Shocking news:Rangers best player with excitement leaving Rangers due to
Kenny Miller never hesitated in returning to Rangers just a year after leaving Celtic.
But the former Scotland striker admits crossing the Old Firm divide for a second time was tougher than deciding to pull on the green-and-white hoops. Miller stunned Scottish football in 2008 when it was announced he would be moving back to Ibrox in a £3million switch from Derby County.
Only a season before, the frontman had helped Gordon Strachan’s Celtic to a League and Scottish Cup Double, and also helped fire the Parkhead club into the last 16 of the Champions League. However, after a miserable 12 months in the Premier League with the Rams, Miller was lured back to Govan by Walter Smith – seven years after his first spell at the club.
The controversial move split the Rangers fanbase at the time but Miller would go on to win over most of his doubters by haunting Celtic in Old Firm games and helping Gers to three-in-a-row.
He told Paddy Power: “When I went to Celtic, it made a bit of a story because I used to play for Rangers. I was a young boy at Rangers when I signed there, but I only stayed there for a year. I ended up at Celtic where we won the league and Scottish Cup and got to the last 16 of the Champions League – where we lost to AC Milan who went on to win it. It was a good season for the team.
“It was probably harder returning to Rangers a couple of years later than when I joined Celtic, in relation to the reaction. That was a bit tougher, but this type of thing never really bothered me. I got my head down and always believed that the hard work would eventually win people over.
“Going back to Rangers, it helped that Walter Smith was the manager. He was my national team manager, knew what I brought to the team and wanted me to come back. With him in charge, and how loved and adored he is with the Rangers fans – they never thought I was going to be a good signing, but I think they trusted his view a bit more. We won the next three years in a row and won cups each one of those years as well. It proved to be a successful time for the club.””
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