Kenny Miller has been appointed Maccabi Tel Aviv head coach on a permanent basis, the Israeli club confirmed on Tuesday, with his fellow Scot Stuart Taylor joining him as assistant after leaving the same role at St Mirren. The 46-year-old has signed a one-year contract with the club having an option to extend for a further season, six weeks after lifting the Israeli State Cup as caretaker, and now takes charge of a side looking to improve on last season’s third-place finish in the Israeli Premier League. Taylor, 51, departs Paisley just three months after Craig McLeish was confirmed as St Mirren’s permanent manager.
From Atlanta United to the Top Job in Five Months
Miller followed Ronny Deila to Maccabi from Atlanta United in January, arriving as part of the new coaching team after the Norwegian took over from Zarko Lazetic. He stepped up as team boss on May 4 after Maccabi’s statement on Deila’s leave of absence was published, a departure the club described as mutual. Reporting in Israel linked the exit to allegations of sexual harassment made against Deila by a Tel Aviv taxi driver, which Deila has publicly denied.
Five months earlier, Miller had been an assistant coach at an MLS side. By the end of May he was a State Cup-winning head coach. In between came six league games, a permanent contract and a promotion few in Scottish football saw coming when the January move was made.
It is a tremendous honour to be appointed head coach of Maccabi Tel Aviv. From the moment I arrived at the club, I felt the passion, ambition and expectations that make Maccabi such a special place. I am grateful for the trust shown in me by everyone at the club and I am excited to continue working with the players and staff as we prepare for the challenges ahead.
Miller spoke on the club website, as reported by The National Scotland and the BBC, after a one-year deal with a club-option extension was confirmed on Tuesday.
A 2-1 Cup Final That Settled the Argument
Maccabi travelled to Teddy Stadium on May 26 as underdogs. Hapoel Be’er Sheva sat top of the Israeli Premier League, four points clear of the yellow-and-blue with two matches to play, and had been the overwhelming favourite to complete the domestic double. The Jerusalem Post reported the only previous Israeli club to take both the league and cup in the same season was Maccabi, back in 2015.
Miller’s six-game audition had produced a mixed CV. Two wins, two defeats and two draws, including a 4-2 loss at Beitar Jerusalem that ended Deila’s involvement, left the impression of a caretaker steadying a ship rather than steering it. His squad responded inside the capital. A 2-1 comeback win over Be’er Sheva delivered Maccabi’s 25th State Cup title, and the club’s first in the competition since the 2020/21 season. Israel President Isaac Herzog presented the winners’ medals.
The result transformed a caretaker spell into a permanent contract. It also handed Maccabi a piece of silverware in what the Jerusalem Post described as a season in which the league champions had looked uncatchable. Miller’s calm afterwards told its own story. Three weeks earlier, he said, his eye had gone straight to the cup final. The six league games in between were preparation, not the destination.
It was, the Jerusalem Post noted, 23 years to the day since Miller’s previous senior cup final as a player: the 2003 First Division play-off win at Molineux that took Wolverhampton Wanderers back to the Premier League. That game, Miller told his players, was on his mind throughout the build-up in Israel.
State Cup final at a glance:
- 2-1 – final score, Maccabi Tel Aviv vs Hapoel Be’er Sheva, at Teddy Stadium
- 25th – State Cup title for Maccabi Tel Aviv
- 23 years – gap since Miller’s first senior cup final as a player
- 6 – games Miller took as caretaker (two wins, two losses, two draws)
- 2020-21 – the season of Maccabi’s previous State Cup
Taylor Departs St Mirren Three Months After Joining
Taylor joined St Mirren on March 28 as interim assistant manager on 28 March 2026, initially under McLeish’s interim charge, before being retained when the former academy coach was named permanent boss weeks later. St Mirren said on Tuesday that the club is “at an advanced stage of adding to our coaching staff” to replace him. The Paisley side confirmed the departure in their own statement, and the St Mirren Mercury first reported it on Tuesday morning.
The move comes barely 12 weeks after McLeish, 36, was confirmed as permanent manager on a long-term contract, having kept the Buddies in the Scottish Premiership across the final stretch of the 2025-26 campaign. Taylor was retained as part of that interim group when the appointment was made permanent, the club said, only to leave for Israel within the same window.
Taylor’s playing career ran from 1992 to 2009 and featured spells at St Mirren, Airdrieonians, Drogheda United, Falkirk, Partick Thistle, St Johnstone, Ross County and Hamilton Academical. He won the Scottish First Division as a Hamilton player in 2007-08 and the Scottish Challenge Cup with Airdrie in 2001-02. His coaching CV is longer than most in the Scottish game.
Two Scots, One Israeli Dugout
Miller’s own path to the top job has been slow and varied. The Edinburgh-born striker played for Hibernian, Rangers, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Celtic, Derby County, Bursaspor, Cardiff City, Vancouver Whitecaps, Rangers again, Livingston, Dundee and Partick Thistle. One of only five post-war players to have played for both Rangers and Celtic, he scored 227 goals in 670 senior appearances and won 69 caps for Scotland. Coaching came late. He had a brief spell as Livingston player-manager in 2018, was Falkirk caretaker for three games in 2022, and spent the years between as an assistant at Newcastle Jets, Western Sydney Wanderers, Huddersfield Town and Atlanta United.
Taylor’s route has been similar. Years on Paul Lambert’s staff at Aston Villa, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Stoke City and Ipswich Town, a season-and-a-half as Limerick manager in Ireland, then the head coach role at Hamilton Academical from August 2021 to June 2022. Most recently he was assistant to Tony Docherty at Dundee, sacked at the end of 2024-25, before McLeish brought him to St Mirren.
The Scottish coaching export to Israeli football has gone largely unremarked in either country. By Tuesday it had produced a permanent head coach and his assistant at one of the Israeli Premier League’s biggest-spending clubs, inside a single working week.
Taylor’s coaching career to date:
- Hamilton Academical – assistant manager, 2007-2011
- Limerick – manager, January 2013 – July 2014
- Aston Villa – Under-23 head coach, 2014-2016
- Wolverhampton Wanderers – assistant under Paul Lambert, November 2016 – May 2017
- Stoke City – assistant under Lambert, January 2018 – end of 2017-18
- Ipswich Town – assistant under Lambert, October 2018 – February 2021
- Hamilton Academical – head coach, August 2021 – June 2022
- Dundee – assistant to Tony Docherty, June 2023 – May 2025
- St Mirren – interim then permanent assistant, 28 March 2026 – June 2026
- Maccabi Tel Aviv – assistant coach, 23 June 2026 –
One Year, No Margin, and a New Sporting Director
Miller’s deal runs for a single season. The Jerusalem Post reports that sporting director Ben Mansford has departed, with Mindaugas Nikolicius widely tipped as his replacement. Whoever takes the sporting director’s chair will, the same paper notes, hold authority to name his own head coach before the 2026-27 campaign begins. Miller’s audition period has bought him a year. Whether it buys him more depends in part on who arrives above him.
On the field, the target is sharper than the contract. Maccabi finished 2025-26 second in the Israeli Premier League on 213 points, six behind champions Hapoel Be’er Sheva, and lifted only the State Cup. Owner Mitchell Goldhar has run the club since 2009 through his Canadian real estate firm SmartCentres, a period in which Maccabi have played European football in almost every campaign. The league and continental schedule resets in July.
Since joining Maccabi in January, Kenny has earned the respect of all of us with his professionalism, work ethic and understanding of the standards, values and ambitions expected at Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Owner Mitchell Goldhar, speaking through the club after Miller’s appointment was confirmed.
For St Mirren, the next move is a coaching hire of their own. For Maccabi, the broader off-field picture stretches beyond the dugout. The political context around Israeli football transfers, including the political stakes around the club’s transfers, has shaped how the club operates in the European market, even as Miller’s appointment has stayed entirely inside the technical staff.
Frequently Asked Questions
When did Kenny Miller join Maccabi Tel Aviv?
Miller joined Maccabi Tel Aviv in January 2026 as part of Ronny Deila’s coaching staff, having followed the Norwegian from Atlanta United. He was promoted to caretaker head coach on May 4, 2026 after Deila’s leave of absence, and confirmed as permanent head coach on June 23, 2026.
What was the result of the 2026 Israeli State Cup final?
Maccabi Tel Aviv beat Hapoel Be’er Sheva 2-1 at Teddy Stadium on May 26, 2026, lifting the State Cup for the 25th time and the first since the 2020-21 season. Miller was caretaker head coach for the final and was awarded the winners’ medal by Israel President Isaac Herzog.
Why did Ronny Deila leave Maccabi Tel Aviv?
Maccabi Tel Aviv and Deila mutually agreed on May 4, 2026 that he would take a leave of absence from his position with immediate effect for personal reasons. Reporting in Israel at the time linked the departure to allegations of sexual harassment made against Deila by a Tel Aviv taxi driver, which Deila has publicly denied.
When did Stuart Taylor join St Mirren?
Taylor joined St Mirren on March 28, 2026 as interim assistant manager under interim head coach Craig McLeish. He was made permanent when McLeish was confirmed as St Mirren’s long-term manager weeks later, before leaving for Maccabi Tel Aviv on June 23, 2026.
What was Maccabi Tel Aviv’s league position in 2025-26?
The BBC reported that Miller takes over a side looking to improve on last season’s third-place finish in the Israeli Premier League. Maccabi’s official league table for the 2025-26 season shows the club finishing second on 213 points, six behind champions Hapoel Be’er Sheva.
