Pointless But Interesting Debate... Who Was Better Hansen Or Miller? - Page 2 - TA specific - Tartan Army Message Board Jump to content

Pointless But Interesting Debate... Who Was Better Hansen Or Miller?


Malcolm

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Read Sir Alex Fergussons book and he questioned Hansens commitment to Scotland.

So its Wullie Miller for me. :ok:

I often laugh at people who go on about what SAF. and other managers thought, when lots of times as club managers these same managers were trying/hoping their clubs players would drop out of international squads?

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Cannae believe it's even up for debate. Anybody who puts Hansen ahead of Miller for Scotland really disnae ken his fitba'.

From about 78 to 86 Hansen was quite possibly thee best central defender in world football playing for and captaining the Best team in world football over that period.

Had his partner at Liverpool been another Scot or had Lawrenson had Scottish parents /grandparents instead of Irish then I really doubt That McLeish or Miller would have reached 30 caps.

Both great players for Scotland but not world class and I would say that it was their partnership that made them so good. Had one or other moved to a big club Im not so sure that they would have been as successful.

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What I hadn't realised is that Willie Miller's only five foot ten which is relatively small for a centre half. It was certainly a wonderful era for centre halves, McNaught and Evans at Villa were a much underrated partnership as well. For the record I'd go for Miller, just felt he was more reliable, maybe not as stylish but more solid.

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Poor wind up attempt Jaguar...

Absolutely true whether you like it or not. Hansen would have been able to play for any team in the world and still been one of their top players. He was playing in a side winning the European cup more than any other and so over that 6 year period probably the best side in world football. Where were the big sides queueing up for our other centre backs? They weren't and so Hansen proved himself season after season at the very top level. McLeish and Miller didn't.

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After the 86 World Cup, was Roxburgh big plan to make Gough and Hansen our first choice center back pairing for the future? Sure Eck even got put back in the U21's as a over age player for a game or two round about this time..... only for Hansen to lose interest and Roxburgh went back to McLeish and Miller.

Edited by wanderer
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After the 86 World Cup, was Roxburgh big plan to make Gough and Hansen our first choice center back pairing for the future? Sure Eck even got put back in the U21's as a over age player for a game or two round about this time..... only for Hansen to lose interest and Roxburgh went back to McLeish and Miller.

Hansen started having Knee problems about 86/87 and had to cut down his playing time and training.

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What I hadn't realised is that Willie Miller's only five foot ten which is relatively small for a centre half. It was certainly a wonderful era for centre halves, McNaught and Evans at Villa were a much underrated partnership as well. For the record I'd go for Miller, just felt he was more reliable, maybe not as stylish but more solid.

Crazy to think that Villa won the European Cup with two Scots at the centre of defence and both were not considered for Scotland. (I think Evans did get a few caps).

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in the qualifying group for the 82 world cup (a fairly difficult group as it happens) Scotland let in just 4 goals from their 8 games. Hansen played in 7 of those and Miller in 6 so they cant have been that bad together - whilst accepting they probably both did prefer to play alongside a more direct centre half.

Could be wrong, but wasn't Steins preferred formation up to the 82 World Cup a 4 man defence with a 5th defender playing as a sweeping midfielder (which was Miller)?

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Could be wrong, but wasn't Steins preferred formation up to the 82 World Cup a 4 man defence with a 5th defender playing as a sweeping midfielder (which was Miller)?

you might be right - i dont recollect that tactic at Hampden but i think Stein liked a kind of three at the back or at least as you said a defensive midfield sweeper especially for away games - so an ageing Kenny Burns or a young McLeish played at least a couple of games too during that campaign.

That three central defenders tactic is something Stein jettisoned for the world cup itself.

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Hansen's stock must've been damaged severely by the feck up against the USSR.

Looking back at his caps after that he got a few games in the dire Euro 84 campaign but never featured in the World Cup 86 group, save for the home game v Wales we lost, where he refused to give Stein advice on how to stop Ian Rush.

Edited by Toepoke
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Hansen's stock must've been damaged severely by the feck up against the USSR.

Looking back at his caps after that he got a few games in the dire Euro 84 campaign but never featured in the World Cup 86 group, save for the home game v Wales we lost, where he refused to give Stein advice on how to stop Ian Rush.

That was a dire Euro 84 qualifying campaign - we finished bottom of our group. Conveniently airbrushed when people mention how great we were in the 80s

Not sure the home 1-0 defeat to Wales can be blamed on Hansen. He came on as a sub when we were already 1-0 down (The defence in the first half was Miller and McLeish with Nicol and Albiston as fullbacks.) And Hansen has been a bit hard done by with the 'how to stop rush question' - Dalglish, Souness and NIcol with Hansen were all asked about the best way to stop Rush - and they all laughed in a kind of you cant kind of answer. Only Hansen out of the four has taken the stick for that.

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our form in the 80s was more caused by crap forwards , sharp & speedy being 2 of the most useless tossers ever playing for Scotland ; defence generally kept us in games , but our lack of creative midfield, and forwards who went thru the motions (especially away from home) cost us

the same team that beat Spain 3-1, barely crossed the half way line in Seville ; was only 1-0

Ireland and Wales beat us 1-0, 1-1 away to Wales, 0-0 away to Ireland - i know these are in different tournaments

but we were a very stuffy side at times\

Miller as a defender , in the defensive sense was streets ahead of Hansen i feel, but not as classy looking, and possibly not as creative with the ball

as for Narey ; check out his defending against cyprus in wc 90 qualifier away game

-recall SAF chose him over McLeish in W Germany game in Mexico 86

again we scored 1 goal the whole tournament (deflection...)defence performed admirably throughout 3 games in the group of death - but we offered very little at other end of field

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our form in the 80s was more caused by crap forwards , sharp & speedy being 2 of the most useless tossers ever playing for Scotland ; defence generally kept us in games , but our lack of creative midfield, and forwards who went thru the motions (especially away from home) cost usthe same team that beat Spain 3-1, barely crossed the half way line in Seville ; was only 1-0Ireland and Wales beat us 1-0, 1-1 away to Wales, 0-0 away to Ireland - i know these are in different tournamentsbut we were a very stuffy side at times\Miller as a defender , in the defensive sense was streets ahead of Hansen i feel, but not as classy looking, and possibly not as creative with the ballas for Narey ; check out his defending against cyprus in wc 90 qualifier away game-recall SAF chose him over McLeish in W Germany game in Mexico 86again we scored 1 goal the whole tournament (deflection...)defence performed admirably throughout 3 games in the group of death - but we offered very little at other end of field

Totally agree with everyone point you make, other than SAF preferring Narey to McLeish in 86 World Cup - McLeish got injured and Narey had to replace him, and did, as you say, a great job along with the rest of rhe defence.

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