When James McFadden won a generous penalty award in the 24th minute, with Scotland already two ahead, it was possible that Boyd could have done the decent thing then, but goals are his business, too. On this occasion, Boyd snatched the ball off McFadden. “I think he’s still in a huff,” quipped Boyd later, “but I just wanted to get off the mark. Faddy already had his goal.” The Rangers forward duly stepped up and slotted past Jakup Mikkelsen, albeit with the former Partick Thistle goalkeeper half-stopping the ball on its way in. “Big Boydy pushed everyone out the way for that one,” smiled Miller.
Another penalty five minutes later, though, and it was time for even Boyd to show he has a selfless side. Miller’s suffering had gone on long enough for everyone, even an Old Firm rival. By popular consensus, and otherwise known as a sympathy vote, this one would be his. Darren Fletcher presented Miller with the ball and Boyd, lurking by the penalty spot, willingly stepped aside. So up came Miller. A shuffling, slightly nervous looking run-up and a weak shot struck along the ground to Mikkelsen’s left. It should have been saved. For once, though, Miller’s luck was in. The ball squirmed under Mikkelsen and, almost apologetically, made its way over the line. Miller’s sorry run was over.
“I’m over the moon,” he said afterwards. “I knew the goal would come soon enough, though I hoped it would be a better one than that. I maybe mishit the shot a bit, but it still went in. It was the wee break I needed. That’s me off the mark for the season now.” Boyd laughed aside any praise for his own actions. “It was important for Kenny to get his goal. That’s his duck broken now and as long as he doesn’t go on and score too many for Celtic there’s no problem,” he joked.
Every qualifying campaign for a major tournament tends to start with the same question: who can score the goals for Scotland? Boyd, remarkably, has scored more league goals for Rangers than he has begun games for them netting 21 times in 17 starts. After missing the start of this term through suspension, and then failing to regain his place initially, he had scored twice in each of his past two games against Hearts and Kilmarnock. The accusation that all he does is score goals remains, but makes little sense; nobody rebukes a holding midfielder for not joining attacks. Two goals against Bulgaria in his Scotland debut meant Walter Smith was never going to leave him out yesterday, and four goals in three caps means his goalscoring average is above 100% for both club and country.
Miller has now played 13 games for Celtic, if you count eight friendly fixtures, failing to score in any of them. It is a statistic which is gaining negative momentum and is only ever going to compare badly with Boyd. He said prior to this match that he would rather this game be anywhere but Parkhead and was only half-joking. This is a ground at which he had previously never scored, even before he was a Celtic player. His own Rangers career lasted barely 18 months and contained just eight league goals. His recent Scotland record is more creditable, however, five goals in his last six internationals before yesterday meaning Smith was never going to leave him out either.
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With the opposition being the Faroe Islands, a call between the two wasn’t required. Had he needed a lone striker it is probable, on form, Smith would have had to have gone for Boyd. Instead he was able to go two better than that and deploy a third, James McFadden. The Everton player is very much the third man of this equation. Yesterday, though, he was arguably the most important, different enough to leave the visiting defence unsure what to do with him. Never quite defensively adept enough for midfield, nor prolific enough to lead the line, playing as a wide third forward could be McFadden’s best position and, even against better opposition, 4-3-3 may prove to be Scotland’s best formation.
With Boyd central, Miller had to drift wide left, but as early as the fourth minute he did what all non-firing strikers should when all else fails: he turned provider. A characteristic burst of pace took him to the byeline and the speed of his cross meant that even without the right connection Fletcher’s close range finish had just enough on it to cross the line. Miller could even claim an assist for Scotland’s second, though, in truth, it was more a case of his own attempts to shoot from the edge of the area being defied before McFadden fared better with his left-footed effort from a similar distance. Two up in 10 minutes. If Miller wasn’t going to score at Parkhead on this day he was never going to. When he claimed the afternoon’s second penalty, and ran away to celebrate, he waved his hand across his face, feigning to fan his brow, to acknowledge his relief.
By the interval, a Boyd goal in open play gave Scotland a 5-0 advantage, though to say Miller’s confidence was entirely repaired might be overstating it. A wayward diagonal pass here, an overhit cross there, you sensed the goalscorer in Miller wanted a strike he could properly call his own. On the hour mark, though, his number was up with Garry O’Connor replacing him. Miller departed slowly, feeling a little better perhaps, but still, in his own mind, not entirely over the worst. SIMON BUCKLAND
AT CELTIC PARK