Lennon refuses to do post-match press conference with ‘muckraking hacks’

NEIL Lennon refused to attend the press conference after his team’s 4-0 Scottish Cup victory at Tannadice yesterday, apparently because he was angered by comments in some elements of the media about Celtic’s attitude to Rangers’ financial crisis.

The Celtic manager, who also declined to hold the usual press conference at Lennoxtown last Friday, instead issued a statement via the BBC.

“There’s a lot of muckraking going on between some hacks,” Lennon said. “There’s going to be a lot of media outlets disappointed, because me and the players are not going to be speaking to you.

“We decided not to hold a press conference this week because of all the nonsense going on elsewhere,” he continued. “People [have been] accusing our club of trying to put people out of work at Rangers. It’s in the hands of our legal team and it’s probably best not to talk about it.

“We’re going to get our heads down, not look at a newspaper. We want to talk about football and the achievements we’re hoping to get over the line this year.

“We’ll maintain that for the rest of the season. We’ll do our speaking through the club. I’m angry, but I’ll deal with it in my own way.”

At the match itself, Lennon dealt in his own way with what he saw as a substandard first-half performance by his team, ordering them to up the tempo against opponents who by that time had been reduced to ten men after Robbie Neilson’s straight red card for a dangerous challenge on Georgios Samaras.

“I thought we were not like ourselves in the first-half, but in the second-half I thought we were terrific,” he said. “To give United credit, the scoreline probably flattered us. If we play like we did in the first-half, there will be no treble.”

Joe Ledley, who opened the scoring, said the players had taken their manager’s criticism on board. “We were unhappy with the way we were performing in the first-half, and he made it clear in the half-time team talk,” he said. “Then we went out there and were a totally different team.”

Neilson’s dismissal was crucial to the outcome of the game, according to Peter Houston. “I think it’s a pivotal moment in the match, if I’m being honest,” the United manager said.

“We were playing really well, and the chances were coming from Dundee United, not from Celtic. We were playing the best team in Scotland, and in many ways were on the front foot.

“The thing that disappoints me more is Robbie has already had a yellow card, and it’s a challenge inside the Celtic half that he doesn’t need to make. Whether it was a good one or a bad one I haven’t a clue. The referee deemed it was a straight red, and we’ve just got to deal with it.

“We don’t blame Robbie because we lost today. But it would have helped if we could have played 11 v 11.”

United midfielder David Robertson shared that analysis, adding: “We were putting Celtic under pressure, and the red card has changed that. I don’t think anybody can stick up for Robbie and say it wasn’t a red card.

“We had to try and hold it for 0-0 for as long as we could and hit them on the counter-attack. I think we did that: it’s just obviously Celtic are clinical.

“The scoreline is convincing, but I think the Celtic fans would have been worried for a long time. I don’t think Celtic dominated the match, but like I said, they’re clinical.”

Celtic’s Ledley also didn’t have much sympathy for Neilson. “It was a definite sending off,” said the Wales international. “He has led with his elbow and caught Georgios on the nose. Even the player knew himself it was a sending off and so the referee got it right.”