Chris Sutton

CELTIC LEGEND WRITESEXCLUSIVELYFORYOU EVERY MY old team-mate Neil Lennon was never shy in making his feelings known in the Celtic dressing room.

So I’m not surprised by his stubborn refusal to let last week’s bust-up blow over without saying his piece. Again and again. And again.

We should be thanking him for it, too. He is doing Scottish football a favour by keeping the spotlight fixed on the absurdity of the SFA’s dysfunctional disciplinary system.

There’s no doubt Lennon will face the wrath of the beaks when he and Jim Duffy are summoned to Hampden to account for their part in the stormy conclusion to the Hibs v Morton clash.

But the two managers are stepping into a kangaroo court that has proved itself a laughing stock already by its failure to punish the man most at fault for sparking the whole debacle in the first place.

Quite how Kudus Oyenuga could escape punishment for feigning injury to get Darren McGregor sent off for a headbutt that never was is an embarrassment. That the Hibs defender was later cleared of his guilt only makes the situation even more baffling.

How can compliance officer Tony McGlennan have any credibility when everyone is looking at the video and wondering why Oyenuga has not been not charged?

Nobody is asking for anything extraordinary, we’re just asking for the right thing to be done. How can McGlennan be taken seriously and make decisions when he’s seeing a different game to everybody else?

At the very least a notice of complaint would have referred him to answer his case in front of a three-man independent disciplinary panel instead he has let him off. I’m sure Oyenuga is embarrassed about what he did but it’s up to the authorities to get a grip of players feigning injury and cheating in those situations.

The next time someone throws himself to the floor and gets charged he’ll have every right to go in with a video of Hibs v Morton and say, “If you didn’t charge him, why me?”

It’s ridiculous and makes you question this growing clamour for the introduction of video technology to help refs make decisions during the game.

Well, what’s the point when you’ve got the replay right in front of your nose and you’re still missing a clear-cut case.

Ultimately, this shows McGlennan shouldn’t be in the position if he can’t make an obvious judgment.

When someone is handed a three-game ban for diving for a penalty when they’re not touched diving will die out.

The more the authorities look weak and stupid by bungling incidents like this Oyenuga debacle, the more players will pull every trick in the book.

So the people who tut at Lennon’s stubborn refusal to let this go need to realise he’s doing us all a favour here.

You’re never going to change his fiery character. I remember he did a thing on BT Sport this season where he said he had mellowed and I thought “Who are you kidding?” But he’s right to take a stand here because he sees the bigger picture.

It’s not about Lennon and Duffy at Cappielow. Despite the obvious friction, I expect they’ll be big enough to shake hands and just get on with it.

No, it’s about the SFA getting the right people in who can make balanced decisions and the right ones for the sake of the game – instead of guys who are making them look stupid.