CRAIG Brown first heard about Kenny Miller when a friend of his called to boast about a young, energetic striker of his whose attitude was exemplary.

That was 20 years ago and nothing has changed – at least in terms of what this now veteran footballer is all about.

On planet football, 1998 might as well be in black and white, Scotland even reached a World Cup back then under Brown; these days that story is shown on the History Channel, which shows how long Miller has been about for.

And yet Aberdeen, Hibernian and Motherwell all want a 38-year-old who believes he has been defamed by Rangers for reasons we all know about. These three will hardly be the only clubs sniffing around a player first capped by Brown in Poland in 2001, which began a fine international career that saw him score goals against some truly great sides.

Brown knew right away Miller had a real chance and his admiration for this footballer has not diminished over all these years.

“Kenny is a top professional,” said Brown who yesterday celebrated the 20th anniversary of THAT match against Brazil in Paris.

“I have liked him since he was put out on loan from Hibs to Stenhousemuir and my old pal Terry Christie was his manager.

“I remember him as that young boy out on loan and he burst a gut for Terry who loved Kenny’s attitude. And I don’t believe his attitude has changed to this day.

“Could he still play for another two years? I think so. It doesn’t surprise me that there is so much interest in him. That’s is perfectly understandable even given his age.”

This is all very well but Miller is ancient. Well, anyone past 35 in his chosen field is considered past it even when clearly they are not.

Rangers supporters were split in their opinion of someone, who played for their club three times, by the end of his stint which saw him suspended for reasons which one day will make for a superb chapter in his autobiography.

However, Brown said: “If I was a manager, I would be interested in signing Kenny Miller. I am a fan. He is a big favourite of mine. He would be good for a football club, and I believe he could still do a job for a team.

“I would also think clubs would look to bring Kenny in because his professionalism and attitude, his desire still to win, would have a positive effect on the young players.

“Kenny could play in a No10 role as well. I can’t say a bad word about him. He was a great Scotland player. He scored goals against Italy, Germany and against England at Wembley.”

Brown was in cracking form yesterday. He has spent the weekend with many of his players from the 1998 squad and by all accounts the stories flowed almost as much as the wine and beer.

Two of his men were with him yesterday, Tom Boyd and Darren Jackson, and their old gaffer was happy to eulogise both as good players and even better characters.

Brown said: “Tom was outstanding. He just wanted to play for Scotland. You had players turning up with a bruise or blackhead and would call off, or at least want to call off. Boyd would simply ask: ‘Do you want me?’

“We played one time in Russia – he could have scored a hat-trick – and he marked Andrei Kanchelskis out of the game on a frozen pitch in Moscow. He played 53 games in a row for Scotland which is a record, beating Kenny Dalglish, and he never called off.

“He could have swollen knee of a bruised ankle and he would play. No problem. I remember a game in Belarus, it was in 1997 and in the summer.

“We had so many players missing and I had to play Tommy at centre-back, when he was a left-back. He was outstanding.”

And as for Jackson, you will enjoy this tale.

“I was at Clyde and we played Meadowbank and this guy, Jackson, was playing and he was really bright and lively. I remembered him when I became the under-21 manager.

“At the end of the season, I am going to pick a squad for the Under-21 and I phoned Terry Christie who was manager of Meadowbank to ask about that lad Jackson.

“Terry tells me he is a terrific player and so I put him in the squad. The names, in those days, were printed out and were sent to Ernie Walker who was the chief executive.

“Ernie came into my room, threw down the squad and said: ‘What’s going on here? There is a ******* Meadowbank player in the squad.’

“I told Ernie that he was good and the reply was that we were ‘scraping the barrel’ if we had to go to Meadowbank.

“But here’s the thing. Two days later, Darren signs for Newcastle United. I told the girl in the office to reprint the squad and to put ‘Darren Jackson – Newcastle United.’

“I put that squad in front of Ernie, told him it was revised without the Meadowbank player. To be fair to Ernie, he went down the list to check and when he sees Darren’s name and club he burst out laughing.

Craig Brown was speaking at a Tartan Army charity tournament at GOALS, the UK’s leading small-sided football provider.