Kenny Miller has revealed that watching fellow Scot Mark Fotheringham at work on their UEFA Pro Licence convinced him to join forces at English Championship side Huddersfield Town.

The 42-year-old Football Careers client – who had headline roles for Rangers, Celtic, Wolves, Cardiff City and Scotland in a storied playing career – saw Fotheringham’s philosophy and coaching style evolve during their journey together to the coveted qualification. That’s why Kenny had no hesitation in accepting the offer to become Assistant Coach at the Terriers despite the club languishing at the foot of England’s second tier when Fotheringham landed the mission of reviving them. Miller revealed:

“I’ve known Mark a long time but over the last two and a half years I’ve got to know him very well on the Pro Licence and he is someone that I really believe in. He’s a wonderful coach who has been enhanced by his time playing and coaching in Germany. I’m delighted to be back in working at a level like this in a league that I got to know well as a player.”

In the last two matches before the World Cup break Huddersfield defeated the Queen’s Park Rangers side bossed by new Rangers manager Michael Beale before being denied three more priceless points in a stalemate with Swansea City.

Miller believes there are encouraging signs after a sunshine camp in Marbella that saw Fotheringham, who played for SC Freiburg in Germany and was Felix Magath’s assistant at Hertha Berlin, begin to hammer home his messages in tough Spanish training sessions. He stressed:

“We need to start winning games and build on the positive stuff we have shown so far, I’m confident in what I have seen so far to believe that we can push up that table. I have loved being out on the grass again and we had a fantastic week at the camp in Marbella. It’s a brilliant club with really good people in it who are pretty clear in the way they want to
go about their business.”

A brief spell as Livingston manager that didn’t work out saw Kenny return to playing to see out his career before he launched into coaching with former Wolves team-mate Carl Robinson Down Under. He had stints at Newcastle Jets and Western Sydney Wanderers in Oz before coming home to a stint at Falkirk with Martin Rennie who he had worked with at Canadian club Vancouver Whitecaps in America’s Major League Soccer.

In his time between coaching jobs he has forged a reputation as an insightful media pundit but the trademark energy and skill that brought Kenny 69 caps and 18 goals for Scotland needs to be unleashed on a field passing on his knowledge to others. He reflected:

“I played until I was 40 years old and then enjoyed those 20 months in Australia before coming back to Scotland and working at Falkirk. Since I stopped playing I haven’t really been out of the game much so the last four months have been tough because I’m not the sort of person who likes to have time out.”