Liam Miller

William Peter "Liam" Miller (born 13 February 1981) is an Ireland professional Association football who plays as a Midfielder (soccer) for Premier League club Sunderland A.F.C.. He previously played for Leeds United A.F.C., Manchester United F.C., Aarhus Gymnastik Forening and Celtic F.C..

Miller began his career with Celtic F.C. where he played 26 games and scored 2 goals; at an early stage after injury he was loan (football) to Aarhus Gymnastik Forening in 2001, scoring zero goals in 18 appearances for the Danish Superliga club, before returning to Celtic Park and breaking into the first team squad. He debuted for Ireland in 2004 against Czech Republic national football team. In 2004, he refused to sign a new contract at Celtic, and joined Manchester United F.C., for whom he made only 22 appearances and scored two goals. He was later loaned to Leeds United F.C. during the 2005-06 in English football season, making 28 appearances and one goal. In 2006, he joined Sunderland A.F.C, his current club. He was then linked with a move away from the Stadium of Light because of alleged time keeping issues.

Background

Miller was born in Cork (city), Ireland, to a Scottish father and an Irish mother, and attended Coachford College. Manutdzone described him as "a slight, but strong-running midfield player who is blessed with good pace and a high level of stamina", which brought a comparison to his idol Roy Keane, who is also from Cork (city). In a web chat, Miller revealed that family has been his largest influence in football, and that Martin O'Neill and Sir Alex Ferguson were also influential to his career. Miller is married and has one son.

Club career

Celtic

Miller joined Celtic F.C. in 1997 as a youth player, and made his professional league debut against Dundee United F.C. on 21 May 2000. During his time at Celtic Park, he had been on a six-month loan spell with Danish football club, Aarhus Gymnastik Forening, during the 2001–02 season, making 18 appearances without scoring a goal.
They considered signing him permanently for £300,000.

His first Scottish Premier League goals came in a 5–0 win over Heart of Midlothian F.C. on 18 October 2003, his first goal came after nine minutes when Stilian Petrov drilled the ball in low and Miller finished it off, and completed the scoring in the 50th minute with five yard finish. Martin O'Neill offered Miller a long term contract following his goal against Olympique Lyonnais as Celtic F.C. won 2–0 in order to keep him at the club; both O'Niell and Miller were pleased about the impact of his presence. In his time at Celtic, Miller scored 2 goals in 26 appearances. According to Irish Abroad, "His departure from the Glasgow giants—after only 26 appearances for the Bhoys—led to outrage among the club’s supporters who perceived Miller to be showing a distinct lack of loyalty considering the Celts’ support of him through long-term injury."
He scored his first goal for Manchester United on 26 October 2004 against Crewe Alexandra F.C. in the Football League Cup. After the start of his career for the Red Devils, he found first-team opportunities rare towards the end of the 2004-05 in English football season, however, making only 22 first-team appearances since arriving from Celtic. though this was later extended to the end of the 2005-06 in English football season. He scored one goal during his time at Leeds—the winning goal in the 4-3 away win against Southampton F.C. on 19 November 2005—and helped Leeds to reach the Football League Championship play-off final with a 3–1 on Two-legged match over Preston North End F.C.. Miller featured in the Football League Championship play-offs 2006, however, Leeds failed to overcome Watford F.C., being beaten 3–0 and so were not promoted to the Premier League. During his time at Elland Road, he had scored one goal in 28 games. It was made clear that Miller was not part of Alex Ferguson's plans when he was still only a substitute in the opening game of the Red Devils' tour of South Africa against Orlando Pirates FC on 16 July 2006; despite the huge number of senior players missing.
On 31 August 2006, he moved to Sunderland A.F.C. for free on a three-year deal, joining up with new Sunderland manager and former teammate Roy Keane. He left Manchester United after playing just nine league games in two seasons, scoring no goals. and scored his first goal in the following game against Leeds United F.C. on 13 September 2006 in a 3–0 win shooting across the goalkeeper from 14 yards.

On 6 January 2007 he was sent off by referee Iain Williamson in a FA Cup match against Preston North End F.C. in the 37th minute after receiving his second yellow card for a foul on David Nugent; Sunderland went on to lose the match 1–0. He scored his first Premier League goal for Sunderland A.F.C. on 22 September 2007 against north-east rivals Middlesbrough F.C. in the 89th minute with a 20 yard left foot shot, the game being the 125th Tees-Wear derby. He was sent off for the second time in his Sunderland career by Peter Walton (referee); against Chelsea F.C. on 8 December 2007 for a push on Claudio Pizarro. Sunderland went on to lose the game 2–0.

Manager Roy Keane placed him on the transfer list on 27 February 2008 due to a 'lack of discipline' and 'poor timekeeping', evidenced by his frequent lateness arriving to training sessions. He was linked with a move to Toronto F.C., a Canadian club having ties with Sunderland players Danny Dichio, Carl Robinson and Andy Welsh.

International career

Miller played as a regular for the Republic of Ireland national football team. The Football Association of Ireland admitted the mistake and apologised to UEFA. His first goal for Ireland came in a 3–0 win over Sweden national football team on 1 March 2006 where he had made a run and a 25 yard shot rifled into the top of the net.