| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1949-07-04)4 July 1949 (age 75) | ||
| Place of birth | Glasgow, Scotland | ||
| Position(s) | Defender | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Clydebank Strollers | |||
| 1967–1968 | Rangers | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1968–1982 | Rangers | 197 | (17) |
| 1983 | South China | ||
| 1983 | Morton | 8 | (1) |
| Total | 205 | (18) | |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1983 | South China | ||
| 1983 | Morton | ||
| 1983–1986 | St Mirren | ||
| 1986–1996 | Hibernian | ||
| 1997–1998 | Aberdeen | ||
| 2008–2009 | JEF United Chiba | ||
| 2010 | AIK | ||
| 2012 | Sibir Novosibirsk | ||
| 2015 | St Mirren (caretaker) | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Alex Miller (born 4 July 1949) is a Scottishfootballmanager and former player. As a player, he had a 15-year career withRangers, winning several trophies. As a manager, he won the1991–92 Scottish League Cup withHibernian. He subsequently worked forPremier League clubLiverpool for nine years,[1] assistingGérard Houllier andRafael Benítez.
Miller started his playing career with Clydebank Strollers before he made the move to Rangers. He played forRangers from 1967 until 1982 and made 309 appearances during his spell atIbrox, scoring 33 goals.[2] After being coached byDavid White he was promoted to the first team, and won his first medal in the1970 Scottish League Cup Final. He impressed the supporters having played in the1971 Scottish Cup Final againstCeltic despite having a broken jaw.[3][4] However, under coachWilliam Waddell, he was mostly a second choice player and was not in the squad in one of the biggest successes of the club's history, the triumph in the1972 European Cup Winners' Cup Final.
It was only afterJock Wallace took over as coach that he became increasingly used, often as a substitute.[2] As a regular from the mid-1970s, he won multiple titles, contributing to threeScottish Football League championships, threeScottish Cups (also losing in four further finals) and fiveScottish League Cups.[2]
Miller was appointed asplayer-manager when he played briefly forSouth China in Hong Kong in 1983, but was unable to save the club from relegation.[5] He then had the same role atMorton in the first part of the1983–84 season[6] before contentiously joining theGreenock club's rivals,St Mirren, who were at that time in a higher division.
Miller managed St Mirren from 1983 until 1986.[7] He guided thePaisley club to qualification forEuropean competition. One of their all-time great nights came in a European campaign when in 1985,Slavia Prague were knocked out after a 3–0Saints win atLove Street. Miller moulded a side that would win the1987 Scottish Cup Final, but departed during that season.
Miller was then manager ofHibernian from 1986 to 1996, through a "difficult" period in the club's history, as the club came through financial problems.[1][8] He led the team to victory in the1991–92 Scottish League Cup,[1] beating Rangers in the semi-final (1–0) andDunfermline Athletic inthe final (2–0). Hibs qualified for theUEFA Cup, losing on the away goals rule toRSC Anderlecht, then reached the1993 Scottish League Cup Final, but this time lost out to Rangers (1–2). Hibs finished the1994–95 season in third place in the league. Miller was sacked by Hibs in 1996, with some observers accusing him of having betrayed Hibs' "cavalier ideals".[1]
Miller then moved toCoventry City, accepting an offer from his Scottish compatriotGordon Strachan to become assistant manager. A year later, unable to resist the challenge of being his own man again, he moved toAberdeen taking over the manager's post fromRoy Aitken. However this stint was not a successful one[9] and he was replaced in 1998 byPaul Hegarty.
Miller joined English Premier League sideLiverpool as Director of Scouting underGérard Houllier in 1999. However, whenRafael Benítez was appointed manager of Liverpool in 2004, he overhauled the scouting system. Miller then subsequently worked as first team coach, helping the club win theChampions League in 2005 and theFA Cup in 2006. Miller left Liverpool in May 2008 to manage Japanese sideJEF United Chiba.[10][11]
Despite taking over the club when they had taken just two points from eleven games, Miller managed to guide the team tosafety from relegation.[12] However, following a string of poor results in the next season which the club was in the relegation zone, Miller's contract was terminated by the club in July 2009.[13]
Miller was appointed manager ofSwedish teamAIK in June 2010 as the successor ofMikael Stahre and the interim solution Björn Wesström.[14] AIK had been in some danger of relegation when Miller was appointed, but they eventually finished 11th in the 16-team division.[14]
Miller was appointed head coach ofRussian First Division clubSibir Novosibirsk in January 2012.[15] Miller became the first British head coach in Russian football.[15] Miller left the club after just nine matches in charge.[16]
Miller returned to St Mirren on 3 November 2015, as assistant manager toIan Murray.[17] He became caretaker manager after Murray resigned in December.[18]
| Team | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | |||
| South China | 1983 | 1983 | |||||
| Morton[19] | 1 August 1983 | 5 October 1983 | 13 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 038.46 |
| St Mirren[20] | 8 October 1983 | 16 December 1986 | 153 | 57 | 33 | 63 | 037.25 |
| Hibernian | 15 November 1986 | 30 September 1996 | 452 | 154 | 160 | 138 | 034.07 |
| Aberdeen | 21 November 1997 | 8 December 1998 | 43 | 11 | 13 | 19 | 025.58 |
| JEF United Chiba | 2008 | 2009 | 40 | 12 | 13 | 15 | 030.00 |
| AIK | 22 June 2010 | 10 November 2010 | 24 | 9 | 4 | 11 | 037.50 |
| Sibir Novosibirsk | 10 January 2012 | 20 April 2012 | 9 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 011.11 |
| Total | 734 | 249 | 230 | 255 | 033.92 | ||
Two of Miller's sons,Graeme andGreg, both played forHibs while Miller was manager there. Miller also employed Greg as a coach while he was manager ofJEF United Chiba.[1]
St Mirren
Hibernian
Aberdeen
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |