Pedro Caixinha: I'll decide on Kenny Miller's Rangers future

Rangers manager Pedro '¨Caixinha has insisted he will not be dictated to over the future of Kenny Miller.
Rangers manager Pedro Caixinha says he will tell Kenny Miller face-to-face if he has an Ibrox future. Picture: Ian MacNicol/Getty ImagesRangers manager Pedro Caixinha says he will tell Kenny Miller face-to-face if he has an Ibrox future. Picture: Ian MacNicol/Getty Images
Rangers manager Pedro Caixinha says he will tell Kenny Miller face-to-face if he has an Ibrox future. Picture: Ian MacNicol/Getty Images

The veteran striker, not named by the Portuguese coach in his team to face Kilmarnock tonight, said this week that he feared he was not going to be offering the contract extension he craved.

Miller based his concern on not having had any discussions with the new manager about prolonging his third stint with the Ibrox club beyond the expiry of his current deal in three months.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Caixinha would not reveal whether he had made a decision on Miller’s future but made it plain that the final say would not rest with the Rangers board – previously thought to be reluctant to sanction a new contract for a 37-year-old – but woulb be his call alone.

Caixinha said: “If not, I’m doing nothing here.

“I am the one who chooses
the time. Not him, not you, not anyone. When I choose the time for me, it will be the right time to pass on to him and all of the others, because they are all included in our list.

“Whether their contract is either about to end, like Clint Hill or Kenny, by the end of May, or whether they have longer contracts, they all finish under my supervision.

“So just because I haven’t spoken to Kenny or anyone else, it means nothing regarding their continuation here or having their contracts ended.

“Behind the football player, you have a man. In Kenny’s case, it’s not a young man. It’s a family man, a father. When you are taking the decisions, you are not just affecting the footballer, you are affecting everything.

“When I have one decision and that decision is not to continue, they need to know that from me directly. This is part of my way of seeing life, being up front and telling people what I think. I don’t want people to feel regret. They need to know the decision from me, for better or worse.”

Miller’s form and force of personality were praised by Caixinha in a manner to suggest the Rangers manager sees good reason for retaining the striker’s services.

Football, for me, is not about age or experience. I cannot play because I’m 45 years old and we all have some limits. But [you have] outliers – that’s when something is out of range or outwith the average. Kenny is at that level.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“He’s doing great and he’s a player I like to have in the squad because I’m not playing and I can’t be on the bench with a remote control so you need to have coaches [on the pitch] as well, players with that experience and understanding of the game.

“It’s important to have people who are role models for the others. I’m a guy of character with a strong personality and I need players with those as well for us to take things along.”