Last night, The Daily Record ran a piece on the continuing saga of Lennon Miller. His father was quoted extensively, saying some insightful things. He wants his son to play at the highest level and believes he can achieve that—something those who watch him regularly would agree with.
Miller is happy at Motherwell right now because he’s getting regular game time. As we mentioned on this blog recently, this consistent football might be what ultimately decides whether Miller becomes a Celtic player or not. He may not want to join a club where regular minutes aren’t guaranteed. However, a few voices have weighed in on this, offering some perspective Miller should heed if he’s serious about taking his game to the next level.
Aiden McGeady spoke out recently, making it clear that all this talk about pathways and guaranteed first-team football is nonsense. He pointed out that if you’re a young player you’ll be in the first team when you’re good enough to play every week, and not before.
If Miller reaches that level, he won’t have to worry about where he goes or who he signs for—he’ll play because he’s earned it. McGeady’s message is blunt but true: too many young players think the game owes them something. It doesn’t.
Football is a ruthless, cutthroat business. When you’re good enough, you’ll play. Until then, it’s about working hard, proving yourself, and becoming indispensable. Miller seems to understand this, which is a promising sign for his future.
Of course, The Daily Record couldn’t resist their usual spin, claiming that Miller will go where he can get games the easiest.
Their implication that this gives Sevco an advantage is laughable. If Miller wanted the “easy” option, he’d just stay at Motherwell, where he’s already playing every week. The reality is that if he wants to test himself and prove his ability, he’ll need to go to a club where competition is fierce.
The notion that Sevco hold an advantage is even more absurd when you consider Motherwell’s asking price—reportedly around £4 million. Where are Sevco finding that kind of money? Neither they nor The Daily Record seem to know.
The truth is simple: Motherwell won’t sell Miller to the club that offers him the easiest pathway—they’ll sell to the club that offers the most money. That’s the fundamental reality here, no matter what pundits like Craig Moore or Barry Ferguson might claim. This will come down to who can meet Motherwell’s demands, and that isn’t likely to be Sevco.
Unless someone at Ibrox is prepared to write a substantial cheque, all of this speculation is meaningless.
Come January, if Celtic want him, they can make Motherwell an offer that will blow everyone else out of the water. And if Miller and his father decide against Celtic because game time isn’t guaranteed? Then perhaps he’s better off at a smaller club where those guarantees exist.
As Brendan Rodgers and Ange Postecoglou have both said, there’s no such thing as guaranteed minutes at a big club. “You can have guaranteed game time, but you won’t play for this club—or any big club,” Ange explained.
Guaranteed minutes are for teams that aren’t competing for trophies, not for players who want to be the best and win at the highest level.
To succeed at a club like Celtic, Miller will need to back himself, work hard, and compete for his place. That’s the challenge.
If he’s up for it, there’s no better environment for him to thrive. If not, there are plenty of smaller clubs happy to offer him a more comfortable option. I doubt that the one across town will be part of the bidding though, not unless the hunt for spare change goes into overdrive.
At this stage in his career moving to the EPL or Championship will get him more money but no guarantee of more playing time.
Wherever he goes he will still face the challenge of justifying his place in the Matchday Squad.
Would like to see him at Celtic, he’s a good Scottish prospect and Brendan can bring out the best of him.
I’ll need to start watching Lennon Miller more closely, as I haven’t seen enough of him playing to see all his attributes.
I also find it unusual that out of all the punters and ex players and managers who rate him so highly, not one of them have explained their reasons.
James McFadden, Simon Donnelly, Jim Duffy etc. have all said things like, “the boy’s played 50 games at 18, he’s so confident, nothing phases him, he’s got a good head on young shoulders etc.” but nothing to give us a clue about his footballing ability.
When they talked about Ben Doak before I’d seen him, I knew he had blistering pace and was fearless against top defenders. Luke McCowan, drives forward, great striker of the ball etc. but nothing about Lennon Miller’s attributes.
As I said I’ll start watching him closely. Meantime if anyone on here knows what his skill set is, I’d love to hear it!