Penalty snub was ‘criminal decision’ says angry Neil Lennon

Lennon was left bitterly upset by the incident two minutes into stoppage time of the League Cup Final at Hampden when Collum turned down Celtic’s claim for a penalty kick after striker Anthony Stokes went down following a challenge from behind by the Kilmarnock defender Michael Nelson.

Stokes was then booked for simulation by Collum and Kilmarnock, who were leading through substitute Dieter Van Tornhout’s 84th minute headed goal, saw out the remaining time to lift the trophy.

This was Celtic’s first domestic defeat since October and upset the odds which in recent weeks had heavily favoured Lennon becoming only their third manager, after Jock Stein and Martin O’Neill, to lead them to a domestic treble.

“For me, it’s a criminal decision and it’s cost us the treble,” said Lennon. “It’s a stonewall penalty. It’s a shocking decision, absolutely shocking. He (Stokes) is clean through, holding the boy off, the guy lunges at him and he takes his leg away.

“The defender doesn’t get anywhere near the ball. So it should be a penalty and a red card in the final minute of the game where we have banged away at the door. I have seen the incident again on TV from every angle.

“So how he can make that decision from where he was, I don’t know. To rub salt in the wounds, he books Anthony for diving, which is awful, awful refereeing. We battered away and all you want are the officials to do their jobs properly.

“The penalty is a penalty, he is clean through on goal and there is no way Stokes would go down clean through on goal. Nelson’s reaction is one where he knows he has given a penalty away. So he is hugely relieved. I couldn’t believe the decision myself.

“I shook Willie’s hand after the game because I wanted to act in a dignified manner. Overall he had a decent game. But that is a big call in a cup final at a huge moment when we haven’t much time left and we have battered away and battered away.

“I may speak to (SFA head of refereeing) John Fleming and get his opinion on it. They might see it differently, but from my point of view it’s a penalty.”

Lennon’s own comments are likely to be referred to the SFA’s Compliance Officer Vincent Lunny as they seem certain to breach the rules regarding managers and players criticising match officials. The Celtic boss did, nevertheless, admit that his team played a part in their own failure to lift the silverware yesterday, most notably with their ineffectiveness in front of goal with several chances missed.

“To say I’m disappointed would be an understatement,” added Lennon. “We came very close to the treble last year and even closer this year. We will try and go one better next year.

“If you don’t take your chances in any game of football you always leave yourself liable to a team nicking a goal, which is exactly what happened today. We dominated the second half and missed umpteen simple chances.

“I’m not saying we didn’t play well, because we did. From what I heard their goalkeeper got man of the match, so that’s indicative of the way we played today. Some days your name is not on the trophy, that’s just football.

“This has been a fantastic season. The standards the players have set mean there is huge disappointment we are not going to win the treble. That’s the standard they have set, so where they have come from since we took over is huge strides.

“However, we set high standards and we are disappointed.”

Celtic improved significantly yesterday when substitute Ki Sung Yueng was introduced ten minutes into the second half as a replacement for Thomas Rogne. Lennon, however, defended his starting line-up.

“You haven’t got a crystal ball, you don’t know the way the game is going to go,” he said. “We were very comfortable with the team we started with. A few of the players were not at their best, players who have been fantastic this season.

“They are only human beings so I’m not going to be over-critical about that. I said before the game the team I started with would not be the team I finished with. In terms of tactical changes you can say they worked or didn’t work.

“You can say that Kenny Shiels has pulled off a masterstroke, but if you look at the game Kilmarnock are very fortunate to have won the cup. But congratulations to them. Kilmarnock were looking tired and we were wasteful in front of goal. In that respect we’ve only ourselves to blame.

“We’ll get back up anyway. We’ve only got a couple of games to go to win the championship and if you had said that at the start of the season I would have snapped your hand off for it.

“But such is the way the season has gone today is a massive disappointment, but it’s only one game out of 27 domestically that we’ve lost.”