GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - NOVEMBER 03: Motherwell's Lennon Miller during a Premier Sports Cup semi-final match between Motherwell and Rangers at Hampden Park, on November 03, 2024, in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Craig Foy/SNS Group via Getty Images)
Last night, my good friend Paddy Sinat over at 67 Hail Hail did what’s now become part of a long-running Celtic social media tradition: another piece on the future of Lennon Miller. And let me tell you, if there’s a story I will not be sorry to see the back of—if there’s a transfer tale I’ll be glad to put to bed, not just once but for all time—it’s the Lennon Miller Bore Fest.
But Paddy’s article actually got to the heart of the matter. It wasn’t idle speculation or baseless chit-chat. He was quoting Lennon Miller’s dad, Lee Miller, who laid out what he sees—and what his son sees—as the career progression path. And that path ultimately leads to Europe. Continental Europe.
Not just European football—continental Europe.
When we sign a player from Scotland, we hope we’re signing someone who’s going to be at the club for years. When we signed Scott Brown, we knew we were getting a captain. A player who was going to be committed for the long haul. These aren’t foreigners who come here, know nothing about the club, and can’t wait to get away. Some of these kids dream of playing for Celtic. And although Brown personally didn’t, we knew we were signing a guy we could build a midfield around for a long time to come.
I suspect that was the plan with John McGinn. I expect we had a vague notion of McGinn being a Celtic player for ten years. We thought we’d see the best of him, and if he wanted to move on near the end of his career, we’d have no problem with that. Around the time of the McGinn saga, we were contemplating the end of Brown’s run. He had given us his best years, and he was coming up to the point where he couldn’t do it every week. He didn’t want to simply assume a place in the team.
Had we signed John McGinn, we’d have been entitled to think he’d anchor our midfield for as long as Brown did—maybe longer.
This was a guy who dreamed of playing for Celtic. A guy with family ties to the club. He wouldn’t have been a one-club player or an academy product—but he’d have served us as if he had been. Now, maybe John McGinn would’ve wanted to move on eventually. His decision to go to Villa suggests that. But we were making a long-term bet.
Or at least, we would have been—if we’d actually followed through and paid the money. In the end, we wasted too much time. In the end, we fumbled the ball.
We didn’t get him. But that was the plan. And only the bad poker playing of our esteemed chief executive stopped it happening.
I don’t know whether Lennon Miller is a Celtic fan. I don’t care. I didn’t care what Scott Brown’s allegiances were. What mattered was we got a fine player. A Scottish-born full international who was going to get better and better. And I feel the same about this kid. If we got him, we’d see rapid improvement playing alongside the talent already in this squad. He’d be a star in no time.
I believe in Lennon Miller’s talents a lot more than some of the people in the Scottish media who’ve talked him down for years by saying he wouldn’t get into the Celtic first-team squad. I think a little of that nonsense has even entered his head. But reading the interview Paddy highlighted, you see a plan that’s far more sophisticated than just “get into the Celtic team.”
And actually, that makes the decision very easy—as far as I’m concerned, anyway. I’d think some inside Celtic feel the same, if they were thinking in terms of a long-term plan with Miller at its core. Miller’s dad talks as if Celtic would just be another stepping stone, the same way Motherwell is right now.
He talks about his son wanting to play against the best. That means a top five league. That means that even if we sign him, we’re just waiting on him to get itchy feet. There is no prospect of a long-term project with him at the centre.
And that, for me, was one of the selling points of Lennon Miller.
That was one of the reasons to go out and get this guy over someone else from another country—because if he was here, there was a chance to build something. If Miller doesn’t see Celtic as a long-term home—if he’s thinking only of the next move, and the move after that—then we shouldn’t be thinking of him in those terms either.
If we were, then he’s the wrong player to sign.
There are better players out there in his age bracket and position. I’m not saying they’d stay longer—but we wouldn’t expect them to. We wouldn’t build around them. We’d just be signing another good footballer, knowing they’d move on. There’d be no five-year plan, no thoughts of where he’d be in ten. And if that’s the same story with Miller—well, then it’s no different. And in that case, we should go after someone better.
I’ll be glad when this saga ends. I’ll be glad if it ends the way the deal for the big Bronby striler ended—with the player signing for someone else. Not because he’s not a good footballer. Not because I wouldn’t have liked to see him in a Celtic shirt.
But because this has become boring. It’s a drag to write about. The signs that it isn’t happening have been obvious for a while.
We are not his first choice. And he isn’t thinking in terms of Celtic as a first choice. To me, that’s the death knell of any serious pursuit. If he thinks he’s good enough to play at the highest level, he should go and do that right now—not five years from now. Now.
He’ll find out how good he is. Or he won’t. But it’s been clear for a while that if he has the option of going somewhere else, he will. So his best years won’t be in a Celtic shirt.
So, let’s stop wasting time—his and ours. Let’s go and find someone who sees Celtic as a first option. Even if they don’t see it as a long-term stay. If that’s the future we’re working in, then let’s get the best possible version of that future.
It seems like it’s his dad who does all the thinking for him.
This guy is an adult now, so it would be much healthier if he behaved like one and learned to think for himself.
If he has ambitions for “bigger” & “better” things then why not still bring him in & bank the profit for the sell on. We’d likely get him on a 5 year deal. Maybe he leaves after 3 but then again maybe he sees how good it is to play for Celtic & enjoy the success with the club.
Brown stayed with us for pretty much his entire career but that’s not to say he was never tempted to go down south. I remember several summer windows where the news was surrounding him leaving for various english teams including Newcastle & Tottenham. We don’t know Lennon Millers character but you can’t say you don’t want to sign someone because they have ambition.
We lament the board for lacking ambition but if a player has ambition to play for top teams why is that a bad thing.
The only scenario that doesn’t work out well for Celtic is if he went the Derek Riordan route where he just didn’t cut it & we have to cut our losses on him but I don’t see that happening with the manager & coaching team we have in place now.
I’m quite sure when Scott Brown joined Celtic, he did not envision staying so long at Celtic Park, but he discovered the Celtic family, settled into it, loved every minute of it and in fact relished his whole career in the Hoops. Who’s to say that Lennon Miller might not adopt the same mindset, who’s to say that when he makes the big step up to Celtic and becomes a man in his own right, that he will foresee and develop his own football pathway, with his own ambitions and get out from under his father’s well-meaning guidance and influence.
The fact is none of us know what he might do, but I would still like us to get him on board anyway and see where it takes us.
Everyone and their Granny are desperate to make sure that kid doesn’t sign for Celtic.
Scince it was known he was looking to maybe further his career then the ABC campaign was started. We know if Sevco had the resources, then they would be falling over themselves to direct him to Ibrox. He has huge potential and I’m pretty sure that Brendan would bring him on leaps and bounds. If he decides to move abroad, then good luck to him. We’ll just wait on the next player campaign of ABC – Anyone But Celtic
Exactly FTH but as I see it Miller is no Scott Brown, no Paul McStay but an inconsistent lightweight and his talent is overly exaggerated. He may have some potential but as yet that’s potential unproven.
See you later and good riddance to you and in particular yer auld da
Agreed!
So much hype over someone so overrated.
Probably because there is a real dearth of talent coming through in Scotland.
I think his dad means well as Johnny says, but I wonder if he could inadvertently be a millstone around his son’s neck. His repeated insistence that Lennon has to play every week is flies in the face of BR’s stated policy (shared by James) that if the player is good enough he’ll get his chance.
I would imagine that would put Brendan off, as Lee Miller is more or less saying that one of Celtic’s midfielders will need to step aside so his boy can take their place in the team, regardless of how he performs.
His dad quotes the successes of McTominay, Gilmour and Ferguson in Italy, but all of those players have had to go through a more difficult pathway and worked their socks off for everything they’ve achieved.
Good luck to the player and I hope things work out for him as he seems to just get his head down and work hard, regardless of the noise around him, much of it coming from his dad.
Is there even an offer from Italy? It could be posturing to force Celtic into making a formal bid. He’s achieved a lot in his short career, captaining your team at 18 is pretty rare and now he’s in the national team but it’s an area of the park where we’re strong. It might be one we regret letting slip but I’m not too bothered if he goes elsewhere.
What we appear to have here is a Scottish version of the Hagi’s – the key differences being that da Hagi was world class and boy Miller has much more potential than his old man ever had!
No serious football club should guarantee any player a starting spot (ok, I’m not so green to think that established world players don’t have minimum game time in their contracts), not least an 18 year old.
For me it’s a pretty simple conversation with the player and his agent/dad, which goes along these lines: “So you want to be playing in a big 5 league in three years. The way you do that is you come here, train with top quality players every day and improve, fight to earn your place and develop resilience. You will be in our Euro squad and playing against top quality players with global exposure. We provide the development opportunities, the support and a global platform – you put in the work and the world’s your oyster.”
Whilst with us he brings a Scottish dimension and helps with the UEFA quotas. If he hangs around, fantastic. If he moves on, then held in same esteem as Matt O’Reily but with the bonus of the Scottish card for UEFA and maybe also for future generations of players and fans.
I don’t think Celtic made a bid talented bhoy but i don’t think he would have been a 1st team player I think McGowan is ahead a head of him but hope he is a success where ever he goes HH
Be interesting too see how it all pans out for him this summer !
His hopes might be tae play against the best and tbf, ye cannae really fault anybody for havin that kind of ambition. Tho if he came tae us, maybe after a few years he could decide tae stay, ye never know. Tho ah think with the lure of the silly money clubs can pay for players these days, especially if he was excelling, it would be difficult tae hang on tae him. Ah don’t think loyalty means as much these days tae a lot of players, as it did decades ago.
I don’t think it’s Lennon Millers father, Celtic have not tried to sign him, so it ends there.
Should his dad be interfering in his future then he will end up like Hagi did at Rangers ll, Daddy says when your fit and who you play for.
No fans want that type of Daddy personality, So I’m sure Celtic realise that and are not getting involved.