Football: The Green Reiper; Marc's fall-out with Aarhus was death of Danish bid for Miller.
Byline: HUGH KEEVINSLIAM MILLER could have been lost to Celtic for Pounds 300,000 last season and nobody would have noticed.
Now Marc Reiper, the former Hoops hero who took Miller to Denmark to complete his journey from boy to man on the park, believes it would take Pounds 2million to prise the fans' new hero from Martin O'Neill's squad.
And this time there would be an outcry if the player Irish Under-21 coach Don Given said was the nearest thing to Roy Keane was allowed to move elsewhere.
When a toe injury put a premature end to Reiper's Celtic career he moved back to his native country to become assistant manager at Aarhus.
The Dane's Celtic contacts took him back to the club to ask for 22-year- old Miller on loan. But Reiper's fall-out with Aarhus has cost them what could have been the theft of a gem of a player.
Reiper said: "There is no way Liam should be playing in anybody's reserve team when you look at what he has to offer as a player.
"He has a degree of talent that wouldn't look out of place in Celtic's first team, or the Premiership or any other top league in Europe.
"He was only with Aarhus for six months but during that short space of time he became the best player at our club and one of the top performers in the whole of Denmark.
"I think his time in Denmark did Liam the world of good because it not only gave him first-team football on a regular basis but it also let him find out what it is like to play in front of crowds.
"I felt he had the talent to succeed from the first moment I set eyes on him at Celtic Park.
"I have never seen anyone who has the kind of engine Liam has when he's playing.
"He can run all day and it doesn't have to be in competitive matches. Liam will put that kind of effort into his training games as well.
"He had trained with the first team when I was at Celtic Park and I could immediately see that he had the ability to go all the way in the game.
"He is such an exceptional talent that I was quietly surprised when Celtic responded to my call to ask for him on loan."
O'Neill has already declared his intention not to burden Miller with the tag of being the new Paul McStay.
But when comparisons are being made with Manchester United's Keane and Reiper is putting a seven-figure price on his head, then the young Irishman had better be able to handle the sudden intrusion of fame.
The Dane has monitored Miller's progress since the start of the season with interest, noting the goals against Kaunas in last week's Champions League qualifier, followed by the strike against Arsenal at the weekend.
And the ex-Celtic star has no doubts Miller won't crumble under the weight of expectation.
Rieper said: "I think travel helped to mature Liam. He was a quiet boy from Ireland being loaned out to a Danish club and he handled the transition exceptionally well.
"He behaved impeccably while at Aarhus and it didn't matter that he was the silent type off the park. He expresses himself on the field.
"Put it this way, Aarhus would have no chance of asking to buy him now because the price would be well out of their range.
"But the breakthrough has to come for Liam this season because it wouldn't be right for him to be playing reserve team football any longer than that when he is capable of so much more."
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| Title Annotation: | Sport |
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| Publication: | Daily Record (Glasgow, Scotland) |
| Date: | Aug 5, 2003 |
| Words: | 615 |
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