Miller Time Comes to an End in Vancouver

Most knew it was coming, but didn't expect it to happen so suddenly. Another designated player bites the dust in Vancouver, as Kenny Miller & the Vancouver Whitecaps FC have "consciously uncoupled". By all accounts it was pleasant, mutually decided & respectful. Like some marriages that are falling a part, the two parties ended it before it really started affecting the kids (fans in this case). It seems both sides wanted to extend Miller's contract past this summer, but not at the price that the Scot was asking for, so both have decided to move on.

There were some moments of brilliance from Miller in Vancouver, such as his world class finishes against the New England Revolution last year. But while Miller had his moments in a Whitecaps FC shirt, he was far from a success. Scoring 13 times in 43 matches is not a bad goal scoring tally, exceeding Miller's output in Cardiff City for whom he scored 10 goals in 43 matches in 2011-2012. But in a league with a salary cap & limited designated player spots, 10 goals in 43 matches for a player on the wrong side of 30 and a $1.3 million salary is not good enough. Expecting that much more from Miller is probably not realistic either, the 34 year old is not going put up the goal scoring numbers he did with Rangers in between 2008-11 (tallying 49 times in 81 matches), but there were certain signals showing that Miller's play had dropped off recently. For instance, last year Miller developed a strong relationship Camilo Sanvezzo as the Brazilian took defenders on & created space for Miller who often played behind Camilo. Sanvezzo & Miller formed a solid partnership, that was aided by the fact that Darren Mattocks had a poor sophomore season & found himself on the bench quite often.

Fast forward to this year with a new manager in charge, Mattocks, Erik Hurtado & 19 year old Kekuta Manneh are torturing MLS defenders with their speed, while the South American contingent in the midfield is providing service & scoring. Miller was sitting on the bench for a good chunk of the 2014 season's opening 2 months. In his last Whitecaps' appearance as a substitute yesterday against the San Jose Earthquakes, Carl Robinson chose to put Miller on the left side playing behind Hurtado. With minimal speed, & a weak left foot Miller was pretty ineffective in his limited minutes on the left side. So why did Robinson play him there? Out of necessity as there was nowhere else to play him. With Mattocks, Hurtado, Manneh, & Sebastian Fernandez playing so well right now, it didn't make any sense to play Miller ahead of any of them. Add a continually improving Russell Teibert to the Whitecaps forward pecking order & you can see why the manager didn't play the 34 year old veteran very much.

That is not to say that Miller was not a key piece of the Whitecaps squad. He scored some huge goals for the club last year & there is a downside to his departure as the Whitecaps will lose veteran presence. Miller was a great team mate & provided leadership to a relatively young midfield & forward group.

Despite his leadership, reducing Miller's role or letting him go completely was an absolute necessity for the long term development of the team. The Whitecaps realize it is in their best interest to develop their young players & build a strong team for the future. As the last few matches have shown, this season will be a bit of roller coaster ride for the Whitecaps & their fans, with ups and downs as the young Whitecaps come of age. But as we have seen in the first 2 months of the season, there is an exciting young core to build upon for the future. There will be winning & losing streaks, leads that will be lost & frustration, but those sort of growing pains are vital in order for a young team to develop. For all the criticism that the Whitecaps front office has received in recent years, the departure of Kenny Miller is a necessary step to improve the team from a financial & player development point of view.