Alex Miller

Playing career

Miller began his playing career with Clydebank Strollers before moving to Rangers, where he played from 1967 until 1982, making 309 appearances and scoring 33 goals. Coached by David White, he was promoted to the first team and won his first medal in the 1970 Scottish League Cup Final. He played in the 1971 Scottish Cup Final with a broken jaw. After Jock Wallace became coach, Miller was used more often, often as a substitute, and became a regular from the mid-1970s, winning three Scottish Football League championships, three Scottish Cups, and five Scottish League Cups.

Coaching career

Miller first took on a player-manager role in 1983 with South China in Hong Kong, but the club went down that season. He then moved into the same dual role at Morton early in the 1983–84 campaign, only to make a contentious switch to local rivals St Mirren, who played in a higher division. At St Mirren, he managed from 1983 to 1986 and led the Paisley side into European competition. A standout moment came in 1985 when Slavia Prague were beaten 3-0 at Love Street.

Miller built the team that would lift the 1987 Scottish Cup, but he left before that triumph. From 1986 to 1996, he managed Hibernian through a tough era marked by financial struggles. Under his guidance, Hibs won the 1991–92 Scottish League Cup, defeating Rangers 1-0 in the semi-final and Dunfermline Athletic 2-0 in the final. They qualified for the UEFA Cup, going out on away goals to Anderlecht, and reached the 1993 League Cup final, losing 2-1 to Rangers.

Hibs finished third in the league in 1994–95. Miller was dismissed in 1996, with some critics saying he had abandoned the club's free-flowing traditions. He then became assistant manager at Coventry City under fellow Scot Gordon Strachan. A year later, wanting to be in charge again, he took over at Aberdeen from Roy Aitken, but that spell did not work out, and he was replaced by Paul Hegarty in 1998.

In 1999, Miller joined Liverpool as Director of Scouting under Gérard Houllier. When Rafael Benítez arrived in 2004, the scouting setup was restructured, and Miller moved to first-team coaching, contributing to Liverpool's Champions League win in 2005 and FA Cup victory in 2006. He left in May 2008 to manage JEF United Chiba in Japan. Taking over with the team on just two points from eleven matches, he kept them up. But after a poor run the following season left the club in the relegation zone, his contract was ended in July 2009.