THERE is no doubt Joe Miller has an aptitude for organisation.
Scotland, though, may be braced for any realisation of his powers as a matchmaker.
The former Celtic and Aberdeen winger has taken a leading role in the formation of the Celtic Former Players Association but also almost wistfully anticipates another football gathering.
Twenty-five years on from his winning goal against Rangers in the Scottish Cup final, Miller yesterday would not rule out a meeting between the Glasgow sides in what would be a shuddering climax to the season.
"This is a competition in which Rangers have every chance of getting to the final," he said. "It is a one-off, five steps to the cup final," he said. "Sometimes fate serves up funny things. I don't know if it could happen but it would be interesting if it did. You wouldn't rule it out. It could be the motivation for Rangers to get there and it could also give Scottish football a wee boost."
Miller, of course, accepts that Dunfermline and Aberdeen - the respective fifth-round opponents of Rangers and Celtic - may render that scenario invalid as early as this weekend.
As well as lifting the Scottish Cup twice with Celtic, the now 46-year-old also collected a winner's medal with Aberdeen in 1986 and was part of the Pittodrie club's last trophy success, in the League Cup in 1996.
Miller knows how much Saturday's tie and Parkhead means to Aberdeen, though some of the strain may have been lifted by last weekend's progression to the final of the League Cup, but believes Celtic are the strong favourites to progress.
Asked about the secret of Aberdeen's ability to win in Glasgow in their glory days, he replied: "That was because Sir Alex Ferguson was in charge, it's as simple as that. He had a good side which competed with everyone but there was a different mentality back then. The game changes and revolves all of the time. Back then it was us and Dundee United who were on an upward curve and challenging."
Derek McInnes, honed on winning at Rangers, may have brought the same focus to Aberdeen as manager. "It's a siege mentality," Miller said. But he added of modern times: "Celtic are a huge club with far greater financial power and a far greater fan base so it's a huge thing for Aberdeen to take on."
He will not discount the possibility of the underdog prevailing, though. Miller, part of the Celtic centenary double-winning team in 1988, then scored the goal in the 1989 cup final against a Rangers side long odds-on to achieve a domestic treble.
One through ball, one mis-hit pass back and an emphatic finish from Miller gave him his third winner's medal in the competition.
"We were big underdogs. Rangers were going for the treble that day but we were under pressure to win," he said. "That was a huge thing. That is why I say there can be underlying motivations for teams to do well."
Of the class of 2014, he said: "'Rangers openly admitted it will take them a few years to recover but they have every opportunity. They are running away with the league themselves so there is a bit of quality there and their players will be motivated."
Miller's motivation is now focused on making the former Celtic players' association a success. Although an independent group, it will be supported by the club. Miller said: "Ultimately, the association will be seeking trust or charitable status to ensure it can raise funds to help former players who are in need or are suffering ill health.
"There is a growing trend among the top clubs in Europe to bring former players back into the fold, both in the running of their clubs or performing ambassadorial duties. I made a decision to have a go at launching this by getting in contact with as many players as I could and it has snowballed."
A website has been set up (celticfpa.org) to publicise events and to allow former players to join the organisation.
"We have more than 100 members signed up but we know there are some former players who would struggle to switch on the kettle, never mind a computer," Miller said.
He is positive about the future. "These players are treasured by the fans because they have achieved so much. You can talk about the different generations and the poignant times in the club's history. The Lisbon Lions, Nine in a Row, the centenary team and the boys from Seville . . . they were all great times in the history of the club.
"There are players who grew up desperate to play for Celtic and there is the guy who only pulled on the jersey once. But we have opened up the membership for that guy and that's what makes it unique. He has fulfilled a dream by pulling that jersey on even if it was only once."
Of the association, he said: "It will grow, there will be more members and it will be run professionally."
And of the Scottish Cup? "I hope Celtic reach the final this year as it's at Celtic Park and it's 25 years since I scored that goal. It could be even more poignant if Celtic and Rangers both reached the final."
Miller thus completed a personal double in one day. He both became an instigator of a new body and the first person ever to describe a match between Celtic and Rangers as poignant.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article