Two weeks ago, Lincoln City were reported to be in talks with Mickel Miller. We weren’t. I don’t think we are now, either.
My understanding is that 30-year-old Miller had been a part of training for a short while and appeared in a behind-closed-doors game where we looked to get 45 minutes into some players. The gaps caused by injury and squad size meant we needed a little help, and Miller was that help.
When he didn’t appear against Grimsby, it seemed the story had gone away, but this week, he has been linked to us by Peter O’Rourke. Again, my understanding is that O’Rourke generally has one source of information – agents. He’s not well known at clubs; he’s not one I have heard of checking sources with clubs. It is believed, like Alan Nixon, that he is agent-led, primarily.
While I’m not a huge fan of that type of journalism solely, it has a place in today’s football world. It’s making Nixon rich – he’s got 10,000 Patreons paying what, a quid or two a month, putting his earnings into the top-end League One bracket before he’s published in the Sun. O’Rourke, I don’t know, but it means their business is transfers. Get news, get it out there, get tweeting. It also means, at times, that getting something out there is probably more important than getting something verified out there.
For instance, over the course of three days last week, O’Rourke reported that Harry Boyes was signing for Notts County, and then for York City. You have to realise that when that happens, his source is not the buying club, because Notts and York aren’t both going to ring him up and report. It’s the agent, or the player. I’d argue it’s not the selling club because when he dropped the Moylan news, our club weren’t on the phone saying ‘hey Pete, guess what?’. If our club want to leak an exclusive, which they never do by the way, they’d use Michael and Rob, almost certain of that.
Remember, there is already form here from O’Rourke: he had a Mickel Miller to MK Dons story a month ago, so he clearly has a contact around Miller that isn’t just MK Dons or us. So, ask yourself this: where would the Miller story come from?
I can see how the other site interpreted it: player is on trial, agent or friend wants to drum up business so mentions non-existent talks, and in an eager bid to get an exclusive, they run with an incorrect story. They’re young journalists; it happens. But if O’Rourke gets it, it can only be from one of two angles.
- Mickel Miller is in talks with Lincoln City
- Mickel Miller’s agent wants people to think he’s in talks to help negotiations elsewhere.
So, which is it?
Mickel Miller and Lincoln City
I watched Mickel against Doncaster, and he was okay. He didn’t stand out, but didn’t look particularly out of place against the League One side. You can’t tell much from a friendly, but he still has legs, and despite his injury issues, you’d imagine a League One or League Two club looking out might think ‘we need him’.
Danny Cowley’s League Two side in 2017/18 might have had a look at him and said ‘he’ll be good for us’. We might have turned to him in the January window of that year, when we were low on numbers. By that, I mean a 30-year-old wide player with an average injury record and recent League One experience (Cameron Stewart, anyone?), not actual 2017/18 Miller. We might have done well if we had taken him then, by the way, as he was at Carshalton and had a decent career ahead of him.
Right now, we are a club who have just sold its star player for a record fee, and who are negotiating to bring million-pound players to the squad. Our CEO talks about building for a 46-game season, not for the opening day against Middlesbrough. We’ve had trialists in, and the one who did look like he might be an asset, Matt Smith, isn’t currently linked with a deal. We seem to be aiming higher than a 25-year-old midfielder who looks capable of making the step up, which probably means that a 30-year-old who has started 19 league games in two seasons, or 43 in four seasons, is not on the list.
I’m not trying to disparage Miller here. With his experience, someone like Bromley might take a punt, or Crawley, looking to get some experience in the side in League Two. He’s looked sharp enough for us on Saturday, not at Championship level, but certainly able to put in some minutes and get around the pitch.
In fact, it is highly likely he is talking to teams, or teams have shown interest, and that is why, in my opinion, Pete O’Rourke ran a story and why, again in my opinion, he’s no closer to getting a contract at Lincoln City than I am. He’ll get a deal somewhere, and it feels to me like someone behind the scenes thinks that deal might progress quickly if the world thinks we’re also after him.
My gut feeling is to expect a ‘Welcome to (insert club here) Mickel Miller, who turned down Championship interest to sit on the bench away at Barnet next week’, message from somewhere in the next week or two.