Lennon Miller's Journey: From Liverpool to the Scotland Squad
Liverpool feels a long way from Boston and Miami.
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, where Scotland opened their World Cup campaign against Haiti in June.
On a cold Merseyside night on 31 March, that distance was already starting to form in Lennon Miller’s mind.
The Udinese midfielder had just come through an international break that promised so much and delivered nothing. Called into Steve Clarke's squad for friendlies against Japan at Hampden and Ivory Coast, Miller watched it all from the sidelines. Not a single minute on the pitch, despite a fanbase desperate to see something new.
Then came the image that lingered.
Miller, on the touchline in Liverpool, being consoled by his dad, Lee. A quiet moment that turned out to be a warning of what lay ahead.
By the time Clarke named his World Cup farewell squad to face Curacao, the direction of travel was clear. Uncapped Manchester United teenager Tyler Fletcher, 19, got the nod. Miller, a former PFA Young Player of the Year, did not. He wasn’t just left out of that game. He was left out of the World Cup entirely.
"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."
That was the hard part. What followed was the opening.
Steve Clarke’s era is over. Sebastien Pocognoli has walked in with a mandate for change that the Tartan Army have been demanding for months. The new Scotland head coach has wasted little time freshening things up for the upcoming Nations League double-header.
Miller is back.
At 20, and now in his second season with Udinese, he looks less like a prospect and more like a player ready to live at this level. The chaos and upheaval of last year have given way to something more stable, more repeatable.
He has featured in all five of I Bianconeri's Serie A matches so far, starting the last two. He has been trusted in the cup as well, playing the full 90 minutes in the win over Venezia earlier this month and heavily involved in both of Udinese’s Italy Cup victories.
For a player thrown into the Motherwell first team just six days after his 16th birthday, the move to Italy was always going to be a steep education. New league, new language, new life. No hiding places.
From a distance, Lee Miller has watched his son absorb it all. The former striker, who will turn out for Aberdeen in the upcoming Tennent's Sixes tournament next month, likes what he sees.
"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."
The miles between Liverpool, Boston and Miami haven’t changed.
What has changed is simple: this time, Lennon Miller arrives with games in his legs, scars on his CV, and a point to prove.
