Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Lenny hits back at Gers boss
Sinclair delighted to find best form
NEIL LENNON last night told Pedro Caixinha he could only have shown him more respect by bowing down and kissing his feet.
The Hibs boss claimed his Rangers rival blanked him after the stormy
Ibrox clash by failing to utter a single word when they met in his office.
Caixinha demanded respect after his side’s
3-2 defeat but as Lennon was hitting out yesterday, the Light Blues boss was arguing his calls to be appreciated by the Scottish “union” were not aimed at his fellow bosses.
Lennon said: “I paid him due respect before the game. I said he came across as a gentleman, I paid Ibrox the compliment of saying it was a great amphitheatre.
“I even complimented his team’s performance after the game. So, other than kiss his feet, how much more respect does he want me to give him?
“That respect should have been afforded to me when we went into his office afterwards but it clearly wasn’t. There was no conversation with myself or my backroom team.
“That was very odd. I’ve never experienced that before. Only Jonathan Johansson and the young fitness coach made conversation.
“We had no conversation or dialogue with the manager or his backroom team. They spoke in Portuguese, which I understand a little bit of.
“I’m sure if I did the same [as Caixinha] then people would get to hear about it. Respect is a two-way street. If Pedro wants that then he has to give some back.” SCOTT SINCLAIR was Roberto Mancini’s £10million man at a time when that kind of dosh wasn’t just chump change in the English Premier League.
The attacker was one of the hottest properties in the English game but found himself out in the cold as Manchester City ramped up the spending.
Sinclair thought he was hitting the big time, now he feels he’s finally got there with Celtic.
The Hoops star has found his mojo again and after annihilating Astana the wing king insists he’s finally proving to be the man he was tipped to be at City – a Champions League player.
He said: “We still have one more game but this is why I came to Celtic. I wanted to play in the Champions League, to get to the group stage and play against Europe’s best.
“It has taken time to get back to my top level which I showed against Astana. When I look back now, to when I moved from Swansea to Manchester City, this is what they bought.
“Now I’m at Celtic I’m enjoying it and you can see I’m back to normal on the pitch. It is still new to me. At the Etihad I got the odd five minutes or I was on the bench.
“I’m a real part of this team, I am so happy to be here and now
I know what it’s all about and know a lot more about the level of the Champions League.”
Sinclair’s smile on Wednesday could have saved Celtic a few quid on light bulbs for the floodlights. He was full on beam at the end after the Hoops hammered Astana in brutally clinical fashion.
A five-goal first-leg slaughter was beyond the wildest dreams of the Parkhead punters and Sinclair admitted everything just clicked.
He said: “It was a great night. We maybe could have played better in the first 15 or 20 minutes but once we settled we defended well and the game plan was to win and not concede. So we would take five goals every time.
“These are nights for when you’ve set yourself goals. One of mine was to start performing in the Champions League, to step up my game and play my best football. Just enjoy these nights and play out of my skin.
“Someone said to me after the match it had been easy – it wasn’t. We made it look like that.”
The incredible thing was Celtic had to do it the hard way. They had a £30m-rated striker in the stands in Moussa Dembele. Brendan Rodgers (inset) had to field a midfield playmaker at centre-back.
All of the ingredients were there for a sticky night but Celts refused to make a meal of it. Instead they made mincemeat out of the Kazakhs.
Sinclair said: “That shows the depth we have. The players who come off the bench are just as good as the starters. Whoever comes on is a good player and it means everyone is fighting for a place.”