KENNY MILLER totally understands why Celtic fancy Wilfried Nancy’s exciting brand of football.
But the former Atlanta United No2 insists the leap from the MLS to Scottish Premiership is huge.
Miller recently left his role in the States, where he worked under ex-Celtic gaffer Ronny Deila and went directly up against Frenchman Nancy.
Atlanta lost 5-4 to Columbus Crew in September after a crazy game that saw the Hoops managerial target’s side race into a 5-0 lead.
Having played for both sides of the Old Firm, Miller is perfectly placed to talk about the pressure that would await Nancy in Glasgow.
Speaking on the Scottish Sun’s ‘Set piece’ show, the 45-year-old says it would be a shock to the system after his successful Stateside stint.
He said: “Would the MLS environment prepare you for Celtic? No. It’s a massive step.
“Has there ever been a Rangers or Celtic manager being appointed from the MLS? It’s a different game.
“Ange Postecoglou was a gamble that paid off for Celtic, and all appointments are gambles.
“You never know what’s going to work. Whether they’re coming with the best CV or the worst CV, it doesn’t really matter, there’s an element of a gamble in it.
“You can narrow that gap by being at certain levels, or being at clubs that have replicated what you’re going to be facing.
“But there’s not many that replicate our two Glasgow clubs.
“So it’s going to be a completely different environment for him.
“I’m interested to see where it will go because it looks like it will move forward.
“His teams play really good football an it was tough to play against.
“We were 5-0 down against them at home. It finished 5-4 and we should have got something from the game!
“Will the Celtic players take to it? Have they got the players to play the way he wants to?
“He’s really possession-based and he focuses on that.
“They effectively played a back four but they built out in a three, with two No6s in front.
“One of them was Darlington Nagbe, who was linked with Celtic years ago.
“He’s a really top player and was all-action, as much as a 36-year-old can be!
“The style is good and it’s exciting to watch. Will it be able to work at Celtic? Who knows?
“It’s about how he does it.
“It’s like Ange coming in with ‘Angeball’, which for me was never that dissimilar to Brendan Rodgers in the first spell.
“There were a lot of similarities, plus Ange had really good players.
“These players have moved on. The Celtic squad is not the same as what Brendan had first time, or Ange.
“It’s a different team altogether now and there’s a lot of work to be done on the squad.
“With a new manager coming in with this kind of weight, it would be an interesting appointment.”
If Nancy does get the Parkhead gig, he will go up against new Rangers gaffer Danny Rohl.
The 37-year-old German was chosen to replace Russell Martin after a lengthy search by Ibrox chiefs.
But Miller has been impressed by the way Rohl has conducted himself and started to gain some momentum in the Premiership with three successive wins.
And he reckons the Old Firms shifting focus on less experienced managers could be a sign of the times.
Miller said: “I’m maybe a wee bit old school I always felt that the Rangers or Celtic job has to be earned.
“There has to be something there in the background that suggests thar limits that gamble.
“But with football clubs all over now, it’s like ‘Who can appoint the youngest, least experienced manager?’
“It looks like there’s a lot of that happening.
“When it doesn’t work, they move into the next role anyway, as it’s still fashionable.
“But I agree Danny Rohl looks like he’s going to be good for Rangers.
“My good friend Josh Windass worked with him at Sheffield Wednesday, as did Barry Bannan.
”They raved about him and they really loved working under him.
“They thought he was top and the first thing I thought he would sort was that Rangers were not going to concede as many goals and were going to be better off the ball.
”In the second half with ten men against Celtic in the recent semi-final, you saw the aggression.
“He was still committing men forward to press. he wanted to still try and win the ball high.
“Celtic are still a good team, they can still get out, particularly when they’ve got a man extra.
“But there was a real energy about the team and a work ethic and hunger that maybe wasn’t there before.”
Rangers have tended to raise their game against Celtic in recent years – but Miller insists getting that level more consistently is crucial for Rohl.
DANNY ROHL – CAREER SO FAR
Playing career
- Played in German lower leagues for FC Zwickau (2007-08), FC Sachsen Leipzig (2008-09) and FC Eilenburg (2009-10)
- Was a defender in his playing days
- Gave up playing in 2010 to focus on university and coaching, studying sport science at the Leipzig University and doing a masters degree in game analysis at German Sport University Cologne
Coaching career
- Started working at RB Leipzig in 2010 as an analyst for the youth academy
- Promoted to assistant coach with youth academy in 2011
- Became performance and opposition analyst for RB Leipzig’s first team in 2014
- Appointed assistant manager of the first team under Ralph Hassenhuttl in 2017
- Followed Hassenhuttl to Southampton in 2018
- Moved back to Germany to become Bayern Munich assistant coach under Niko Kovac and later Hansi Flick
- Joined German national team coaching set-up under Flick in July 2021
- Appointed Sheffield Wednesday head coach in October 2023
- Saved Wednesday from relegation in his first season and led them to 12th-placed finish in second year
- Left Hillsborough in July 2025 amid financial and ownership struggles
Coaching record
P89, W34, D21, L34
Win percentage: 38.2%
He said: “This is a problem. Rangers can raise their game, and it was the same last year for Barry Ferguson.
“They raised their game for Celtic and they raised their game in European nights, not so much this year but in previous years.
“That’s not what Rangers is. You turn up every single day and the training should be harder than some of the domestic games.
“Other teams raise their game when they come play Rangers and Celtic, but Rangers drop when they play against the lesser oppositions.
“You know what, that’s 95 per cent of your games, that’s what wins leagues, not beating Celtic.
“Beating the rest wins your leagues and unfortunately Rangers have not had that consistency in their results or their performances to actually be in a position to go and challenge to win the league.”
**Kenny Miller joined Robert Grieve and Bill Leckie on the Scottish Sun’s weekly ‘Set piece’ show.
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