Football: Miller ready to take the shirt off Henrik the Great's back; SEVEN UP: LIAM IS FOLLOWING HIS BHOY-HOOD DREAM.
Byline: DAVID McCARTHYFANCY a bet on who will be Celtic's next No.7? Then nip down to the bookies, fish a fiver out of your wallet and stick it on Liam Miller.
The young Irishman is negotiating a new contract at the moment and the man who ran the youth club where it all began for him would not be surprised if Miller asks for Henrik Larsson's number when the Swede departs at the end of the season.
Why? Well, Mick McNulty insists that as a kid Miller refused to play if he was handed any other jersey.
McNulty coached the Ballincollig Under-14 team on the outskirts of Cork and was the man who first gave Miller the chance to play.
He lived in the rural community of Ovens in Cork and attended school in Ballincollig on the outskirts of the city. The teenager had already become noted around the village, but not for his footballing ability.
No, Miller had built a reputation as an athlete of some distinction, winning the All-Ireland 800-metres championship at Under-14 level and captaining his school to all sorts of success at Gaelic football.
Soccer came along almost as an afterthought but the boy Miller could play, despite not having had an hour's coaching before he was 14.
McNulty recalled: "``I took over the Under-14s and he had been down at training but he hadn't played many games. I was told that he was handy, though, so I thought I'd give him a try.
"Within five minutes of his first match I knew he would be a player.
"He was 14 years old but we have teams from players aged six and upwards. This lad hadn't played for a team and I just stood and wondered how good he would have been in if he'd been coached from the age of six.
"He was very focused and knew what he wanted. What he wanted was the No.7 jersey. He was an Eric Cantona fanatic and he wanted to be the No.7. He just wouldn't play in any other jersey.
"We used to wind him up by giving him another number and he'd say: 'I'm not playing, then'. It was a joke but he is a determined lad and I wouldn't be surprised if he asks for the No.7 when Henrik leaves.
"In fact, I think the reason he wears No.43 is because four and three make seven.''
I travelled to Miller's hometown to track down the people who shaped a career that has taken off like a rocket this season.
To realise how far this 22-year-old has travelled, you have to see where his journey began.
Ballincollig is no Craggy Island of Father Ted fame. But nor is it a roaring metropolis unless roaring metropolises have populations of 22,000 these days.
It is a place where everyone knows everyone else and this community is rejoicing in having one of their own excelling at Parkhead.
The fact that Colin Healy, who recently left Celtic for Sunderland, played for the same youth team has these people bursting with pride and they are counting the days until the two pals pair up in the same midfield for Ireland.
Miller's journey began at Regional Park, a five-pitch complex just outside Ballincollig.
It could not be a more humble setting. The changing rooms are rusting old shipping containers. Not exactly what Liam is used to these days, but McNulty swears that back then the boy couldn't have cared less.
He said: "The changing conditions were primitive but these boys just wanted to play football.
"There is a stream running down the side of one of the pitches and if the lads were filthy after the games they'd just jump in to get the muck off. Liam did that plenty of times.
"He was one of the boys, but you knew he was an exceptional talent.
"I had Liam here for two and a half years and he was brilliant. Whenever he had to miss a game I'd be phoning the league trying to get the match called off I'd be out trying to water-log it. That is what he meant to us.''
Mick has spent 30 years running boys' teams at Ballincollig and is close friends with Liam's parents Bridie and Billy. He will accompany Billy to Parkhead in January for the Old Firm derby and never misses the chance to watch his protege on TV.
He said: "That's not unusual around here. You can't get into any of the pubs when Celtic are on in the Champions League. I go with his dad to watch all the matches on the box and we enjoy them with a couple of pints of Guinness. But he was over for the Lyon game when Liam scored.
"Liam is like his dad in that they are both quiet but Billy is as proud as punch and rightly so.''
One of the pubs crammed to capacity on match nights is Healy's Bar on the main street owned by Colin's grandmother.
McNulty added: "It's unbelievable for the community to have two young players emerge at the same time.
"When the pair of them play in the same Ireland team, there will be a party here that will last for days.
"We have about 500 lads here and it's a fantastic motivation. Kids idolise him, just as he used to idolise Cantona.
"His bedroom walls were covered in Cantona pictures and that's where the No.7 came from.
"He was a Cantona fanatic and was proud to get the chance to play against him when Eric came back to play for United in Ryan Giggs' testimonial match a couple of years ago.
"Seamus Goggin, my assistant manager when Liam played here, said he is putting EUR100 on him captaining Celtic and Ireland within three years. That shows the confidence everyone here has in him.''
Miller's performances as a kid alerted a host of clubs, but according to McNulty, there was no contest when Celtic came calling.
He added: "He came to Celtic's attention after playing for Ireland's Under-15 team. Southampton, Liverpool, Manchester City and Bolton were interested but his heart was at Celtic.
"Maybe the only team that would have made it a hard decision would have been Manchester United.
"I saw Sir Alex Ferguson was up at the Anderlecht match and left just after Liam got injured maybe that tells you something.
"But Celtic is in Liam's heart. He went to Aarhus in Denmark on loan to get experience and he did so well that they offered him a three-year contract, but he was determined to go back to Celtic.
"He has now sampled life in Denmark as well as in Scotland, so he is a mature boy for a 22-year-old.
"But what I like about him is that on his summer break, he will come down here with all his buddies and he'll kick the ball around with them.
"He'll never forget his roots.''
Or his love for the No.7 jersey. Bear that in mind, Martin.
CAPTION(S):
TALENT SPOTTER: Mick McNulty; KICK-START: Liam, aged 4; EURO JOY: Singing with the U18s; FRIENDS: With Graham Barrett in Malta; PROUD: Liam's family with his U19 medal; THAT'S MY BHOY: With Martin O'Neill; MIDAS TOUCH: Thompson joins celebration; THAT'S ANDY: He scores against Anderlecht; UP FOR IT: Liam Miller celebrates with mentor Henrik Larsson; IDOL: Eric Cantona
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| Title Annotation: | Sport |
|---|---|
| Publication: | The Mirror (London, England) |
| Date: | Nov 26, 2003 |
| Words: | 1238 |
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