KENNY MILLER

'Kenneth "Kenny" Miller' (born 23 December 1979 in Edinburgh) is a Scottish professional footballer currently playing for Derby County and the Scottish national team.
He is a centre forward. Miller has also played for Hibernian, Stenhousemuir on loan, Rangers, Wolves, and Celtic. In July 2006, Miller became only the third player since the war to have played for both sides of the Old Firm - following Alfie Conn and Maurice Johnston.

Contents

Growing Up

Hibernian

Rangers

Wolves

Celtic

Derby County

International goals

References

External links

Growing Up

Miller began his career at Hutchinson Vale BC, a local league team in Edinburgh, which has Derek Riordan, Gary Naysmith, Steven Caldwell and Gary Caldwell among its alumni.

Hibernian

His big break came when he signed for Hibernian, and he made his debut during the end of the 1997-98 season. He then went on to further establish himself the following season, and scored his first ever goal in league football. He played for the Edinburgh club for four years and he was their top scorer in season 1999-00. In this time Miller was also crowned the Scottish young player of the year.

Rangers

Miller signed for Rangers at a cost of £2 million ^[1]. Miller claimed he joined Rangers simply because he supported them as a boy, and also to have the best chance of emulating his boyhood hero - Ally McCoist. During the first three months of his tenure at Rangers, he enjoyed a strike partnership with Tore Andre Flo. However, chances became limited as the season came to a close, and he ended the season with just 8 goals.

Wolves

In September 2001 he transferred from Rangers to Wolverhampton Wanderers (Wolves) on a 3-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. Wolves finally secured him on a permanent transfer at a cost of £3 million, on a 4 and a half year deal. ^[2]
In 2002-03 Miller found himself back in the starting 11, but he had only managed 6 goals in 19 starts. However during the final 6 months of the season he scored 18 goals in his final 24 appearances for that campaign. He also equaled a club record of scoring in 6 consecutive games. That helped Wolves gain promotion into the Premier League. He also achieved international success, scoring for Scotland in crucial games against Germany and Iceland.
In 2003-2004 season, Miller started off the season in the physiotherapy room. And it wasn't until October where Miller 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 grabbing 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 strikers role, those were to be Miller's only Premier League goals and Wolves were relegated by 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 both club and country with 7 goals in his first 10 games at Wolves, with further goals for the national team against Austria, Italy and two against Norway. The appointment of Glenn Hoddle signalled a new start for Miller, and he formed a successful partnership with Carl Cort, and ended the 2004-2005 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 ^[3] 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 over 190 games for Wolves and scored over 60 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 no fee under the Bosman ruling. He signed a pre-contract agreement in January after refusing to sign a new deal at Wolves a month earlier. ^[4]
Miller was handed the Number 9 jersey upon his arrival and, despite being praised by many for his overall performances, 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 ^[5]. He proceeded to score in Celtic's 1-0 UEFA Champions League win against Copenhagen from the penalty spot^[6] and netted two in the 3-0 win over S.L. Benfica ^[7]. 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, although Miller contributed to the team with some immense performances, he ended the season with a mere 4 league goals. He did play in the clubs Cup final, and gave a very respectable performance 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 (his first appearance) of the 2007-08 season in a 4-1 victory over Falkirk. Miller added to his collection the following week by scoring two goals against Aberdeen.

Derby County

After days of speculation he would leave Celtic, Kenny Miller signed a three year deal with the Premier League club Derby County for an undisclosed fee on the last day of the transfer period in summer 2007.

International goals

:''Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first.''

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	29 March, 2003	Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland		1-0	2-1	UEFA Euro 2004 Qual.
2	7 June, 2003	Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland		1-1	1-1	UEFA Euro 2004 Qual.
3	17 August, 2005	UPC-Arena, Graz, Austria		1-0	2-2	Friendly
4	3 September, 2005	Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland		1-0	1-1	2006 WC Qualifying
5	7 September, 2005	Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo, Norway		1-0	2-1	2006 WC Qualifying
6	7 September, 2005	Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo, Norway		2-0	2-1	2006 WC Qualifying
7	1 March, 2006	Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland		1-2	1-3	Friendly
8	2 September, 2006	Celtic Park, Glasgow, Scotland		4-0	6-0	UEFA Euro 2008 Qual.
9	6 September, 2006	S.Darius and S.Girėnas Stadium, Kaunas, Lithuania		2-0	2-1	UEFA Euro 2008 Qual.

References

1. Rangers conclude Miller deal
2. Wolves seal Miller deal
3. McCarthy drops interest in Miller
4. Celtic sign ex-Rangers man Miller
5. Celtic 2-0 Rangers
6. Celtic 1-0 Copenhagen
7. Celtic 3-0 Benfica

External links

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