12
Wolves	2001–2006	167	52	12	5	7	5	5	1	191	63
Celtic	2006–07	31	4	4	1	1	0	8	3	44	8
	2007–08	2	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	3
Celtic	2006–2007	33	7	4	1	1	0	8	3	46	11
Derby County	2007–08	30	4	3	2	0	0	0	0	33	6
Derby County	2007–2008	30	4	3	2	0	0	0	0	33	6
Rangers	2008–09	30	10	5	3	1	0	2	0	38	13
	2009–10	33	18	6	2	1	1	5	0	45	21
	2010–11	3	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	5
Rangers	2008–	66	33	11	5	2	1	7	0	86	39
Career total		382	124	40	17	14	8	24	5	460	154

Honours

Wolverhampton Wanderers

• Template:Sport honours

Celtic

• Template:Sport honours
• Template:Sport honours

Rangers

• Template:Sport honours
• Template:Sport honours
• Template:Sport honours

External links

• Kenny Miller at Soccerbase
• Kenny Miller at the Scottish Football Association