Scottish Premier League: Kenny Miller says losing Thompson is a blow
Ranger’s star striker Kenny Miller has come out and declared that losing his team-mate Kevin Thompson to Middlesbrough will be a huge blow for the Glasgow based football club. Kevin Thompson parted ways with Rangers despite winning the 2009-2010 Scottish Premier League title with them.
He left the club for Middlesbrough, who finished eleventh in the second tier of English football, known as The Championship. Middlesbrough, who were in the top tier of the English football just two years ago were relegated in the 2007-2008 season to the second division of English football.
Middlesbrough also changed their manager half way through their Championships campaign last season as they replaced their manager and ex-player Gareth Southgate with the renowned Scotsman Gordon Strachan. When Southgate was fired from his position as the club’s manager, Middlesbrough occupied the fourth place spot in The Championship. However under Strachan their form deteriorated and Middlesbrough ended the season in the lower half of the league table.
Ranger’s on the other hand won the Scottish Premier League on the last day of the 2009-2010 season after they defeated Hibernian by a goal to nil. By finishing the season as the top most team in Scottish club football, Rangers also sealed a place for them in the group stages of next year’s UEFA Champions League.
Kevin Thompson has joined his ex-ranger’s team mate Kevin Boyd at Middlesbrough, as Boyd also left Rangers for the English club just weeks before Thompson’s move to riverside. Gordon Strachan at Middlesbrough has been signing up a lot of Scottish players in an attempt to create a solid team at Middlesbrough, so that he can lead the riverside club back into the English Premier League.
Miller, who scored twenty goals for Rangers in 43 games in the 2009-2010 season, said that losing Thompson will be a blow for Rangers because he has been a regular first team starter in the past two to three seasons. He added that the club has to move on regardless and stated that when one door closes down another opens up. He also said that there are a lot of players at the club who are capable of replacing Thompson.
Kenny Miller said that, Lee McCulloch, Steven Davis, John Fleck and Maurice Edu can all play in Thompson’s position. He said that Thompson’s departure is an opportunity for others in the squad to enter Rangers starting lineup. Miller remarked that as his club has sold two of their star players, his manager will have a job to do in bringing new faces to Ibrox in the summer transfer window. He added that players should focus on getting fit and concentrating on pre-season fixtures in Australia and Newcastle.
He also stated that if Ranger’s don’t sign any players this summer, the present squad at the club will have to step up and be good enough to win the Scottish Premiership again. Miller, who is now a renowned goal scorer for Rangers, also commented that he is interesting in signing a new deal with Rangers given that the club gives him an option to do so.
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