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McClaren impresses Miller with brief Darlington stint
DARLINGTON'S play-off matchwinner
Ian Miller has given the
thumbs up to former England
manager Steve McClaren following
his day training Quakers.
As exclusively revealed in last
Friday's The Northern Echo,
boss Dave Penney invited his
friend McClaren to take coaching
last week ahead of the play-off
semi-final first leg with
Rochdale.
Miller, a late sub on Saturday,
says the former Middlesbrough
manager gave Quakers a boost
ahead of a game which Darlington
dramatically won 2-1 thanks
to the defender's injury time
header.
"It was good to have different
perspective on things," said
Miller who could start in Saturday's
second leg should Alan
White failed to recover from the
dead leg that forced him to leave
the field early at the weekend.
"His training was different
from most of the things we've
done before but the lads treated
him like they would do any other
coach even though he used to be
the manager of the England
team.
"He was great with all the lads
and it was a fun, enjoyable session.
It might have played a part
in the first leg, it might not have,
but I think that we need to do
that sort of thing more often.
"A bit of variety can really help
because it can get a bit stale
when you are doing the same sessions
week-in, week-out - which
we definitely do not do at this
club - and it helps us.
"We had no warning from the
manager so it was a case of hang
on a minute that's the ex-England
manager.
"It certainly took us all by surprise.
He's a local gentleman and
he's friends with the manager
but he'd not dropped by before at
training when I've been here but
his coaching definitely went
down well with all the lads."
As Miller has given Darlington
the advantage, supporters could
be forgiven for starting to think
about what would be the club's
third trip to Wembley.
But Miller, was quick to point
out that Quakers are only
halfway towards reaching the
play-off final while Dale will still
fancy their chances of reaching
Wembley for the first time in
their history.
Rochdale finished the season
in fine form and at home scored
an impressive 22 goals in their
last eight games.
"Wembley's a possibility but
we've got to remember we're only
half-way through the tie," said
the 24-year-old who says he
would next season love to play
against hometown team Colchester
United following their relegation
from the Championship.
"We did ready well in the
first leg, especially in defence
when you consider
that we had players out of
position in energy-sapping
conditions.
"My goal gives us the
upper hand but anything
can happen at
their place. So we can't
get complacent but
we've just to focus
on doing an efficient
job so we can
celebrate getting
to Wembley.
"We've got every chance of
shutting Rochdale out at their
place. They came here and at 1-1
you could see that they were
pushing for the win which shows
you their ambition.
"Obviously we've got the keep
them out at the back and with
players like David Stockdale and
Steve Foster I think we should be
okay."
Miller signed permanently for
Quakers in January from Ipswich
Town for whom he had
joined from Suffolk non-league
club Bury Town in 2006.
But he remains a fan of his
Essex hometown club and he
added: "I supported Colchester
as a kid. My dad
used to take me when I
was a lad because it
was only five minutes
from where I lived.
"I was a mascot and
stood in the family enclosure.
I still support
Colchester
and
I'll be
chomping
at the bit
to play at
their
new stadium
next season."
5:03am Tuesday 13th May 2008
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