Old Firm environment ‘unforgiving’, says Lennon

Neil Lennon has questioned why Rangers brought Pedro Caixinha into the “unforgiving environment” of Old Firm management.

A Betfred Cup semi-final defeat to Motherwell and a draw with Kilmarnock sparked the end of Caixinha’s seven-month reign as Rangers boss on Thursday.

Former Celtic manager Lennon expressed sympathy for the Portuguese, who had previously managed in his homeland plus Mexico and Qatar.

But the Hibernian head coach added: “The Rangers public and the board will have expected better results and I understand that to a certain extent. It’s a tough environment, the Old Firm, and maybe you have to question the appointment in the first place.

“Not many people had heard of him and to bring him into that environment, not really knowing what he was going into, it’s very, very difficult. I have seen it before with other managers.

“It’s an unforgiving environment and the expectation is you have to win and do it in a certain style.”

The former Leicester and Celtic player said: “It does help to have that understanding of the environment you are going into. And it’s still eye-opening when you do come in.

“When I first came in as a player, I was like ‘wow’. I didn’t realise how intense it was going to be and I had played in the Premier League for five years previously. That surprised me and I knew about the club from growing up.”

Brendan Rodgers also supported Celtic as a boy and felt he had a head start when he became manager last year. He said: “I can only talk from my own experience, knowing the history of the club and what it means, then of course it was of great advantage to me. But it is no good if I can’t deal with it.”