Victorious Lennon irked by rumours over Celtic vacancy

Alan Pardew and Craig Levein have been linked with the post and this week Ronald Koeman was quoted as saying he was considering taking over at Celtic although the Parkhead board, who have said all along that no decision will be made until the end of the season, strenuously denied that the Dutchman had been offered the position.

Hoops' interim boss Lennon did his chances no harm as he extended his winning run in the Premier League to seven games with a 2-1 win over the champions.

Goals by Lee Naylor and Marc-Antoine Fortune were enough to secure the three points against Rangers who scored through Kenny Miller and finished the game with ten men after Lee McCulloch had been sent off in the dying seconds after picking up his second yellow card.

A feisty Lennon told Walter Smith he should mind his own business after the Rangers boss had questioned the professionalism of the Celtic players during Tony Mowbray's failed reign which came to an end in March, then said: "I haven't been happy with the speculation.

"I understand you have a job to do but it is difficult enough to prepare for an Old Firm game.

"You have all the names thrown in and I'm led to believe it is total nonsense really.

"Don't ask me if a decision has been made. I will reiterate, they (the board) have made it clear to me that nothing will be done until the end of the season. But the win was immensely satisfying."

Meanwhile Miller believes the two sides demonstrated once again that there is no such thing as a meaningless Old Firm derby following a fiery encounter at Parkhead.

Rangers headed into the clash having already retained the league title, meaning the points at stake would have no bearing on league positions for either side.

But it quickly became apparent that this was a match both teams were determined to win.

"These games are far from meaningless," said Miller.

"Whether the title is won or not, you always want to win. Nobody likes getting beat, especially in these games and we are bitterly disappointed to come away with nothing."