Kenny Miller has made his pitch to Philippe Clement for a role on his Rangers coaching team – and his first bit of advice is what to do with Fabio Silva.

The former Ibrox striker has been out of coaching since leaving Falkirk in 2022 and has largely focused on media work since, including punditry and his column for Record Sport. But his ultimate goal is to get back into the game, and his dream gig would be on the Rangers coaching staff.

He told BoyleSports, who offer the latest Old Firm odds, that it would be a 'no-brainer' to link up with Clement and Alex Rae in the dugout. “Absolutely yes, that has never changed," he said. "I was fortunate to have a long career and played until the age of 40. Others are not that fortunate, but I was still thinking about coaching and management from the age of 30! It’s not changed, I want to now get back into the coaching game, whatever level that may be. I miss being on the grass, I miss being on the grass around the group.

"Being a pundit, you’re always around football watching loads of games on TV, but it doesn’t match being on the grass Monday-Friday, getting a team prepped for a Saturday. I'm as hungry as ever to get back into it, I went from playing in January 2020 to coaching a month later - there was no time off. This has been the first season since I was 16, the first time in 29 years that I’ve not been involved in a group as a player or coach. There’s a massive hunger and desire to get in and climb that ladder again.

“It would be a no-brainer to go back to Rangers, going in to try and help add value to the project. You’ve got an existing coaching and playing staff there, and you might come across somebody who you click with, then they think ‘he could be of real value to me as a head coach’. It’s about finding a way to help, where you could really make a difference in a specific area. It’s a big team in terms of the staff, you’ve got the players as a unit but then you need to have a strong working staff to succeed now.

“They’re under so much pressure to deliver that you can’t afford to leave any stone unturned. If there was a role like that in the future, then great, but if it was at Rangers it would be an absolute no brainer.”

If Miller was to link up with Clement then how would he handle Fabio Silva? The Wolves loanee has come in for a bit of stick for his recent performances - his perceived over-celebration against Kilmarnock not helping matters - and Miller fears his race at Ibrox may be run.

He went on: “When you look at Fabio Silva, there’s been moments where he’s shown quality but the consistency has not been there. With him, the thing that everyone points to is the £35 million Wolves paid. That price tag is not decided by the player, so for people to use it against him to heap pressure on is probably unfair.

“He’s found it tough in his first few months at the club. When he came in, Philippe Clement said he would be going up against Cyriel Dessers to be the main centre forward, but it has become quickly evident that he’s not a traditional number nine. When he played off the left against Benfica in Europe, people were saying he had found his position and he could have a big say until the end of the season. He’s not really kicked on from that performance.

“He’s only 21, and doesn’t have a great deal of games under his belt. Firstly, he’s still trying to find out his best position, whether that’s off the left or through the middle as a striker. He could also be a number 10, or second striker and play that role. There’s still a lot of work to do in terms of what kind of player he is, as he’s still finding his feet as a footballer.

“Sometimes, certain roles at clubs are not the right fit and it can be for a number of reasons. This could be positionally, or a club element where the pressure of playing for Rangers is so high compared to other clubs. For a young player it might not be for him, consistency has been a real problem and he has been played in a number of positions so far. Initially he looked very happy, enjoying life, but in the past few games he has cut a frustrated figure.

“When he’s getting substituted, you can see that there’s a real frustration and disappointment in him. But now, we’re getting to the point where there’s five games to go with a Scottish Cup on the horizon and four key league games to go.

“Pressure is mounting and there’s no place like it - two teams in one city and it’s all culminating into one final run of games. It’ll be a really exciting end to the season, still, with five games left including two Old Firm games. It’ll be interesting to see at the end of the season what happens with Fabio Silva, but at the moment I wouldn’t expect him to be a Rangers player next year.”