IF ONLY MILLER WAS A DISCIPLE OF DISCIPLINE :Jul 1 2005

[Luckysod]

FOOTBALL: IF ONLY MILLER WAS A DISCIPLE OF DISCIPLINE Jul 1 2005

I USED to get fed up telling Duncan Ferguson and Andy McLaren that football meant too much to me and f*** all to them.

They used to frustrate the life out of me with their refusal to put in the effort that was needed to get the best out of their extraordinary talents.

They weren't alone either. Off the top of my head, Ralph Milne, Raymond McKinnon and John Clark all came into the same category.Those five players should have had dozens of Scotland caps if they had applied themselves properly and the reason they came into my head was because I hear Charlie Miller may be on his way back to Tannadice.

I never managed Charlie but I can see he is a similar type to the five I've mentioned.

He's got fantastic ability but if his fitness only allowed him to utilise that talent for 20 minutes in a game,that would have been no use to me.

I like the boy as a player, make no mistake. But like 'my' five, I don't think he has been prepared to make the necessary sacrifices.

Mentally, they did not want it badly enough.They didn't have the determination of the Richard Goughs and the Andy Grays.

Those two were not the most gifted players I ever had at Tannadice but one thing is certain, that pair and Jimmy McInally would be the first names on my team-sheet.

Their motivation and will to win made them the most important members of my squad. Our Tom had a blether with Miller when he was coaching at Tannadice while Alex Smith was the manager.

He said to him: 'Honestly Charlie, when I was a player I knew how good I was and how good I could be.

'But see you, you'll never realise how good you should have been and could have been.'

Charlie can run but he doesn't like running at training and make no mistake, any athlete has do it on the track to get the fitness that is necessary on a Saturday. He has never been fit enough to make maximum use of the ability he has.

What Tom was trying to tell him was that he had to put the work in during the week.

That point was relevant to all the ones I've been speaking about. If I'd had any hair at all, I'd have been pulling it out.

Believe me, trying to motivate players who don't want to be motivated can be one of the most difficult things in management. I remember Walter Smith was getting on at a player and Graeme Souness said: 'Don't bother, if he doesn't want to play for Rangers we'll just get somebody else.'

That's OK for Rangers, Celtic and Manchester Uniteds of this world but not for the rest.

When you are manager of Dundee United you have to try to motivate these players when they can't motivate themselves. It's a tough job.

But Gordon Chisholm has done very well since replacing Ian McCall and he knows Miller better than I do.

I don't think Charlie will suddenly become a slave to training at this stage in his career but Chisholm clearly feels he is worth taking on if he can give him 20 minutes or so of something special.

That was never my kind of player - I wanted someone who would still have enough energy to pull me out of the fire in the last 10 or 15minutes.

But if Charlie comes back, I really hope for his sake and the club's that it works out

[Cogito]

For your information; Charlie has pulled himself together lately. He's shed a couple of pounds and "endures" 90 minutes now. Not long ago though, Branns manager always had him substituted after 60. Miller's metamorphoses is a fact, and has led to more time on the pitch, a Miller demand for a higher salary, and a growing fright among the supporters that their beloved icon might leave.

[Lurkin]

Charlie scored a hat-trick versus Rosenborg, enough said, he's probably Brann's biggest profile right now.

Hvorfor snakker vi engelsk? Er han fyren britisk eller noe?

[Luckysod]

hei gutter - jeg har bare sakset dette fra weben - ikke ta det så personlig-

[Cogito]

hm, kanskje du skulle gjort oppmerksom på det innledningsvis? neivel