Alex Miller Era

[Kaiser1962]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Right, I want all the Hibees views on this. Alex Miller was manager for 10 years and he was not liked by the majority of the Hibs support (maybe me too). He was branded a negative manager at the time, who never strayed from 4-4-2. I wasnt a fan or enemy of him, but we are miles away from the excitement of some of his teams (labelled boring) could achieve. Just asking all who were there at the time, would you like to go back to AM days??

Thats a myth. Miller tried to go 4-3-3 often but didn't always have the personnel to do it. In the mid 90s in a scottish cup semi at Ibrox we drew 0-0 and for the replay Miller dropped Davie Farrell and brought in Mark McGraw. We lost 3-1 but Miller went for it with Wright, Jackson, O'Neill, Harper and McGraw all starting.

When Miller got the job his first game was home against Rangers and he was overwhelmingly welcomed by a big home crowd. The game was a scoreless draw but midway through the second half someone in the away dugout irked Miller and he tried to pull the offender out by the throat. He didn't deserve the level of personal abuse he got but neither did Stanton, Blackley, Ormond or Turnbull before him for that matter.

[Bostonhibby]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Miller was allowed to spend money each season to bring us a bit of quality - hence the reason we ended up with the likes of Keith, DJ, Crunchie, MON, Goram, McGinlay etc.

We've not got that kind of buying power anymore.

Good use of what he had when he was allowed to spend

[Kaiser1962]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Miller was allowed to spend money each season to bring us a bit of quality - hence the reason we ended up with the likes of Keith, DJ, Crunchie, MON, Goram, McGinlay etc.

We've not got that kind of buying power anymore.

Different world in those days. No one in Scotland has any more, witness Rangers and Celtic being outbid by second teir English sides.

[brisbanehibs]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Hindsights a great thing but given the period Miller had to steer us through, what he got out of the squad, the quality of some of the players he brought in plus the cup after Mercergate I have nothing but respect for the guy (and Murdo). Not saying it was like the Turnbull era but compared to recent history he was certainly one of our better modern day managers.

He was definitely more of a technical manager as one of the posters has said but look where the alternatives to that we have seen recently have got us, one mute scowler and one blethering skate later we are where we are...................Imagine having someone that knows how to work with the resources he's got, stabilise a club that was in a real crisis, does tactics, keeps us up and wins a cup. Be ecstatic if we achieved all that any time soon and the non playing set up is better.

I think Bostonhibby makes a good point.Miller talked sense and was ok with the media. compare this with the utter crap that we got from hughes and calderwood. he was good with the fans too. saw him at a supporters' forum in leith around the time we won the skol cup and he was excellent value and very honest and engaging. I remember one of the reasons fans went for him was a refusal to play mickey weir week in week out or to play him out of position. his teams worked hard as well although ironically enough MON was lazy and turned it on when it suited him...maybe the new dream management team;-)

[Billy Whizz]

Funnily enough I saw Alex Miller in a service station just outside Edinburgh last Sunday. He was heading South. Didn't have the courage to ask him if he was up to see Rod?

[Brizo]

Curates egg i think they call it. Some great teams ,some great players and great entertainment and of course a Cup winning manager. But on the downside some teams that were absolute p@sh and some periods of dour negative fitba playing a system where players were restricted from expressing themselves. Towards the end it was eye bleeding stuff. He should have left much earlier and if he had he'd be held in far greater regard. A too friendly relationship between him and Dougie Cromb kept him in the job way past his sell by date.

Interesting that one of his sons is mentioned above. Him playing both of them in the first team was ripping the p@sh and nepotism of the highest order. Fact that after Hibs both went straight to lower leagues / juniors told its own story.

[Sas_The_Hibby]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

saw keith wright being interviewed a while ago and he talked up lexo's influence on him and the team but said that he wasn't a great man manager which seems to be a common theme with the players who have talked about him. not sure but I think his last manager role in Sweden came to a halt because players found him hard work. I would love to see him back in an assistant role good enough for liverpool so good enough for us IMHO.

The same could arguably be said about Eddie Turnbull.

FWIW I think Miller did a pretty good job with relatively few resources. Wouldn't take him on again now TBH, though I've certainly got nothing against him.

[Russ]

[QUOTE=Emerald;2996107]Right, I want all the Hibees views on this. Alex Miller was manager for 10 years and he was not liked by the majority of the Hibs support (maybe me too). He was branded a negative manager at the time, who never strayed from 4-4-2. I wasnt a fan or enemy of him, but we are miles away from the excitement of some of his teams (labelled boring) could achieve. Just asking all who were there at the time, would you like to go back to AM days??[/Q

He presided over the clubs worst period against Hearts in our history, that alone was bad enough. The vast majority of his years saw piss poor boring football.

[Eyrie]

I had a season ticket for most of the Miller era, and whilst I wouldn't have believed it at the time, I'm nostalgic for the days when he put out a team that was organised and had talented players.

So no objection here to bringing him back in a supervisory role, or even to the board. Maybe he still has a good eye for a player (remember David Platt?)

[Glass half full]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

On the down side, the flip side to a meticulous approach was that he could be an overly cautious manager - while I remember some great seasons with exciting signings I also remember some football that would make your eyes bleed!

I think this fairly summarises Miller's time. There were many games, and seasons, that you just wanted the matches to end, hoping that Hibs would score a goal never mind get a point. There was one season where we scored around 20; made the CC team of today look like Barcelona!

The run against Hearts was unjust. Henry Smith played some blinders and there were a number of times we played them off the park and ended up with a 0-0!

After the Paul Wright / Keith Wright transfer, things slowly started to improve. McAllister and O’Neill out wide, with Jackson and Wright up front was one of the best Hibs sides I’ve seen. McGinley got goals and Hamilton, whilst often lambasted from the support each work, worked very well in the holding role, providing cover for the defence. O’Neill on his day was as good as anyone I’ve seen in a Hibs shirt.

I do feel with that team were lucky they played in the ‘90s. Hate to think how many red cards Miller and Hunter would pick up in today’s football.

[heretoday]

Alex Miller did a great job in trying circumstances. Winning a trophy a year after nearly going out of business. And signing Steve Archibald!

I concede he didn't beat the Hearts often enough.

Maybe if certain managers in recent years had been given more time and support they might have achieved similar results or better.

We expect miracles in a matter of months nowadays. Instant gratification.

[Lago]

During that time I went every home game at ER & many away games, never entered my head to miss a match. Now I no longer go at all.

[judas]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Right, I want all the Hibees views on this. Alex Miller was manager for 10 years and he was not liked by the majority of the Hibs support (maybe me too). He was branded a negative manager at the time, who never strayed from 4-4-2. I wasnt a fan or enemy of him, but we are miles away from the excitement of some of his teams (labelled boring) could achieve. Just asking all who were there at the time, would you like to go back to AM days??

To be honest emerald, Alex Miller gave us some good memories and some good squads.

His biggest failing was his failure to get results against Hearts. The Hibs v Hearts period under Am was a horror story.

I also feel that a small section of the fans were prejudiced due to his previous connection with Rangers.

Toward the end of his spell at Hibs he made the mistake of introducing his sons to the team - and boy that was a mistake. Graeme Miller was so bad it was genuinely amusing. Greg was a grafter with 0% ability.

[SneakersO'Toole]

I would certainly take Lexo over Mr Lindsay for DOF any day of the week.

[jdships]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Thats a myth. Miller tried to go 4-3-3 often but didn't always have the personnel to do it. In the mid 90s in a scottish cup semi at Ibrox we drew 0-0 and for the replay Miller dropped Davie Farrell and brought in Mark McGraw. We lost 3-1 but Miller went for it with Wright, Jackson, O'Neill, Harper and McGraw all starting.

When Miller got the job his first game was home against Rangers and he was overwhelmingly welcomed by a big home crowd. The game was a scoreless draw but midway through the second half someone in the away dugout irked Miller and he tried to pull the offender out by the throat. He didn't deserve the level of personal abuse he got but neither did Stanton, Blackley, Ormond or Turnbull before him for that matter.

I got to know AM very well outside of football through a mutual friend and he was quire a student of the game.
He had more contacts around the game than you would ever thought possible while his card indices of young Scottish players was nothing short of amazing
You are spot on re the highlighted bit of your post many's the time he spoke of how he would have given anything to go 4-3-3 but didn't have the resources to do so.
A nice man to spend time with and for me very underrated as a manager
Like all of us he made mistakes but all in all have no complaints re the time he was at ER

[smurf]

Said before that Lexo would be a very good addition to the Hibs board. Think I said it when Scott Lindsay said he was going to send the next year exploring scouting opportunities...

[southern hibby]

Correct me if i'm wrong but did Alex Mc not get us to 2 finals and unfortunately we got beat of the OGRE's at Park heid.
What I would give for a final. For me it would be a yes. I know we would have some terrible eye bleeding days but at least we would be orginised and he would have players at least looking like they were interested. GGTTH.

[Mibbes Aye]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

I think this fairly summarises Miller's time. There were many games, and seasons, that you just wanted the matches to end, hoping that Hibs would score a goal never mind get a point. There was one season where we scored around 20; made the CC team of today look like Barcelona!

The run against Hearts was unjust. Henry Smith played some blinders and there were a number of times we played them off the park and ended up with a 0-0!

After the Paul Wright / Keith Wright transfer, things slowly started to improve. McAllister and O’Neill out wide, with Jackson and Wright up front was one of the best Hibs sides I’ve seen. McGinley got goals and Hamilton, whilst often lambasted from the support each work, worked very well in the holding role, providing cover for the defence. O’Neill on his day was as good as anyone I’ve seen in a Hibs shirt.

I do feel with that team were lucky they played in the ‘90s. Hate to think how many red cards Miller and Hunter would pick up in today’s football.

Would agree with all of that post.

It would be interesting to see how his experiences after Hibs have altered his approach. Also, how he would work with the greater player turnover we have post-Bosman.

[Peevemor]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Would agree with all of that post.

It would be interesting to see how his experiences after Hibs have altered his approach. Also, how he would work with the greater player turnover we have post-Bosman.

That's the first thing I wondered when I seen this thread.

Miller had only 3 years management experience when he arrived at Hibs and was very much his own man. I would think the positions he's held since, particularly at Liverpool, must have broadened his horizons.

[clerriehibs]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Right, I want all the Hibees views on this. Alex Miller was manager for 10 years and he was not liked by the majority of the Hibs support (maybe me too). He was branded a negative manager at the time, who never strayed from 4-4-2. I wasnt a fan or enemy of him, but we are miles away from the excitement of some of his teams (labelled boring) could achieve. Just asking all who were there at the time, would you like to go back to AM days??

Many people seem to prefer to forget when he put out teams like this - http://www.thecelticwiki.com/page/19...i-final+replay - ok, this one was a defeat, but 4 forwards in that starting line-up, plus the goal-scoring of McGinlay. in a semi-final v. Celtc. That's not negative.

[--------]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Correct me if i'm wrong but did Alex Mc not get us to 2 finals and unfortunately we got beat of the OGRE's at Park heid.
What I would give for a final. For me it would be a yes. I know we would have some terrible eye bleeding days but at least we would be orginised and he would have players at least looking like they were interested. GGTTH.

He did. In fact, if the referee in the second of his finals had had the bollocks to do huis job properly, we'd have had an early penalty and seen Maxwell the Huns goalie sent off, which might very well have n]been all we needed to go on to lift the Cup a second time in four years. Instaed, Keith got a yellow for diving. (Oddly enough, we've never yet seen a replay of the incident from behind the goal-line, shich suggests to me that the ref either got it wrong or he was playing for Rangers.)

And for someone with such a 'boring' reputation he signed a heck of a lot of good attacking players. At least with Lex we knew we were watching a football team, not a bunch of couldn't-care-less no-hopers who don't know the meaning of the word 'teamwork'.

Personally, I'd have Lex back at ER in a moment. Maybe not as manager, but certainly as Director of Football with a seat on the Board. What he doesn't know about football isn't worth worrying about, and he has the strength of character to see us past out present difficulties onto a much more even keel.

I've always held Smiler in the highest possible respect. Love to see him back and involved.

[KeithTheHibby]

AM is often lambasted on here for his record and yes at times his football and personality was dull. His record against Hearts was woeful, 17 in a row was bad enough but 22 was dreadful. Most of those games the yams were jammy *******s and often never deserved a point never mind 3.


However he came through the most difficult period of our club's history and built 2 excellent teams in 1991 and 1995. His team also won us a trophy. His team in 1995 was littered with attacking flair namely Keith, Jackson, Harper, O' Neill and Crunchie.

The season he left we were almost relegated. The season after we were. Says it all for me.

AM must have done something right to spend all that time at Anfield too especially when Benitez came in and kept him on.

Since Lexo left we have had some ***** in the hotseat, let's be honest.

[PatHead]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

AM is often lambasted on here for his record and yes at times his football and personality was dull. His record against Hearts was woeful, 17 in a row was bad enough but 22 was dreadful. Most of those games the yams were jammy *******s and often never deserved a point never mind 3.


However he came through the most difficult period of our club's history and built 2 excellent teams in 1991 and 1995. His team also won us a trophy. His team in 1995 was littered with attacking flair namely Keith, Jackson, Harper, O' Neill and Crunchie.

The season he left we were almost relegated. The season after we were. Says it all for me.

AM must have done something right to spend all that time at Anfield too especially when Benitez came in and kept him on.

Since Lexo left we have had some ***** in the hotseat, let's be honest.

Didn't just keep him but promoted him from Worldwide Scout to Assistant Manager. Would love to see him as DoF at Easter Road and have boring anyone who would listen all week saying this. Must have some fantastic contacts and knowledge. SFA should have appointed him instead of the Dutch guy.

[KeithTheHibby]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

To be honest emerald, Alex Miller gave us some good memories and some good squads.

His biggest failing was his failure to get results against Hearts. The Hibs v Hearts period under Am was a horror story.

I also feel that a small section of the fans were prejudiced due to his previous connection with Rangers.

Toward the end of his spell at Hibs he made the mistake of introducing his sons to the team - and boy that was a mistake. Graeme Miller was so bad it was genuinely amusing. Greg was a grafter with 0% ability.

Good points well made.

He also continually gave Joe Tortolano contract extensions despite the fact he was crap.

See my other post though for a more positive outlook on the AM days.

[fife hfc]

I remember arguing with a fan for calling AM a hun barsteward and to me that always counted against him. I do not think we could get anybody better than Miller for tactics and football knowledge but we now live in a time of public image being important and Miller always striked me as somebody who would gladly leave the media stuff to somebody else. As said above he would make an excellent DoF with a younger manager who he could guide along.

[fatbloke]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Think that Miller was keen on stodgy formations and if you read Budgies auto, there is quite a bit of negativity thrown his way. IMO that team had too many individually talented players that couldn't be suppressed. Videoton away is the finest performance I have ever seen from a Hibs team.

Ah the memories. i still dine out on stories etc from that 5 day rail/ferry trip

[fatbloke]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

My question to Hibs fans would be, if people of the calibre of Alex are still hungry to manage or oversee Hibs, what does the likes of Scott and Fyfe bring to Hibs ? I only ask as a discussion point, not because I am against them.

I think Hibs suffer (and can gain in this football climate) from having purely football people in these positions, who have decades of experience in better leagues.

As Arthur Montford would say.....discuss ?

Ally Scott and Graham Fyfe my god they evoke some painful memories. Think I will go lie down for a while:)

[s.a.m]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

He did. In fact, if the referee in the second of his finals had had the bollocks to do huis job properly, we'd have had an early penalty and seen Maxwell the Huns goalie sent off, which might very well have n]been all we needed to go on to lift the Cup a second time in four years. Instaed, Keith got a yellow for diving. (Oddly enough, we've never yet seen a replay of the incident from behind the goal-line, shich suggests to me that the ref either got it wrong or he was playing for Rangers.)

And for someone with such a 'boring' reputation he signed a heck of a lot of good attacking players. At least with Lex we knew we were watching a football team, not a bunch of couldn't-care-less no-hopers who don't know the meaning of the word 'teamwork'.

Personally, I'd have Lex back at ER in a moment. Maybe not as manager, but certainly as Director of Football with a seat on the Board. What he doesn't know about football isn't worth worrying about, and he has the strength of character to see us past out present difficulties onto a much more even keel.

I've always held Smiler in the highest possible respect. Love to see him back and involved.

Didn't present himself well, but did well in difficult circumstances. I may have beeen the only person on the planet to be sorry to see him leavem because I was worried about what would come next (I'm not claiming any special foresight here - I'm just a worrier!)

[Purple & Green]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Good use of what he had when he was allowed to spend

Andy Millen
Brian Hamilton
Keith Houchen
Mark McGraw
Joe McLaughlin
Ian Cameron

and to top the lot

Ray Wilkins

Does anyone reminiscing, want to provide any evidence that since he's left he's grasped the importance of a youth policy and progression? The Miller era was 10 wasted years for our youth set up. The much maligned Stanton did more in his criticised 2 years than Miller did in a decade.

17 in a row, quickly followed by 22 in a row points to a deep rooted problem, and I'm sure Miller would find a way to lose to Hearts under 19s next season.

Football to make your eyes bleed, 11 men back at corners.

So, it's a big no from the P&G jury.

[Bishop Hibee]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

There were many games, and seasons, that you just wanted the matches to end, hoping that Hibs would score a goal never mind get a point. There was one season where we scored around 20; made the CC team of today look like Barcelona!

The run against Hearts was unjust. Henry Smith played some blinders and there were a number of times we played them off the park and ended up with a 0-0!

After the Paul Wright / Keith Wright transfer, things slowly started to improve. McAllister and O’Neill out wide, with Jackson and Wright up front was one of the best Hibs sides I’ve seen. McGinley got goals and Hamilton, whilst often lambasted from the support each work, worked very well in the holding role, providing cover for the defence. O’Neill on his day was as good as anyone I’ve seen in a Hibs shirt.

I do feel with that team were lucky they played in the ‘90s. Hate to think how many red cards Miller and Hunter would pick up in today’s football.

1990/91 season after the attempted takeover was awful. Paul Wright top scorer with 6 goals.

22 in a row was a disaster plus another long run Hertz had without defeat. Miller never seemed to be able to raise Hibs to outfight Hearts.

Plus points were his dignity during the attempted takeover by Wallet, the 1991 cup win, 93 LC Final and a few games in Europe.

7-0 v the Huns, two 1-0 away defeats to Motherwell with Weir up front on his own and the lack of away wins were brutal. I don't think we ever scored more that 3 in an away league game under Miller and that was as rare as hens teeth.

With a better manager and a more savvy board we could and should have done so much more. Not a patch on McLeish or Mowbray in my opinion.