How Lennon Miller earned 'respect' of Udinese teammates and his hope for upcoming 'career peak'
Ex-Motherwell midfielder has big Scottish footsteps to follow in Serie A
While they were the inspiration behind his move to Italy, Lennon Miller knows he has a tough act to follow when it comes to living up to the recent exploits of his fellow Scots in Serie A.
You could forgive Udinese fans for having high expectations of their new 19-year-old arrival from Scotland when his international teammates have made such an impact on Italian football over the past 12 months.
The success of Ballon d'Or-nominated Scott McTominay, who alongside Billy Gilmour won the title with Napoli in their first year with the club, and Lewis Ferguson, who captained Bologna to the Coppa Italia last term, has ensured that Scottish footballers are currently held in high esteem in the land of calcio. Not to mention Che Adams, who hit double figures in his first season with Torino and Josh Doig, who won the Serie B title with Sassuolo.
Aaron Hickey also left a mark, earning Bologna a £14million transfer fee with his move to Brentford in 2022, just two years after joining from Hearts for £1.5m. Liam Henderson, too, may now be playing in Serie B with Sampdoria, but became the first Scot to play 100 games in the Italian top flight last season while with Empoli. The former Celtic and Hibs midfielder became the trailblazer for the modern trend of Scots moving to Italy when he joined Bari in 2018.
Miller is the latest to follow in their footsteps after his £4.7m move from Motherwell this summer and he has set his sights on emulating his fellow countrymen.
"It's obviously brilliant seeing all the boys do so well over here," Miller said. "It's probably part of the reason that I came over. Obviously Scott had an amazing season last year, but I think all the Scots that have come over here have done really well. Aaron Hickey went to the Premier League after here so there's definitely options, and it's nice to see all the boys do well."
Debut goal was ‘massive’ for Miller
Miller had a slow start at Udinese - a pre-season injury ensuring he spent the early weeks of the campaign warming the bench as he built up his fitness - but he made the most of his first opportunity in the starting line-up by scoring what proved to be the winning goal in a 2-1 victory over Palermo in the Coppa Italia last month.
"It was massive," Miller said as he reflected on his full debut. "Obviously you don't need the goal to be settling in because all the boys, the manager and coaching staff have been brilliant with that. But it definitely helps get a wee bit more respect with your teammates - getting the start and then popping up with a goal. It's what you want to do as a midfielder. You want to get in the box and score goals. So hopefully it's the first of many this season."
Under Udinese head coach, the Austrian tactician Kosta Runjaić, Miller has been given more licence to attack. This is not his only adjustment from Motherwell, where he was club captain, set piece taker, and a guaranteed starter every week.
"It's been a change," he said. "You're never guaranteed starting or game time. I was grateful at Motherwell that I got a lot of that. But I knew coming to any new club that I'd have to prove myself. I tried [to do] that every day while I was at Motherwell, with Scotland and here now. I try and impress every day in training and popping up with goals and getting a start definitely helps that.
“Listen, you need to you need to believe in yourself. These are some excellent players you're playing against, but you need to back yourself. You're here for a reason, so why not back yourself?”
World Cup dream and more Scotland minutes
Miller's Serie A involvements have so far been limited to two substitute appearances but his 45-minute cameo in the 3-1 defeat to Sassuolo last weekend hints at more to come.
He will hope the same proves to be the case with Scotland after he was named in Steve Clarke's squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Greece and Belarus at Hampden.
The matches are likely to have a huge say in whether there will be Scottish representation in USA, Canada and Mexico next summer and Miller is keen to play a bigger role for the national side after being restricted to an 89th-minute sub appearance in the 2-0 win over Belarus last month.
"Obviously, I hadn't played any minutes for Udinese before I went to that camp," Miller said. "So, it was again trying to find fitness, trying to get in with the boys again. Now I feel this time I've definitely had a lot more minutes. I look forward to every camp, whether I play or don't play, because I enjoy the company of the boys and hopefully they can do well if I don't play. I'm really looking forward to it and hopefully I can get some minutes."
While the likes of Andy Robertson, John McGinn, Grant Hanley and Kenny McLean are desperate to take what could be their final chance to play at a World Cup, Miller insists he is no less motivated to experience what no other Scots have in the previous 27 years.
"I think it's the same if it's your first chance to get to a World Cup or your last," he said. "To get to a World Cup for your country is probably the peak of your footballing career. So I don't think it changes for anybody. It will be an honour to get to a World Cup and we're all really looking forward to this campaign and hopefully we can get there next summer.
"I don't see why not. We've got really good players playing at the top level of football, so why not? We know all the other teams have got real quality as well. So, we'll look to see what happens and hopefully we can get there."
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