Celtic boss Neil Lennon was 'conceding' title to Rangers during Dubai tirade

Celtic manager Neil Lennon pictured during a training session at Lennoxtown on Monday (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)

While much of the focus has been on Lennon's Dubai tirade, where the under-fire Celtic boss lashed out at the media, pundits and government officials over the criticism the club has received following the trip, he also addressed his team’s slim hopes of overturning a 21-point deficit to Rangers in the Premiership title race.

Lennon admitted: "The league may be beyond us but we’ll not stop trying. What we have to do is start winning games on a consistent and regular basis."

Those words led ex-Hearts and Scotland boss Levein to question whether Lennon still believes his team can recover to win 10-in-a-row.

"For me he's conceding," Levein said. "The way things have gone this season – they've gone against him – and I'm sure in his mind he's thinking I cannot get a break here.

"Even the Dubai thing that has worked brilliantly in previous seasons has become a huge problem."

Speaking on BBC Sportsound, Levein added: "For me, Neil's getting to the point where he's probably just about had enough. That's what it sounded like to me. He's firing bullets in every direction. I feel he's at the point where everything he does at the moment doesn't seem to work for him. That was the sound of someone who is exasperated."

Levein, who had a number of verbal jousts with Lennon while the pair were Edinburgh derby adversaries, admitted that he has sympathy for the former Hibs boss.

"I feel a bit sorry for Neil in some regards," he said. "I just think this season has been incredibly frustrating for him.

"Going right back to the beginning when [Boli] Bolingoli disappeared to [Spain], that caused Celtic some problems, then their form on the field disappeared for a fairly lengthy period of time. He was just getting that back together.

"I think the trip to Dubai was a huge mistake. Somebody above Neil or somebody from the government should have said there's a potential for disaster here and they shouldn't be allowed to go.”

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by Coronavirus impacts our advertisers.If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.