Neil Lennon admits ref rage was wrong but claims he is ‘demonised’

CELTIC manager Neil Lennon has claimed he is “demonised” by the Scottish media at times. But the Northern Irishman added that he “deeply regretted” his post-match behaviour after his team were knocked out in the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup and said he would be writing to referee Euan Norris to apologise for his behaviour.

However, Lennon, alluding to the furore which followed the infamous touchline bust-up he had with then Rangers assistant manager Ally McCoist at the end of an Old Firm game at Celtic Park in March 2011 said he believes his persona is unfairly represented.

He pointed to the friction between United boss Sir Alex Ferguson and City manager Roberto Mancini during the Manchester derby on Monday and said that, if he had behaved in that way, it would have attracted widespread condemnation.

“I saw the greatest manager in the game [Ferguson] having a spat with Roberto Mancini and people enjoyed it, enjoyed seeing Sir Alex show that passion, that he was up for the fight,” said Lennon. “I enjoyed it. Two managers sticking up for their own team. Has there been a huge public outcry about what happened? No. They talk about a bit of a spat – big deal.

“When we do it up here, it’s two pages full and I get singled out, I get demonised, I’m this snarling sort of presence on the touchline. I don’t think I get a fair deal at times. I see it so many times. I have seen managers on the pitch remonstrating with referees before, some of them a lot more experienced than me. Yet they don’t think they get half of what I get. I just think I should be cut a bit more slack at times.

“At times we do get lost in the game but if you take that away from us, you are going to have robots on the touchline with their hands in their pockets. You can’t take away the human element from managers.

“There are times we get angry and aggrieved and make mistakes in that aspect of the game but I think I get a rough ride.

“Over the course of the season, up until the League Cup final, there was not one thing I did wrong. We had the incident at Ibrox [no further action was taken against Lennon after he was sent to the stand at half-time by referee Calum Murray] which I have had the hearing for. So we are talking about one incident so I don’t think I have to change that much but I will temper those actions if I can.”

The Celtic manager, who has just served a two-match touchline ban for criticising referee Willie Collum following the Scottish Communities League Cup final defeat by Kilmarnock at Hampden in March, has been issued with a notice of complaint relating to Hearts’ 2-1 Scottish Cup semi-final victory, which came courtesy of Craig Beattie’s controversial late penalty, given for a handball.

Lennon is accused of breaching three Scottish Football Association rules.

He raced on to the pitch to confront Norris over the penalty award but said yesterday: “I deeply regret what happened. I know I have to conduct myself better than that.

“I will be sending correspondence to the referee as an apology as well. It’s one actionable thing that I’ve done that I shouldn’t have done. I will go to the tribunal [tomorrow] and, hopefully, get a fair hearing as I did the last time and take what’s coming.”