Lennon Miller's Journey: From Liverpool to Scotland's National Team
Liverpool felt a long way from Boston and Miami that night on the banks of the Mersey.
Three thousand, one hundred and ninety-six miles, to be precise, between Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium and the home of the New England Patriots – the arena that would stage Scotland’s World Cup opener against Haiti in June.
On 31 March, in that chill on Merseyside, the road to that tournament was already beginning to form in Lennon Miller’s mind. It would not take him where he hoped.
The Udinese midfielder spent that international window inside Steve Clarke’s squad, involved in the preparations, part of the group that faced Japan at Hampden and the Ivory Coast in friendlies. Supporters had called for fresh faces, for a glimpse of the future. Miller never kicked a ball.
Instead, the image that lingered was of him at full-time in Liverpool, being consoled by his dad, Lee, at the side of the pitch. It looked like a small moment. It turned out to be a sign of what was coming.
Clarke’s World Cup farewell against Curacao underlined it. When the squad list dropped, it was uncapped Manchester United 19-year-old Tyler Fletcher who received the call, not the former PFA Young Player of the Year. Miller stayed home. He did not make the plane to the World Cup.
“It was really difficult. It was a difficult summer. There’s no getting away from it,” said Lee, himself a former Scotland international. “As a family, we had to get round about him. He’s been in the game long enough. Obviously, as a player, he’s been in the game a few years.
“But with myself being in the game, just a few words of wisdom and encouragement. And, listen, it wasn’t to be for him. Obviously somebody wasn’t meant to go to the World Cup for whatever reason.
“But he just needs to get on with things and knuckle down and work hard.”
The World Cup door closed. Another one has creaked open.
Clarke’s reign is over. Sebastien Pocognoli has walked into the job with a clear mandate from the Tartan Army: change it, refresh it, be bold.
His first squad for the upcoming Nations League double-header carries that stamp. New names, new energy – and Miller is back in the fold.
Now 20 and into his second season with Udinese, he is beginning to stitch consistency into his game after the upheaval of moving to Serie A. The club that first threw him into senior football, Motherwell, did so just six days after his 16th birthday. Italy was always going to feel like a different world.
So far this campaign, he has featured in all five of I Bianconeri’s league fixtures, earning a starting spot in each of the last two. He has been trusted in the cup as well, playing a full 90 minutes in the Italy Cup win over Venezia earlier this month and involved heavily in both victories in that competition.
It is the kind of steady, upward curve that reassures a young player and quietly impresses a new national coach.
For Lee Miller, who will pull on his boots again for Aberdeen in the upcoming Tennent’s Sixes tournament next month, the signs are clear.
“It’s great to see him back in. And the manager had a nice Facetime with him the day before the squad was announced,” he said. “So real positive on the front foot.
“The first season [in Italy is] obviously to try and find his feet, bed in a little bit. This season, he’s had more minutes already. So it’s been really good.
“If anything, he’s developing every single day over there. It’s a totally different regime, totally different set up, lifestyle. Everything about it has been excellent.
“So he just needs to continue doing what he’s doing there. And hopefully take it in the Scotland squad.”
From that lonely touchline in Liverpool to a fresh chapter under Pocognoli, Miller’s journey has already taken some sharp turns. The next one might just come in dark blue.
