Joe Miller

Joseph Miller (born 8 December 1967 in Glasgow) is a Scottish retired footballer and a former manager of Scottish Football League club Clyde.

He began his playing career as a teenage striker at Aberdeen, featuring in their 1985–86 Scottish Cup success, before moving to Celtic in 1987 for £650,000, a Scottish record transfer fee. Mainly used as a winger from then on, Miller won the 'double' of Scottish League and Scottish Cup with Celtic in 1988, and scored the winning goal for the club in the 1989 Scottish Cup Final. In 1993 he returned to Aberdeen, collecting another winner's medal in the 1995 Scottish League Cup Final to complete a domestic set.

In his later career he had shorter spells with Dundee United, in Australia (spending a season with Parramatta Power in the NSL), Raith Rovers, Clydebank and Clyde, moving into coaching with the latter.

Playing career Aberdeen Miller was raised in the East End of Glasgow, attended St Mungo's Academy and grew up supporting Celtic; his father (also Joseph) had been a professional footballer with Hamilton Academical and Swindon Town. He was a 12-year-old playing for St Marys Boys Club in the Calton (the same team which produced Tommy Burns) when Alex Ferguson, the manager of Aberdeen, was alerted to his talents through Miller's uncle who had previously worked as a scout for Ferguson. That was his only appearance of the season, which ended with the club retaining the league title. Miller remained with the youth team and was in the side which won the Scottish Youth Cup in 1985 alongside Stevie Gray, David Robertson and Paul Wright. The final was against Celtic at Pittodrie. After trailing 3–0, Miller netted a 35-yard lob to tie the match at 3–3. The comeback was complete in extra-time to secure the trophy with a 5–3 win.

Around a year after he made his debut, Miller became a regular in the Aberdeen team, finishing with 19 league games and three goals during 1985–86; he also featured in the quarter-final of the European Cup against IFK Gothenburg and came off the bench in the 1986 Scottish Cup Final victory over Hearts. At that time he was usually playing as a striker. for a fee of £650,000, which at that time was a Scottish record as well as the highest fee paid for a teenager. the side won the league and Scottish Cup double in 1987–88, their centenary season; That match was the third in a row in which he had been used as a striker and scored the only goal of the game, but with new strikers Coyne and Dziekanowski arriving, 'Super Joe' as he had become known, returned to his previous wing role. He retained his place in the side, although the season finished without a trophy after Aberdeen again prevailed in the 1990 Scottish Cup Final (albeit Miller was named man of the match), while in the league they could only finish 5th.

By this point, Celtic were experiencing one of the most difficult spells in their history, In 1991–92, new manager Liam Brady continued to select Miller but results deteriorated further, with defeats to Airdrie in the League Cup, Neuchâtel Xamax in the UEFA Cup and Rangers in the Scottish Cup (despite David Robertson having been sent off in the opening minutes for a challenge on Miller, breaking two of his ribs).

By 1992–93, another campaign which would bring not even as much as a final for Celtic,

Return to Aberdeen Although Aberdeen were no longer the dominant force in Scotland as when he first joined in 1983, when Miller returned a decade later they were at least as strong a team as Celtic, having finished runners-up behind Rangers in three of the last four seasons. In 1993–94, with Miller a regular starter under manager and former teammate Willie Miller, another second-place finish was achieved. However the next season was a different matter, with the club losing to Stenhousemuir in the Scottish Cup

In 1995–96 they regrouped under new manager Roy Aitken, Miller's former captain at Celtic, and finished third while also winning the 1995 Scottish League Cup Final with victory over Dundee. Miller returned what would be the best personal figures in his career, playing in 40 matches (all starts) and scoring 10 goals. He played with Aberdeen for two more unexceptional seasons, posting 70 further appearances. Coincidentally his final goal for the club came in a 3–0 win against a Hibernian team led by Billy McNeill, who was acting as caretaker manager for that match alone. His combined Aberdeen totals of 264 matches and 47 goals are both within the top 50 in the club's all-time list.

Later years In summer 1998, 30-year-old Miller moved to Dundee United.

After being released from his contract, he then spent a season in Australia's National Soccer League, joining newly formed Parramatta Power for their inaugural season, before returning to Scotland for short spells with Raith Rovers (under another former teammate, Peter Hetherston, where he mentored a young Nacho Novo) and Clydebank, prior to retiring from the professional game in 2002 to train as a coach. by which time he was already an experienced player at club level. He never received a full cap for Scotland, with the tactics of the time under coach Andy Roxburgh rarely utilising wingers, plus a direct rival in Pat Nevin and several competitors for a place as a striker.

Coaching and management Miller joined Clyde in June 2005, initially as assistant to Graham Roberts, during which time they surprisingly defeated Celtic in the 2005–06 Scottish Cup. He was appointed manager in August 2006 following the departure of Roberts following a feud between the pair; Roberts later won a claim for unfair dismissal against the club. Miller ended speculation about his future at Clyde in May 2007 by refusing to sign a new contract as manager, thus leaving the club.

Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals

1984-85

1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1985-86 19 3 3 2 0 0 1 0 23 5 1986-87 28 6 3 0 3 2 0 0 34 8 1987-88 14 4 0 0 5 3 4 1 23 8

62 13 6 2 8 5 5 1 81 21

1987-88

27 3 6 0 0 0 0 0 33 3 1988-89 21 8 3 1 3 0 3 0 30 9 1989-90 24 5 6 1 1 0 1 0 32 6 1990-91 30 8 5 0 4 1 0 0 39 9 1991-92 26 2 4 0 3 1 3 1 36 4 1992-93 23 1 2 0 2 0 2 0 29 1

151 27 26 2 13 2 9 1 199 32

1993-94

27 4 6 1 3 2 3 1 39 8 1994-95 29 1 2 0 2 0 1 0 34 1 1995-96 31 9 4 0 5 1 0 0 40 10 1996-97 30 4 2 0 2 0 5 0 39 4 1997-98 28 1 0 0 4 2 0 0 32 3

145 19 14 1 16 5 9 1 184 26

1998-99 SPL 24 2 7 0 2 0 0 0 33 2

24 2 7 0 2 0 0 0 33 2

2000-01 National Soccer League 24 9 24+ 9+

24 9 24+ 9+

2001-02 Scottish First Division 5 1 5+ 1+

5 1 5+ 1+

2001-02 Scottish Second Division 3 0 3+ 0+

3 0 3+ 0+

2005-06

2006-07

16 2 16+ 2+

430 73 53+ 5+ 39+ 12+ 23 3 545+ 93+

Honours Aberdeen Scottish Cup: 1985–86 Scottish League Cup: 1995–96 Runners-up 1987–88 Tennents' Sixes: 1986, 1987

Celtic Scottish Premier Division: 1987–88 Scottish Cup: 1987–88, 1988–89 Runners-up 1989–90 Scottish League Cup: Runners-up 1990–91 Tennents' Sixes: 1992

Clyde Scottish Challenge Cup: Runners-up 2006–07