KENNY Miller last night insisted he has no designs on the Partick Thistle manager’s job - and revealed he had spoken about working alongside Gary Caldwell a decade ago when they were both on Scotland duty.
Miller has signed a one-year contract with the Firhill club and is determined, despite now being 39, to provide the goals which help his new side win the Ladbrokes Championship and promotion to the Premiership in the 2019/20 campaign.
The former Celtic, Rangers and Scotland man moved into the dugout for the first time 12 months ago when he was appointed player/manager at Livingston.
But his association with the West Lothian outfit proved short-lived and he departed after less than two months amid rumours about unrest behind the scenes.
The forward, though, has no intentions of returning to management imminently and stressed that Caldwell, who kept Thistle in the second tier last season, is delighted to have him on board.
“I know Gary is strong mentally and he knows me and knows what I’m about,” he said. “He knows I’m not here for that (to become manager). I’m here to help him and make his team better. I’m here to play my part in making this a real successful year for Partick Thistle.
“He’s strong enough to deal with that. Gary knows I’ll bring something to the table and I’m really looking forward to this season. Gary and I have talked about this for years and years - this isn’t something that’s just come about in the last two or three weeks.
“We talked about this 10 years ago, potentially working together on the other side. With Scotland when we were away for days on end. We would sit and talk and put the world to rights. I always believed we would work together as manager-assistant, manager-coach, whatever.
“We’ve always been quite like-minded. We played together for club and country and have known each other since we played 21s all those years ago. We played in the same boys club, albeit he’s a few years younger than me, so I know the kind of man he is and type of character.
“I probably should have had seniority, but his hips weren’t up to much. That is where the luck side comes into it. The manager toiled with hips when he was about 30 and had a few operations. That meant he had to rap it a little bit earlier. I am quite fortunate I haven’t had any of that. We always believed this would happen. Let’s hope it’s a successful year.”
Miller netted nine goals in 42 appearances for Livingston and Dundee last season and is confident he can continue to net in the forthcoming campaign despite the fact he will turn 40 in December.
“I don’t feel any different now than I did six or seven years ago,” he said. “I feel great and I know I’m more than capable of playing at the top level in this country, never mind the Championship.
“I am driven. I think I have been pretty fortunate in that I don’t carry too much weight and I look after myself. I have been fortunate over my career that I have never really had any serious injuries. I have had niggles, but I have never really had any serious injuries. That has allowed my body to still be capable and not be hindered by said injuries.
“If you are troubled by knees or ankles or backs it can catch up on you. I have been quite fortunate on that. I do believe it is down to mentality. You need to be strong to keep getting out of your bed every morning to come and do it. It doesn’t get any easier.
“But I want to do it. I still want to play, I still want to score as many goals as I can. I am driven to go and win this league this season. There is absolutely no doubt that if you give up on it you are not going to be capable.”
Asked if he could play in the Premiership next season, Miller said: “I still got a decent number of goals last year considering game time was very limited. So why not? I definitely wouldn’t rule out another contract.”
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