Calvin Miller has shown a lot of people how to react when you are knocked to the ground after leaving a club like Celtic.
The 28-year-old, after only a handful of appearances for Celtic, left in 2020 and joined Chesterfield in the lower leagues of English football.
From playing in front of over 50,000 at Celtic Park to a handful of that number would have been morale-sapping of the highest order for Miller.
But the versatile forward has reacted magnificently because, with the post-split fixtures around the corner, he is now the joint top assist maker in the Scottish Premiership with Falkirk.
Celtic-linked John McGlynn has done an outstanding job with The Bairns, and Miller has been at the heart of it, as 67 Hail Hail compared the former Hoops man to Hyunjun Yang and Sebastian Tounekti.
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Your first thought when you see the fixtures…
How many points will we pick up?
Calvin Miller tops the assist charts in the Scottish Premiership after Celtic links
It was suggested by Charlie Mulgrew that Miller was denied a dream return to Celtic over the winter.
You wonder if the champions of Scotland will knock on Falkirk’s door again in the summer, because it’s something that is needed at Parkhead.
So far, Miller is heading towards being the top assister in Scotland this season.
| Player | Games | Assists | Chances created | Chances per 90 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calvin Miller | 32 | 8 | 51 | 1.90 |
| Callum Slattery | 26 | 8 | 40 | 1.87 |
| Elijah Just | 29 | 7 | 42 | 1.72 |
| Kieran Tierney | 29 | 7 | 48 | 2.13 |
| Cameron Congreve | 29 | 7 | 46 | 1.87 |
Miller compared to Hyunjun Yang and Sebastian Tounekti
Miller can operate on both flanks; he has mainly played on the left, but his versatility is crucial to his team’s top-six finish this season.
Yang has mostly operated on the right for Celtic, with Tounekti also operating on the other side a fair bit this season.
| Stat | Yang | Tounekti | Miller |
|---|---|---|---|
| Games | 25 | 22 | 32 |
| Minutes per game | 65 | 57 | 76 |
| Goals | 7 | 2 | 5 |
| Assists | 0 | 1 | 8 |
| Big chances created | 4 | 3 | 13 |
| Key passes | 0.6 | 1.5 | 1.6 |
| Successful dribbles | 44% | 43% | 36% |
| Was fouled | 0.9 | 0.6 | 1.0 |
Yes, Miller, on average, spends more time on the pitch than the two men from Celtic, and he plays under far less pressure.
But it’s pretty clear as day that his output is far better. Whether it’s Miller creating more big chances (13), which is more than Yang or Tounekti combined.
Or just the pure, outright attacking numbers – both assists and goals.
Either way, Celtic would be smart to bring Miller back in the summer, because he isn’t exactly going to cost the big amounts the club have usually paid for wide players.
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