SCOTT Miller chuckles when asked if he considers himself a football tragic.
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A few minutes later, however, he gives himself away.
As the new Newcastle Jets head coach poses for photographs with his assistant, Jean Paul de Marigny, I mention in conversation that I'm a long-time Arsenal fan.
"I'm a Gunners man, too," de Marigny declares.
Miller reveals he has a couple of Arsenal jerseys at home.
But when I inquire if he, too, barracks for north London's finest, he explains that such kits are just part of his extensive collection.
"I've probably got 200 [shirts]," he tells de Marigny. "Come around and I'll show you some time. It'll be a good night."
The average, garden-variety football tragic will be green with envy.
The prosecution rests, your Honour.
A LIFELONG passion for the beautiful game could take Miller only so far as a player.
By his early 20s, the midfielder's stints with Gippsland Falcons, Essendon and Fitzroy have been hindered by injuries, including a broken leg, and whatever talent he possesses has gone unnoticed by clubs in the newly formed A-League.
But unlike so many other athletes who do not quite make the grade, Miller has a Plan B. Encouraged by his parents, he gains a sports-science degree at university and starts to ponder an unlikely alternative pathway into professional football.
Figuring he has nothing to lose, he buys a one-way ticket to London, where he lodges with a cousin and starts the process of knocking on doors. Hoping there might be an opportunity at a lower-league club, he lucks out when he contacts Premier League outfit Fulham, where another Aussie, Steve Nance, is the performance director.
Over a cup of coffee, Miller offers to work with Fulham's academy squad on a voluntary basis. He creates enough of an impression as fitness coach that when a vacancy arises on the club's senior staff, he graduates to a full-time position.
So by the age of 24, and just a matter of months after watching them from afar on pay TV, Miller finds himself working with Premier League superstars on a daily basis. Even better, he is regularly asked to make up the numbers on the training pitch.
"The gaffer would throw me a bib and say, 'Scotty, in you go'," he recalls.
"That almost beats anything I could have achieved as a player."
For nine years, Miller continues living the dream in west London, progressing from his conditioning role to assistant coach, and learning from high-profile managers like Roy Hodsgon, Martin Jol and Mark Hughes.
Fulham, meanwhile, experience the full spectrum of highs and lows, from reaching the final of the 2010 Europa League, in which they are beaten 2-1 by Atletico Madrid, to relegation from the Premier League at the end of 2013-14.
All the while, Miller is updating his credentials, working towards his ultimate ambition, which he reveals in a 2013 interview: "My goal is to be the first Australian manager in a top league within Europe."
Soon after that bold proclamation, he wakes to find a text message inviting him to join Australia's head coach, Ange Postecoglou, in camp with the Socceroos, apparently on the strength of a reference from Fulham goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer.
Once again, Miller creates a lasting impression within a short time frame.
Fast-forward 18 months, and when Football Federation Australia officials contact Postecoglou, seeking advice about candidates for the vacant coaching position at the embattled Newcastle Jets, he recommends a name that is largely unfamiliar to the powers-that-be.
Scott Miller. Scott who?
PUT yourself in Miller's shoes.
He's been living in the Old Dart for so long he has a Pommy accent. He has an idyllic lifestyle by the Thames, a secure job, and out of the blue he gets a phone call asking him to pack it all in and take charge of the A-League's most dysfunctional franchise, who have sacked three coaches in little more than a year.
"I was under contract [at Fulham], but I sat down with the staff and said I was looking for a new challenge," he tells Weekender.
"This opportunity became available and I was instantly interested."
Within weeks he has agreed to a two-year deal. At 33, he is the A-League's youngest coach.
"What an opportunity, to help rebuild this club," he enthuses.
"That far outweighs sitting in a club I've been at for nine years, hoping I get a little trophy when I've been there for 15 years.
"It's a case of challenging yourself, building new relationships.
"That's where you get your energy from.
"A new drive to work. A new cup of coffee.
"Magnificent. Happiness."
On his first day at training, he has two messages for the depleted Newcastle squad he has inherited, several of whom have endured five seasons as also-rans, including the disastrous wooden spoon campaign just finished.
First and foremost, enjoy your football. Second, learn from last season but don't dwell on it.
"You learn from mistakes ... but you have to move on and understand that the staff is different, the environment is different, the energy is different," he says.
"Stop looking back. Learn from it and move on."
Miller realises "I have to move on in my mindset as well".
He's no longer at Fulham, where multi-millionaire players arrive in Lamborghinis, train behind locked gates and dine afterwards in the club's fully catered restaurant. This is Newcastle, where the operational budget for an entire season would perhaps pay one half-decent Premier League player's annual wages.
Looking out over the comparatively humble surrounds of Ray Watt Oval, at the University of Newcastle, Miller says: "I think it maintains modesty.
"I've spent nine years locked away behind barriers and high fences, and that puts you in a bubble.
"There's a lack of touch and a lack of reality, compared to the real world.
"With these guys, we want professionalism and standards but an understanding of their position.
"Because it's a privilege to be playing in the A-League. There's only 10 teams."
MILLER might be young and ambitious but he is also wise enough to recognise his shortcomings.
"I'm not that arrogant to suggest I know the A-League inside and out," he says.
"It's actually the opposite."
For that reason, he is delighted with the appointment of his support staff, de Marigny and head of performance Mark Jones, who have both been assistant coaches at Newcastle and share a thorough understanding of both the club and the A-League.
"I think it's a nice balance," Miller says.
"It gives us the flexibility to rotate through the session, with different styles of communication.
"I'm here to coach what I see now, but these guys have been involved in the league for a number of years and know it completely.
"So we complement each other. I'll use their expertise daily.
"That's what a team is."
Miller and 51-year-old de Marigny already make something of an odd couple.
The coach, who is single, rates himself as a chef and de Marigny, whose wife and family are based in Sydney, is only too happy to play the role of taste-tester.
"He's a good cook," de Marigny says with a laugh. "I'll be eating at Scotty's place."
FROM a football perspective, Miller is in charge of the recipe but he is relying heavily on former Socceroo de Marigny to source key ingredients.
It is 10 years since de Marigny oversaw the Jets' inaugural intake of players, signing quality performers like Nick Carle, Jade North, Andrew Durante and Matt Thompson.
Twelve months later, he was sacked by then owner Con Constantine, whom he later successfully sued for unfair dismissal.
"We put the squad together for the first year," de Marigny recalls.
"The support was magnificent. We had a great squad and I helped to start that.
"The plan was for three years, and they won it in the third year. Then the players dispersed, and the rest is history."
Having spent the past two seasons as assistant coach at champions Melbourne Victory, de Marigny admits the Jets are at a financial disadvantage in comparison to the glamour clubs.
"But the beauty of it is that it doesn't matter how much you spend on players, it's how much energy they have on the field and what their mentality is," he says.
"That doesn't cost money. It's about expertise and knowledge, and we've got plenty here."
Miller says both de Marigny and Jones will be heavily involved in training sessions, but he has no intention of being an old-style English manager.
"I see myself being too driven and too young to be the stand-offish guy, being in the office, dealing with the media and recruitment side of things only," he says.
"That's my passion - out there [on the pitch]."
A turnover of seven head tacticians in 10 seasons suggests coaching the Jets is no job for the faint-hearted. As Gary van Egmond and Phil Stubbins would testify, the Novocastrian faithful can transform into a lynch mob when their team is not performing.
Yet Miller seems not just relaxed but excited about occupying the hot seat.
"It's simple," he says. "I'm going to remain myself, the way my family have brought me up.
"I have respect for my position here and I'm appreciative that we work in such a great environment.
"The fans are important because they support the team, and we need to make them proud, and that will come down to our performances.
"I've been overseas, but I've always been quite modest. You have to be confident, because the players need to believe in your message, but I'll always be modest in my mindset."
