Derek Johnstone suggests Rangers fans’ reaction to Kenny Miller would’ve meant a lot to veteran

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Kenny Miller returned to the Glasgow Rangers team for the Ibrox side’s most recent Scottish Premiership game.

Derek Johnstone has told the Evening Times that he thought that Pedro Caixinha was naive to exile Kenny Miller from the Rangers first-team, and insisted that the fans’ reaction to the striker upon his return to the side would have meant a lot to the veteran.

Miller spent a number of games on the sidelines with Caixinha refusing to pick him in the wake of their Old Firm defeat earlier in the campaign.

However, he returned to the Gers lineup for their clash with Hearts at the weekend in the club’s first game following the Portuguese’s departure, and he certainly made up for lost time.

Miller scored twice to double his tally for the campaign and set up Rangers’ third as they claimed an impressive 3-1 win in Graeme Murty’s first game in interim charge of the Light Blues. And Johnstone has expressed his delight at seeing the 37-year-old back in the fold.

“I thought Pedro was so naïve with [the] whole situation. Maybe he was trying to prove a point but, at the end of the day, he is no longer there and Kenny is still at Rangers,” he told the Evening Times.

“The fans are certainly with him and the reception that he got before, during and after the game would have meant a lot to him.

“He will have a major part to play for Rangers this season. I was delighted to see him back, and being the captain as well.”

Although Miller will ideally not be a long-term solution for Rangers’ side, there is no question that he continues to defy his advancing years with the amount of effort he puts in while he is on the pitch, and he will surely be an asset for the next manager, especially during the period of transition.

It certainly appears that Miller is the kind of person that the new man will want to keep around Ibrox whether he is a player or perhaps a coach further down the line.