HIS playing career at Ibrox couldn’t have come to a worse end. Now his managerial career couldn’t get off to a better start against Rangers.
A lot has happened to Lee McCulloch and Kenny Miller since the pair last played together in blue. They will meet once again tomorrow but this time they will be on opposite sides as McCulloch looks to lead Kilmarnock to victory over Mark Warburton’s team.
The play-off final defeat to Motherwell in May would prove to be McCulloch’s final game at Ibrox as a Rangers player and his return will no doubt evoke a mixture of emotions for the 37-year-old and the fans who cheered him, celebrated with him and, latterly, criticised him.
Miller has always known that his former team-mate would make the transition into the dugout at some point in his career, but, like McCulloch, he never expected it to arrive quite so soon. The departure of Gary Locke last weekend has put McCulloch in charge and in the spotlight and, as fate would have it, beginning a new chapter where the last one ended.
“It wasn’t a great way to finish for any of the lads that left the club last season,” Miller said ahead of the returns of McCulloch, Steven Smith and Kris Boyd this weekend. “We all know that was a poor season by Rangers’ standards and anyone that left at the end of the season won’t be happy with how they left.
“Jig, having been through the successful years and staying with the club through the relegation to the bottom league and winning the leagues, I am sure he probably envisaged leaving the club on a higher note. It wasn’t great, but it wasn’t great for any of us. Guys left and guys are still here and you look back at last year and we want to right that wrong.
“I am sure he will [find it difficult]. It is eight years he was at the club and that is a long time. When you captain a club like this, it definitely leaves a mark and he is a Rangers fan as well.
“I am sure he is looking forward to it because it is the next stage in his career and you have got to start somewhere. It is just a coincidence that he has to come back to the club he captained for years and had so many good times at.”
The Scottish Cup fifth round tie is important in its own right for both Rangers and Kilmarnock, but it is not the main priority for either team this season as Warburton’s side look to win a Premiership place and McCulloch, whether as boss or not, attempts to help Killie retain their top flight status.
That won’t stop Miller and his team-mates from looking at what could lie ahead, though. If Rangers could go all the way and lift the silverware at Hampden, they would be rewarded with a Europa League berth as well as a medal.
“Of course [we can win it]. Why can we not win the cup?,” Miller said. “We’re a good team. We’ve got some fantastic players.
“To win a cup, you’re probably going to need a little bit of luck along the way, whether it be in the draw or in an actual game, but we want to win the cup.
“We want to be as a successful as we can, which means winning the league, winning the Petrofac and winning the Scottish Cup. To do that, we’re going to have to get past Killie on Saturday. That’s the first step.
“Of course [Europe] is [an incentive]. It’s an added incentive for the last 16 teams that are in it. It’s an opportunity to get to the highest level of football you can play in, which is European competition. Yes, it’s the Europa League, it’s not the Champions League. But, for us at the moment, that’s within the immediate targets.”
If Rangers are to progress to the quarter-finals tomorrow, they will have to do so without their two latest recruits. Both Billy King and Michael O’Halloran are cup-tied having turned out for Hearts and St Johnstone in the competition already but in Miller, the Championship Player of the Month for January, Warburton has a forward in fine form.
“It’s healthy competition,” Miller said. “It was a bit of a saga trying to sign Michael. We got Kingy, which was a bit out of the blue, but they’re two great additions.
“We needed bodies in the squad to beef it up a little bit and we’ve managed to get them with Harry coming in and big Magic as well. It’s been a decent January for us. The squad looks a lot healthier now.”
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