Sky shouldn’t give spit row Carragher sack: Lennon

Disgraced: Jamie Carragher Northern Ireland international Neil Lennon has said Sky Sports should give disgraced pundit Jamie Carragher a second chance.

Carragher was suspended by Sky Sports for the rest of the season after he was caught spitting at a Manchester United fan.

The former Liverpool defender claims he was taunted by the driver after United’s 2-1 win over Liverpool, but some of his spit hit the United fan’s 14-year-old daughter in the back seat.

Carragher will not be paid during his suspension and Sky Sports said it had taken the decision after an internal review.

Hibernian boss Lennon experienced everything from taunting toprovocationanddeaththreats during his time with Northern Ireland.

“First of all, it was totally out of character. I am not condoning what Jamie has done but everyone deserves a second chance and I do have a tad of sympathy for him,” Lurgan-born Lennon told the Daily Record.

“It’s a split-second really bad decision he has made. In this day and age there is an unfair balance towards people in the public eye because other people can get away with stuff like that.

“Cricketer Andy Flintoff was talking about an incident that happened to him in Dublin when a guy came up to him, started talking and tried to sling a punch at him.

“He had to hold him to the ground and he couldn’t do anything just in case someone was filming it. Anybody in any other walk of life would have defended themselves.”

Despite his defence of Carragher, Lennon added: “You can’t react the way Jamie did, I can’t condone that. However, I don’t believe it should cost him his job or his career.”

Lennon was yesterday handed an immediate three-match touchline ban following his dismissal at Kilmarnock last month.

He has also been hit with a further two-match suspended ban after being found guilty of “misconduct” by a disciplinary panel convened by the Scottish FA, but the Easter Road boss escaped with a censure following his postmatch criticism of a referee.