Alex Miller: Dons were wrong to let me go

[mizer]

http://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/Article.aspx/977012

 

Former boss on his Pittodrie days

 

Published: 08/12/2008

 

FORMER boss Alex Miller today claims the Dons were wrong to let him go.

 

Ten years ago to the day since his Pittodrie exit, Miller talks exclusively to the Evening Express from his Japan base.

 

While the Dons have yet to secure silverware since Miller’s 1998 exit, he believes he has had the last laugh, ruling Europe with Liverpool.

 

Now managing JEF United Chiba in the J-League, Miller said: “Unfortunately, I was not able to implement the plan I wanted to at Aberdeen.

 

“The situation at Pittodrie was not what I originally believed it to be, which was disappointing.

 

“I was not able to fully strengthen the side, but that was 10 years ago, and I have had great success since.â€

 

When asked if he felt he had proved a point after being axed just a year into the job at Pittodrie, there was a pause.

 

“Not long after Aberdeen, I went to Liverpool where I won the Champions League and lost out in another final two years later,†he said.

 

“On top of that we won the UEFA Cup, two Super Cups, two FA Cups and two Carling Cups.

 

“You do the maths.

 

“I quickly moved on from Aberdeen and proved just how strong my knowledge of the game really is.

 

“At Liverpool, I was very highly respected and was brought in by Gerard Houllier as chief scout.

 

“When Gerard left, the senior players got me the first team coach position which tells its own story.

 

“Rafa Benitez did not know me from Adam, players like Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher and Michael Owen – who left just a couple months later – all banded together and recommended I be kept on.

 

“I got on great with Rafa because he realised that I knew the game, and that was the difference.â€

 

Miller’s exit was symptomatic of a troubled decade for the Dons, as they lurched from crisis to crisis.

 

Yet the 59-year-old insists his time at Pittodrie was always doomed to fail, because the Dons had fallen so far behind in the Scottish pecking order.

 

“When I managed Aberdeen, we were up against Rangers who had massive capital to throw at big name players,†he said.

 

“On top of that, Celtic then came in and started to sign big players, so it was difficult.

 

“To be fair, there were some really good players at Aberdeen when I was there, but it didn’t work out.

 

“Maybe there was also the Sir Alex Ferguson factor at the club, as he had enjoyed such a successful spell at Aberdeen.â€

 

During his short tenure at Pittodrie, Miller never endeared himself with the Red Army, with many slating him for negative tactics.

 

For Dons fans, the sight of Miller raising the Champions League trophy would have been surreal, beyond their wildest imagination.

 

Never short of self belief, the former Hibs boss has become not only one of the game’s great survivors, but has flourished south of the border.

 

And he gave up the security of Anfield, to take on the J-League’s bottom side JEF United Chiba, his first managerial job since the Dons.

 

And against the odds he saved them from relegation on Saturday, the final day of the season.

 

“I arrived at Chiba after 11 games and they only had two points,†he said.

 

“Chiba were rock bottom of the table. I put myself under a lot of pressure by taking on this job at a club who looked certain for the drop.

 

“I was not allowed a huge influx of players and only made one or two changes.

 

“Basically I had to work with what I had, but the players responded.

 

“In Saturday’s last game of the season, which we had to win, we were 2-0 down with 20 minutes left, but won 4-2.

 

“We had beaten all the big teams like Nagoya Grampus and Kashiwa Reysol at home.

 

“ It has been 10 years since I managed in Scotland and I would never say never about returning.

 

“But for now, I am loving Japan.â€

[Guest ally s]

 

Alex Miller = tosser.

 

Good to see he isn't still bitter about his experience at Pittodrie 

[baldrick_sheep]

Wrong Answer Alex. Getting rid of a numptylike you was one of the best decisions the club made. Trying to claim Liverpools success is pretty much down to yourself is a joke. Hope the ticket you bought to Japan was 1 way.

[???]

“Rafa Benitez did not know me from Adam, players like Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher and Michael Owen – who left just a couple months later – all banded together and recommended I be kept on."

 

Maybe I am a c*nt after all. 

[BigAl]

Ach well at least we all know now why Owen left Anfield, must have been mortified putting in a good word for Miller

[BobbyBiscuit]

Alex Miller can fuck right off. The best thing that cunt ever did for us was injure himself in the run up to our 3rd in the 82 Cup Final. Signing Nigel Pepper as a replacement for Windass was a stroke of genius though... 

 

Horrible, horrible cunt of a man. He's up there with Thatcher in my books.

[BigAl]

Alex Miller can fuck right off. The best thing that cunt ever did for us was injure himself in the run up to our 3rd in the 82 Cup Final. Signing Nigel Pepper as a replacement for Windass was a stroke of genius though... 

 

Horrible, horrible cunt of a man. He's up there with Thatcher in my books.

 

What did Dennis do to upset you so much

[dave_min]

Somebody trying to put themselves back in the shop window because the reality in Japan isn't quite what they hoped...?

[baggy89]

“At Liverpool, I was very highly respected and was brought in by Gerard Houllier as chief scout.

 

“When Gerard left, the senior players got me the first team coach position which tells its own story.

 

Yeah! You were shit at being a scout and these players felt you were less of a danger not having anything to do with choosing which players to sign.

 

Is it also a coincidence that Liverpool's best domestic form for 20 years has occurred since you left your job as "first team coach".

[brunstanesheep]

http://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/Article.aspx/977012

 

 

 

cheeky cunt

[ntbear]

So to clarify - after he left the dons - he's saved a J-league team from relegation.

 

You do the maths....

[Guest swaddon]

So to clarify - after he left the dons - he's saved a J-league team from relegation.

 

You do the maths....

 

No, no, did you not read what he said? Before he did that, he won everything with Liverpool. Everyone knows that Houllier and Benitez did absolutely nothing, it was Alex Miller pulling all the strings. This is why he's been linked to every big job that comes up, while Aberdeen continue to struggle without him.

 

Oh, if only he'd come back to Pittodrie, we could do with having such a great man in charge.

[Guest Robo]

What a fuckin tit!

[Reekie_Red]

Haha. Never EVER in the history of DonsTalk have I seen a thread of posts where every single person is united in their anger and sheer hatred for the subject.

 

Alex Miller is the biggest fuckin joke to ever have anything to do with Aberdeen Football Club. Seeing him smirk with the Scotland squad just days after the Dons got tanked is the lasting image I have of that utter disgrace of a man.  It's hard to believe that one man can do so much damage to a football club in the space of just one year.

 

Stewart Milne has only gone by the advise of the footballing brains at Pittodrie when he handed out cash to get players. Roy Aitken was in his first managerial job and, to be fair, didn't do too badly until his final season (hey, he is still the last Aberdeen manager to win a cup). Alex Miller, however, was brought in as a manager who was technically sound and had HEAPS of experience in football management. Jimmy Calderwood took a weaker squad and made them into a top-six team within one year. Alex Miller took a cup-winning team, got rid of their three most prolific goal threats (Shearer, Windass and Dodds) and made the Dons a group of spineless, gutless losers with a defensive, losing mentality that took almost a decade to erase from the club's veins.

 

Prick of the highest order.

[TENEMENTFUNSTER]

Yes Alex the Dons were wrong to let you go.

 

You should have got the jail for what you did you utter abortion of a man.

[Tyrant]

Ok I don't hate JC that much.

[The Doricle]

Alex Miller, however, was brought in as a manager who was technically sound and had HEAPS of experience in football management.

Alex Miller took a cup-winning team, got rid of their three most prolific goal threats (Shearer, Windass and Dodds) and made the Dons a group of spineless, gutless losers with a defensive, losing mentality that took almost a decade to erase from the club's veins.

 

Prick of the highest order.

 

Although, i seem to remember he wasn't particularly great at hibs either- especially not latterly, so we should have known what we were getting into. However, the mists of time had dimmed my memory of how bad his spell actually was. I'd forgotten it was him that had such a clear-out of our strikers- dodds + cash for winters being especially galling at the time.

 

All i can remember is that he virtually destroyed the club and my utter hate and contempt for the man. To my mind, Aitken effectively started the rot by squandering heaps of cash for not much output of players too numerous to even bother listing and started our (major) debt issues, but by god alex miller did his best to bring the club down. I think that was as low as i can remember seeing us, although good ol' uncle ebbe and patterson did their bits too.

[BobbyBiscuit]

Although, i seem to remember he wasn't particularly great at hibs either- especially not latterly, so we should have known what we were getting into.

 

I remember being on holiday in Greece the summer before the start of his first full season as it were, and we bumped into some Hibs lads. They were pissing themselves at how we'd taken on Alex Miller. They said that in over 500 matches for them, he only managed to win 95.  Not sure how accurate those figures are, but they are indicative of how much of a fucking abortion of a manager the prick is. He's the only manager we've had that when he was appointed I felt like crying.  At least with Porterfield and Skovdahl I didn't have a fucking scooby who they were!

[???]

At least with Porterfield and Skovdahl I didn't have a fucking scooby who they were!

 

The first I knew of Skovdahl was when Man United beat Brondby 5-0 at Old Trafford and 6-2 in Denmark during the treble winning season, if I remember right he joined us after that season?

[dave_min]

The first I knew of Skovdahl was when Man United beat Brondby 5-0 at Old Trafford and 6-2 in Denmark during the treble winning season, if I remember right he joined us after that season?

 

Skovdahl was manager of Brondby when they bet us, no?

[ntbear]

Billy Dodds + extras (cash, and I was led to believe the options for players like J de Vos) for Robbie Winters.

 

The man was a prize plick.

[Guest swaddon]

Skovdahl was manager of Brondby when they beat us, no?

 

Yes, he was.

[baggy89]

I was convinced, during his time with us, that he was deliberately trying to destroy us. Nobody could actually be THAT inept. If nothing else this article at least brings home that Jimmy isn't actually that bad, his Nigel Pepper-esque signings just don't get a game (apart from Tommy Wright ).

 

Along with the Dodds transfer was there not a story that we could have had Graham Kavanagh instead of Pepper, but Miller chose Pepper. 

 

Makes you wonder what drugs the Liverpool directors were taking when they employed him as a scout.

 

I wonder what signings he would have been responsible for? Djimi Traore? Vengaard Heggem? Bernard Diomede? Bruno Cheyrou?

[???]

Does anyone know how much money he spent/recouped in his spell at Aberdeen?

[baggy89]

I'm sure you could get that info form soccerbase, I reckon it wouldn't be too bad. It was him that got lucky with Hignett playing us off against 'Boro wasn't it?