Soctty Posted November 3, 2015 Report Share Posted November 3, 2015 I mind me and a few other lads marching down to Love Street from School in our lunch hour because we were so pissed off that Saints had lost 5-1 away to Forfar in the League Cup the night before. We were daft wee lads, who rang the bell at the stadium and politely asked the somewhat bemused individual who answered the door if we could speak to the manager. Sure enough Alex Miller came down, and invited us all into one of the dressing rooms where he was happy to take and answer any questions we had. He didn't have to do that, and looking back it was quite amazing that he took the time to do it. Never forgotten that. A pal and me spotted him watching games at the racecourse one day and quizzed him about McAvennie possibly leaving the club. To be fair to him he humoured us and answered a couple of questions. We were 11 or 12 at the time, and were prepared to be told where to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nosferatu Posted November 3, 2015 Report Share Posted November 3, 2015 And immediately pissed off Frank McAvennie who talks about him to this day as being one of the least professional managers he's ever come across. I don't know if McAvennie adapted his usual Sportsmans Dinner talks for my benefit to include a lot more St Mirren material that night, or if that's part of his spiel every time he does one of these things, but his hatred for the man was absolutely obvious. That may well be true. However, McAvennie's 2 seasons under Miller were his best and earned him a move to West Ham... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isle Of Bute Saint Posted November 3, 2015 Report Share Posted November 3, 2015 Of course he did - after all it's all about you! Macca was arguably one of the least professional footballers that Millar had to manage. Perhaps his style might have been alien to Frank, but I have no doubt that Macca benefitted from having someone kick his arse now and again and make sure he was prepared for match day. Macca had a good career out of football. And some of that was down to having a strict manager in Miller. He could have been better player for Scotland had he screwed the nut rather than let his nuts screw him up. He is talking negative pish as usual when it comes to Saints. My brother is mates with Mecca drinking buddies for years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soctty Posted November 3, 2015 Report Share Posted November 3, 2015 I can't see him working for free. He will be on a wage no doubt and so he should be what type of club doesn't pay it's staff. Offered his services for free last season... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FS Posted November 3, 2015 Report Share Posted November 3, 2015 So what about the rumour elsewhere of Kenny MacDowall joining the coaching staff ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
proudtobeabuddy Posted November 3, 2015 Report Share Posted November 3, 2015 Tommy Craig had a wealth of experience. Hmm. True, but unlike Craig he has been a half decent manager as well as coach over the years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nedflanders123 Posted November 3, 2015 Report Share Posted November 3, 2015 Tommy Craig had a wealth of experience. Hmm. Tommy is/was a good coach with a wealth of experience. Being a manager is a whole new ball game. Alex Miller is a good coach with a wealth of experience and brought in to support Murray. He is not the manager so IM is still in the hot seat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irvine_buddie Posted November 3, 2015 Report Share Posted November 3, 2015 Offered his services for free last season... Only for a month not for good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billyg Posted November 3, 2015 Report Share Posted November 3, 2015 So what about the rumour elsewhere of Kenny MacDowall joining the coaching staff ? Saw a story suggesting that there are still Sevco contractual problems to overcome , but wouldn't be surprised to see a Miller/McDowall management team in the near future ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soctty Posted November 3, 2015 Report Share Posted November 3, 2015 Only for a month not for good. Still a nice gesture. Am sure he won't be taking a big wage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart Dickson Posted November 3, 2015 Report Share Posted November 3, 2015 The tenth word of your post... pretty sure it's 'us'. Hold on. Yes, most definitely 'us'. Mask slipped. Careless. Silly boy. I was definitely a St Mirren supporter back in 1984. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart Dickson Posted November 3, 2015 Report Share Posted November 3, 2015 That may well be true. However, McAvennie's 2 seasons under Miller were his best and earned him a move to West Ham... Not sure I'd agree with that. He was outstanding for McFarlane partnering McDougall and Bone and he clearly was very successful working under John Lyall at West Ham, forming a superb partnership with Cottee, and for Billy McNeill at Celtic where - I think I'm right in saying - he struck up a very successful partnership with Brian McClair. Under Miller I thought McAvennie laboured a bit partnered with players like Paul Chalmers, Brian Gallagher and Kenny McDowell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottd Posted November 3, 2015 Report Share Posted November 3, 2015 Not sure I'd agree with that. He was outstanding for McFarlane partnering McDougall and Bone and he clearly was very successful working under John Lyall at West Ham, forming a superb partnership with Cottee, and for Billy McNeill at Celtic where - I think I'm right in saying - he struck up a very successful partnership with Brian McClair. Under Miller I thought McAvennie laboured a bit partnered with players like Paul Chalmers, Brian Gallagher and Kenny McDowell. He laboured partnering Paul Chalmers as he was 400 miles away from him at the time. Chalmers joined in September 1986 while Frank left in the summer of 1985. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dibbles old paperboy Posted November 3, 2015 Report Share Posted November 3, 2015 We should be hard to beat now at least ! unless we play Hammarby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pozbaird Posted November 3, 2015 Report Share Posted November 3, 2015 Silly boy. I was definitely a St Mirren supporter back in 1984. Aye. Whatever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottd Posted November 3, 2015 Report Share Posted November 3, 2015 unless we play Hammarby Even then we were hard to beat until the last couple of minutes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dibbles old paperboy Posted November 3, 2015 Report Share Posted November 3, 2015 I was in primary school when Miller was manager. My memories of his time are that we were on the decline by the time he took over following the excitement of the Fergie, Clunie and McFarlane years where we had got promoted stayed up and finished 3rd and 4th and begun playing in Europe and reached a few cup semi-finals. Books by Aber and McDougall suggest that financially the club were in a bad shape at the time and part of Miller's remit was to sell anyone who was any good. I think we sold Billy Thomson, Mark Fulton, Billy Stark, Steve Clarke, Iain Scanlan, Frank McAvennie and Frank McDougall during his time in charge, but I would guess Miller brought in / brought through guys like Campbell Money, Tommy Wilson, Derek Hamilton, Brian Hamilton, Peter Godfrey, Paul Lambert, Ian Cameron, and of course Ian Ferguson as well as signing guys like Brian Gallagher, Jim Roonie, Peter Mackie etc. One way to look at Miller's era was we were still a top 5 club in an era where Aberdeen and Dundee United and Celtic were all capable of winning the league and when Hearts were also getting ready to miss our narrowly on the title and even if Rangers weren't winning they were usually still in the top 4. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mad saint 2 Posted November 3, 2015 Report Share Posted November 3, 2015 remember last time he was in charge ,maybe old memories clouded my judgement off him coming back,but see some of his old results and being there at them ,you forget who was in charge . plus point he did have an eye for spotting talent,and not afraid to bring on younger players. solid at back was his thing ,then build the results from there exactly what we need now,and make us harder to beat and win at home so welcome home alex and good look Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart Dickson Posted November 3, 2015 Report Share Posted November 3, 2015 I was in primary school when Miller was manager. My memories of his time are that we were on the decline by the time he took over following the excitement of the Fergie, Clunie and McFarlane years where we had got promoted stayed up and finished 3rd and 4th and begun playing in Europe and reached a few cup semi-finals. Books by Aber and McDougall suggest that financially the club were in a bad shape at the time and part of Miller's remit was to sell anyone who was any good. I think we sold Billy Thomson, Mark Fulton, Billy Stark, Steve Clarke, Iain Scanlan, Frank McAvennie and Frank McDougall during his time in charge, but I would guess Miller brought in / brought through guys like Campbell Money, Tommy Wilson, Derek Hamilton, Brian Hamilton, Peter Godfrey, Paul Lambert, Ian Cameron, and of course Ian Ferguson as well as signing guys like Brian Gallagher, Jim Roonie, Peter Mackie etc. One way to look at Miller's era was we were still a top 5 club in an era where Aberdeen and Dundee United and Celtic were all capable of winning the league and when Hearts were also getting ready to miss our narrowly on the title and even if Rangers weren't winning they were usually still in the top 4. Miller was manager as the decline started. I'd agree though that emanated from the boardroom. Clunie was constantly under pressure to cut wages, as was McFarlane. McFarlane resigned after falling out with the board over these cut backs and Erik Sorensen was reportedly offered the managers job which he publicly rejected stating that he was disgusted with how McFarlane had been treated. Miller took the job knowing he had to cut wages and that led to him moving on players like Thomson and McDougall. I'd agree with your final paragraph that Miller did manage to keep St Mirren in the top six most years despite those cuts but there were a lot of very disaffected fans around the club at that time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hambud Posted November 3, 2015 Report Share Posted November 3, 2015 Offered his services for free last season...I was sure it was that he offered to work on same terms as TC had been on but with no contract, rather than for free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sonny Posted November 3, 2015 Report Share Posted November 3, 2015 Miller offered to work for a month for free to see how it panned out for all concerned then on a month-to month basis on the same wage as TC. The offer was made thru a 3rd party and Miller never got a response. Whether the BOD even knew about the offer at the time is unknown. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drew Posted November 3, 2015 Report Share Posted November 3, 2015 First day.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperSaints 12 Posted November 3, 2015 Report Share Posted November 3, 2015 Interview from the man himself on his first day back at the club. STV News at 6pm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northendsaint Posted November 3, 2015 Report Share Posted November 3, 2015 I mind me and a few other lads marching down to Love Street from School in our lunch hour because we were so pissed off that Saints had lost 5-1 away to Forfar in the League Cup the night before. We were daft wee lads, who rang the bell at the stadium and politely asked the somewhat bemused individual who answered the door if we could speak to the manager. Sure enough Alex Miller came down, and invited us all into one of the dressing rooms where he was happy to take and answer any questions we had. He didn't have to do that, and looking back it was quite amazing that he took the time to do it. Never forgotten that. I remember Alex telling me at the time of a long haired lout giving him abuse but i did not think for a minute it was you David. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drew Posted November 3, 2015 Report Share Posted November 3, 2015 Interview from the man himself on his first day back at the club. STV News at 6pm http://sport.stv.tv/football/clubs/st-mirren/1331927-alex-miller-im-at-st-mirren-to-help-ian-murray-not-to-take-his-job/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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