Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Lenny baffled by media attention
NEIL Lennon believes Hibs’ deserved 3-2 win over Rang ers at I brox was wrongly overshadowed by the fall-out from his goal celebrations.
The head coach was the subject of complaints to police after briefly cupping his ears and raising a fist towards the I brox main stand when Simon Murray levelled in a tempestuous Premiership encounter. Police later confirmed the Northern Irishman would not face any action.
In a rancorous aftermath, Gers boss Pedro Caixinha criticised referee John Beaton’s decision to send off Ryan Jack for a clash with Anthony Stokes, who was earlier booked f or wrestling James Tavernier to the ground.
And, when it was suggested to Lennon that Light Blues assistant manager Helder Baptista had spoken to the police about him, he replied: “He should have got back in his box.”
Lennon was later accused by Rangers fan group Club 1872 of “inflammatory” actions and the former Celtic manager claimed it all took the shine off a fine win for his side.
He said: “Why it was front page news? There i s so much more going on i n Scotland and around the world and t here I find myself on the front page on Monday for celebrating a goal. It is disproportionate.
“We won the game. It was a massive deflection and distraction from what my players did, the way we set the team out, the football way we played and the win.
“If it wasn’t me, it was the referee, which is fine. People can comment on how they see the game afterwards, they are entitled to their opinion, but we went to Ibrox in a really hostile environment, stood up to the challenge and came away with a fantastic three points and I think that has been really poorly overlooked by the media.”