NEIL GIVES HIS BHOYS A SAVAGING

NEIL LENNON took the calculated gamble of savaging his Celtic players in public after Rangers won the final Old Firm clash of the season.

Without any guarantees about his position as manager beyond next week’s Scottish Cup Final, at least Lennon can not be accused of putting personal ambition above the pride of the club’s fans.

Right-back James Tavernier (above) sent the Ibrox faithful into raptures after only two minutes with a whipped free-kick that curled inside the far post.

And Scott Arfield sealed Rangers’ second home win against Celtic this season when he ran on to a pass from Glen Kamara that was cleverly dummied by Jermain Defoe.

Lennon said: “That performance was unacceptable, even though they’ve been brilliant for a long period of time.

“It just seemed Rangers wanted it more today than we did. I think that’s the biggest criticism we can aim at the players.

“The better team won. We lacked energy and we looked tired today.

“I told the boys what’s expected of them. We were looking for a reaction even at half-time and didn’t get one, so they’ve got to have a look at themselves.”

Celtic might have found a way back into the match had Jon Flanagan’s elbow on the Hoops’ Scott Brown not been judged worthy of only a yellow card by referee Kevin Clancy.

Flanagan floored Brown with a forearm smash to the chin as they jostled at a corner. And Clancy angered the visitors further by deeming the corner not to have been taken when Flanagan made contact, so he could not give a penalty.

Delighted Rangers boss Steven Gerrard said: “We deserve a lot of praise because we were outstanding from start to finish and we were better in every department. Today is about Rangers. Simple.”