NO OFFENCE to the Loose Women, but Ian Miller would much rather be watching League I.
So it was no hardship when he was awoken by a late night phone call inviting him to ditch Jeremy Kyle in favour of the Galpharm.
“I’d only been out of work for a couple of weeks, but I was already getting tired of daytime TV,” smiled the 56-year-old Scotsman, who has joined fellow coach Glynn Snodin and boss Simon Grayson in a three-man Town management team.
The trio worked together at Leeds, winning promotion to the Championship in 2010, and Miller, who was on the backroom staff at Blackpool when Grayson was a player there, was more than happy to say yes.
“It was after midnight, and I was asleep in bed when the phone rang, so it took me a little while to come round,” he explained.
“It was Simon saying that he had held talks with Dean Hoyle about taking over as Huddersfield manager. He said he was keen on the job and wanted myself and Snods to go in with him.
“It was great to hear, things moved pretty quickly, and here we are at a fantastic club with a huge amount of potential.”
Miller, a former winger who turned out for Bury, Nottingham Forest, Doncaster – where he first met Snodin – Swindon, Blackburn, Port Vale, Scunthorpe and Stafford, has been a regular visitor to Town during a coaching career which has taken in Vale, Wolves, Blackburn, Blackpool, Bury, Leicester and Manchester City as well as Leeds.
“I watch a lot of games, so I’ve been here a lot of times, and when we were at Leeds, I tended to pop in a lot because it was just down the road,” he added.
“I always found it a friendly club, and that’s been reinforced since we arrived, but there’s also a real determination to achieve success, and that’s what we’re here to do.”
So what makes Miller think he, Snodin and Grayson can succeed in taking Town out of League I when four other managers have failed since promotion from League II in 2004?
“Simon has done it before at two different clubs, so he has the track record,” he responded.
“He’s a thinker, a good reader of the game who has played at a high level and he wants his teams to attack and score goals, but also to balance that with being strong defensively.
“As a management team, I hope we have a good blend.
“Simon was a defender- cum-midfielder, Snods a full-back and I was a winger, so we all look at the game a slightly different way.
“But we share the same philosophy about how things should be done and bounce ideas off each other. We each have a voice and put our opinions in the pot.
“The three of us love the game and we love being around players, and we like to work hard but also to make things enjoyable.
“We gave our all to bring success at Leeds, really immersed ourselves in the job, which you have to do, and we’re ready to do exactly the same here.”
Four points from the six available so far represents a solid start and Miller continued: “We’ve said it before but it’s worth repeating that Lee Clark did a terrific job here and left us with plenty to work with.
“We’re getting to know the squad very well, and the players are a pleasure to be around, because their professionalism and attitude to training is first class.
“With the games coming thick and fast – after today’s trip to Bury come home games against Hartlepool (on Tuesday) and Rochdale (next Saturday) – time is limited.
“But we have tried to get them to relax and enjoy their football and to take what they do in training onto the pitch.
“There are some good sides in League I, but we have got as strong a squad as any, and we have to impose ourselves on other teams.
“Charlton (the leaders) have been very consistent, but (second-placed) Sheffield United are within our sights, and for me, the pressure is on them.
“We have the opportunity to go and get automatic promotion, but there are three places available, and if it has to be through the play-offs, then so be it.
“Getting there is the main thing, because the Championship is a fantastic place to be, full of clubs with rich histories and tradition, and we certainly wouldn’t be out of place there.”
