Perth Glory are flying at the moment and one of the reasons is the form of their former Manchester United, Celtic and Leeds United player, Liam Miller.

An Irish international, Miller headed down under in June last year to join the Glory on a two-year deal. He was part of a host of new blood at the club, along with Shane Smeltz, Danny Vukovic, Travis Dodd, Adam Hughes and others.

Miller arrived in Western Australia with a fair pedigree. After a youth career with Celtic, he made 26 first-team appearances for the Scottish club over a few injury-plagued years but just as he was establishing himself with Glasgow, he decamped to Manchester United.

When Alex Ferguson comes calling it is hard to ignore and he joined the English Premier League giants, much to the chagrin of Celtic manager Martin O’Neill.

At United, Miller made two 22 appearances over a season and a half, but finding opportunities tough he moved to their bitter rivals Leeds United in November 2005.

Miller was an influential player with the Whites, playing a key role in a memorable match away at Southampton. Down 3-0 at St Mary’s, Leeds fought back with Miller scoring the winner for a 4-3 United victory, his only goal for the Yorkshire club.

This was one of the legendary Leeds matches, but the 2005-2006 season was to come undone in the playoff final at Cardiff. Leeds were thumped 3-0 by Watford for the chance to go back to the Premier League, and with that Miller departed, heading to fellow Championship club Sunderland.

As it seems to happen in football, Miller scored his first goal for the Black Cats against Leeds. He spent three years at Sunderland, helping them into the Premier League, before being released for poor off-field discipline.

Miller then moved to Queens Park Rangers for a few months, heading back to Scotland with Hibernian in August 2009 for the next two seasons.

A successful spell with Hibs was cut short with manager John Hughes’ exit, and with a new manager on board Miller seemed to fall out of favour and has arrived in the A-League.

On paper the 30-year old midfielder seemed a good signing – a veteran of 21 internationals with the Republic of Ireland, experienced in top English and Scottish leagues, and having been coached by some of the best managers in the world in Ferguson and O’Neill. He appeared to have a lot to offer the struggling Perth club.

Perth had a mixed start to 2011-2012, three early wins were followed by a series of losses and they were struggling. It appeared to be the same old story in the A-League for the former NSL giants. But on New Years Eve the Glory turned their season around and they haven’t lost since then, in their past eight matches. They are now surging towards the finals. Things are finally looking up in WA, and a lot of the thanks has to go to Miller.

One goal and two assists might not seem like a huge haul, but the Irishman has added a touch of class and a calming influence to the Perth midfield. He has teamed well with midfield tyro Jacob Burns, and the former Leeds pair are steering the Glory to a possible top four finish.

Mark Bosnich raved about Miller on Fox Sports FC this week, calling him a “go-to man”.

“He can really create,” Bozza said. “A quarterback of football if you like, who can create things from nothing.”

The season is not over and Perth could still fall from the finals race. But it’s hard to argue with Bozza’s assertion, as Miller quietly goes about his business with little fanfare. He seems to have put any non-football issues he faced in the past aside, and has had a real impact in Australia.

Fred was a crucial signing for the Heart last year, while Harry Kewell and Brett Emerton received all the column inches when they came home. Ante Covic and Besart Berisha have been pivotal for their clubs but Miller just have may been the bargain buy, the unheralded transfer, of this A-League season.