Lennon lets rip at his players and referee

NEIL LENNON last night took his frustration out on both his players and referee Don Robertson.

Tipped as potential title contenders before the match, the Leith side contributed much to a goalfest but Lennon was left ruing a first-half display that saw his men trail by two goals at the interval.

Hibs went into the match in second place, three points off league leaders Hearts, but Lennon insisted his players had not matched his ambition.

‘I’m sick of hearing this title contention stuff,’ he said afterwards. ‘Celtic have got a budget of £60million, they’ve got a £9m striker and I’ve got free transfers and rejects from other clubs who are playing brilliantly for me.

‘I’m pleased with the second half but over a 38-game season it’s very difficult to maintain that consistency.

‘We knew we were playing against 12 men. I thought the referee was abysmal.’

Lennon became animated after Robertson failed to caution Celtic defender Filip Benkovic for a tackle on Emerson Hyndman. ‘How Benkovic doesn’t get a yellow card and yet (Darren) McGregor does is beyond me,’ said Lennon. ‘He’s taken Hyndman out of the game and we get a free-kick on the edge of the box and no yellow card.

‘Then we get flagged for offside from a defensive tackle when we’re breaking.

‘The Benkovic one for me is borderline red… and he gets nothing. He completely took Hyndman out. He knew what he was doing, there was no intent to play the ball.

‘It baffles me why that’s not a yellow card. I’m not here to get players sent off, I’m just looking for the referee to do his job properly.’

Hibs clawed their way back into the match courtesy of Florian Kamberi’s powerful finish but Lennon also took issue with his own players for not committing a foul in the build-up to Celtic’s third goal, scored by Odsonne Edouard.

He said: ‘At 2-1, Milligan has to take Forrest out.’