Wonderkids: The rise and rise of explosive English striker, Mickel Miller

Just over eighteen months ago Mickel Miller was in the form of his young life. Following on from his career-best season in 2016/17 for Carshalton Athletic where he played every single league game, scoring 16 goals in 46 league games, by January 2018 Miller had already improved on that goalscoring record, notching 18 in 27, and the attention around him was heightening. It was attention that would mould into a bid from Hamilton Academical, of Scotland and see the ever-improving forward make the move north of the border.

Miller, 23, an exciting, enigmatic, and, just to carry on the E theme, an endearing young footballer, plied his trade at Carshalton Athletic, playing an indispensable part in earning the South England side’s promotion to the Isthmian Premier – the seventh tier of the English football pyramid.

He attracted interest from Sheffield Wednesday and attended Jamie Vardy’s V9 Academy. Mid-way through his best season he was signed for an undisclosed fee by Hamilton in January 2018, but it was in this current season that Mickel has made his biggest mark on the Scottish game.

His control of the ball makes it seem at times as if it’s stuck to his foot, but if the situation calls for it, whether cutting inside or flying down the wing, Miller’s long strides keep him in possession even if he fires the ball a yard ahead of each stride taken.

There’s a real positive directness to the way he receives the ball. Whether it’s been for the Isthmian side, Carshalton or his current SPL team, when Mickel has the ball, opposition defenders back up, check their runners and panic over whether the man who wears number 11 in red and white is gonna run straight at them or aim for the goal. Looking back just isn’t an option for Miller, which for Accies fans and neutral onlookers alike, is only a good thing.

Mickel held the key to victory on countless occasions for Carshalton, and he’s taken that positive mindset over the border when he’s put on the stripes for the South Lanarkshire side.

Back in September, Hamilton beat St Mirren 3-0, and Miller played an integral role in all three goals. The first saw the forward receive the ball in the centre of the pitch, swiftly cut a couple of yards outside and gradually sprint with the ball back inside before sending it over to Steven Boyd on the left whose blocked shot eventually fell to Fredrik Brustad to open the scoring.

The second was a penalty rifled in by Miller himself before Hamilton’s third saw Mickel take the ball in similar fashion to their first goal.

The Englishman took control of the ball, cut away to the outside, this time towards the left, allowing himself to maneuver onto his stronger foot and, much closer to the goal this time, fire a shot across the keeper and into the bottom left of the goal.

It’s a win that carries even more significance now given that, at the time of writing, Hamilton sit just two places, but seven points above the current bottom club.

Even in defeat, Miller has consistently stood out. Take for example Hamilton’s home loss to Aberdeen earlier in the season. The Accies succumbed to the Dons by two goals to nil but whenever the Accies managed to retain the ball, the player in possession looked hopefully forward to try and find Miller. When Mickel pressured, the Dons defence almost fell victim to his presence alone and had to rely on either the goalkeeper, or Aberdeen’s last-ditch defending.

With his five goals this season from a wider and, more often than not, deeper position than his time at Carshalton, including the finisher in a surprise 2-0 away win at the aforementioned Aberdeen recently, the 23-year-old striker is progressing well especially if you take out the stats and just focus on his performances.

Miller’s peak years are ahead of him, which is bad news for Hamilton's opposition and maybe Hamilton themselves when the next transfer window comes around.