Kenny Miller once again proved this weekend that he’s still a vital member of Mark Warburton’s Rangers squad.

His winning brace in the Gers’ Scottish Cup 2-1 triumph over Motherwell showed us yet again that age is just a number.

Now many an opposing fan will mock Rangers because one of their top performers is thirty-seven years old but it’s no longer an abnormal phenomenon.

In the English Premier League you’ve got Man United’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Sunderland’s Jermain Defoe playing into mid-thirties and they’re still banging the goals in.

In Italy, Roma’s captain Francesco Totti turned forty earlier this season and he is still getting game time and producing the goods, just maybe not as regularly as before.

These players have looked after themselves and can still get the job done. They use years of experience to their advantage.

When you watch Kenny Miller you can see that the forward still has a lot of desire left in him. Passion radiates off him as he wheels away after bagging himself another goal or when he’s moaning because he’s missed a chance or a teammate has failed to play him in.

No Gers player has scored more than Miller’s five Scottish Premiership strikes so far this term, while only Martyn Waghorn has bettered Kenny’s tally of seven in all competitions.

Against Celtic in the New Years Old Firm clash, Miller once again proved he was the man for the big occasion scoring the opener and almost salvaging a draw out of the game only to see his chance come back off the woodwork.

When you watch Kenny Miller, you can’t be anything but impressed with his workmate, composure and his running ability.

He still has enough pace to make arched runs in-behind defences, making sure he’s (not his marker) the one running into the space. He also has the ability to make sure his run into space sees him receiving the ball, with the defender at his back. That means that the defender has to go through Miller to get to the ball or wait for the hitman to make a mistake. It’s extremely smart forward play.

Miller tends to enjoy one-on-one situations, where he’ll steady himself with a touch before placing a shot with the inside of his right boot to the side of the goalkeeper. It show’s you he has composure and that part of his game only really started to develop later in his career, during his second stint at Ibrox.

But as you could tell with his first goal against the Well, Miller is also a decent finisher with his head. Plus the veteran times his runs into the the penalty area well, and he’ll seem to always find space in between the centre-backs as he did against Celtic.

As I’ve said before, his fitness levels and ability to look after himself have really been key for him to play into his late thirties. It also means that Warburton can play him off a main striker or out on a wing, or as the frontman.

But it’s Kenny’s brain and experience that has allowed him to score goals at this stage of his career. He isn’t in the right places by chance and he doesn’t score the same type of goals because of luck. He knows what works for him and what runs challenge defenders.

Now people will say that he’s an ageing player that has no re-sale value and that’s hampered Rangers when bringing in younger stars. But the truth is that he’s in the team on merit and maybe the youngsters are better off learning about his movement, finishing ability and his desire to win while they still can!

Boss Warburton has also said as much:

“It is the way he works on the training field, the way he eats. It is all credit to him and the senior players.”

Now people might smirk when I compare Miller to the likes of Zlatan or Defoe but he offers the same kind of focal point in attack, a desire that his squad need and winning experience that can be vital to his club.

In the end, Kenny Miller has been one of Rangers consistently better players this term and that’s why the board need to sign him up for another year!

Posted on January 23rd, 2017 by scott
Filed under: Article