Over the weekend, both Scottish Cup semi-finals were decided by late goals. On Saturday, Garry O’Connor gave Hibs a first half lead, before Rory Fallon scored a wonder volley to equalise.
Leigh Griffiths then scored in the 87th minute to win the game for Hibs. On Sunday, Rudi Skacel gave Hearts the lead, before Gary Hooper equalised, also in the 87th minute. There was more drama to come, when referee Euan Norris awarded Hearts a penalty in the last minute, after Victor Wanyama handled in the box, and former Celtic striker Craig Beattie scored to set up an all-Edinburgh Scottish Cup final.
But when the final whistle blew, Celtic manager Neil Lennon was incensed, and marched onto the pitch to confront Norris, shouting in his face and pointing his finger. After the game, it was first team coach Alan Thompson who handled the post-match interviews, claiming Celtic should also have had a penalty late in the game. Later in the afternoon, Neil Lennon took to Twitter to air his views on the game, where he said “Referee told players he thought Wanyama handled…feel so sorry for players and fans..I think it’s personal myself”, retweeted a Celtic fan who said that the SFA was run by ‘crooked officials’ and said that Gary Hooper was not offside for Celtic’s equaliser, despite replays clearly showing that he was.
Being critical of referees is not a new thing for Neil Lennon. After last month’s defeat in the Scottish Communities League Cup, when Celtic lost 1-0 to Kilmarnock, he said that referee Willie Collum’s decision to book Anthony Stokes for diving instead of awarding a late penalty was ‘criminal’ and had cost Celtic a treble (even thought at that point, they hadn’t even won the SPL). Lennon was also sent to the stands at half-time during the last Old Firm match at Ibrox, after Cha Du Ri was shown a straight red card for a denying Lee Wallace a goal scoring opportunity. After the game Lennon claimed to be mystified as to why referee Calum Murray had sent him off, believing that he is entitled to question the referee’s decisions.
Lennon has already served touchline bans since becoming Celtic manager, receiving two last season after being critical of referees and arguing with Rangers manager Ally McCoist after a fiery Scottish Cup replay at Parkhead. That resulted in Lennon being given an 8 game touchline ban, although ultimately he sat out 5 games, with Celtic arguing that the bans should run concurrently. He also received a suspended £5,000 fine.
At the end of last month, it was revealed that the SFA compliance officer had written to Lennon three times in a week after his criticism of Collum and Murray, and then for talking about referees ahead of an SPL fixture with St. Johnstone. Now, just over a fortnight later, he’s publically accused referees of bias, and it is time for the SFA to take action.
In the hours following the final whistle at Hampden, an increasing number of Celtic fans also took to Twitter to abuse Euan Norris. Some wanted to know his address, and some wanted to cause him harm. When the manager of a football team is claiming in public that there is a refereeing bias against his team, some fans are going to start to believe it. Lennon should know better, but he seems to question the integrity of referees after every defeat. It is now up to the SFA to give Lennon a hefty fine and long touchline ban, or attacks on referees will continue, from Celtic employees and their fans.
Failure to do so would be a failure to back their referees, and having gone through a refereeing strike last season, SFA chief executive Stewart Regan cannot allow Lennon to go unpunished. Lennon has managed Celtic to their first SPL title in four years, but instead of enjoying that success and learning to take a defeat with dignity, he is bringing the Scottish game into disrepute. The SFA cannot allow him to continue in this fashion, so they must force him to end the season in the stands, and begin the 2012-13 season there too.
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Dougan Dougan (pun intended!) you forgot to sign of with WATP you absolute clown!! Probably the laziest, sycophantic piece of journalism I’ve read since I last read the Record about 6 years ago. Tit.
Wat aload of tosh , please enlighten me to who the people are continually being attacked by celtic employees and supporters? U mean the employees and supporters of celtic who received bombs via tha post? The celtic employee who’s lived under threat of his life for ten years? ….. I cannot believe any other lifeform on earth except those from the bread of rangers could right a piece that’s so wrongs its completly laughable to the nursery kids , stop trying to tag us in your crap , the old firm will soon be dead , no more will we be painted in anything like the same shade as u dark characters
What an arse of an article but I supposee you needed a few hits.
You should ring Clyde Radio as well.
Bitter, vile, cheating huns gtf.
When in doubt, resort to abuse. Classy.
you keep going on about hooper ofside failing to mention that hearts should have been down to 10 men ian black should have walked in 1st half that would have changed the game.if that had been scott brown you would want him thrown in prison for what black did lazy bias journalisim
Mr. Dougan ,
lt seems to me that Arfur has been abusive .ls he included ? l notice that you did not comment on several of my points and l await your reply with interest .
You will all be gone very soon. Keep on fighting Neil. We will no longer take it.
The greatest manager in Scottish sporting history fought them tooth and nail. He criticised the SFA, referees anfd the bigotted media and they could not have a go at them because of his background. Neil Lennon is doing nothing more than the great Jock Stein did. Stein realised the way Celtic were treated because he had seen it from inside both camps. But Neil is treated the way he is because of what he is. For Scots to continue to deny this is delusional. The world knows that Scotland is a nation where sporting integrity means nothing and one which is consumed by sectarianism, from top to bottom.
In what other country would a man who had received illegal payments at a club under investigation be allowed to continue as President of the football association? In what other country would the people in charge of the league be trying to make sure a club which has cheated in every conceivable way for almost two decades be allowed to operate at the top level with minimal punishment? In which other country would the media be trying to protect this club (‘succulent lamb’ anyone?) and try to have its history retained even though its debts are dispensed with? I’ll tell you SCOTLAND!
The British scoffed at the corruption in Italy, well wait until the full truth comes out about Rangers, the biggest scandal in sporting history. I fully expect details of match-fixing and referee bribing (rumours are already circulating from the very sources which have been bang on about everyting else!) to become public.
No one has threatened Mr Norris. No one sent Willie Collum death threats. He admitted it himself saying the first time he learned of them was in the…Daily Record. And no one should ever threaten anyone over a football match. Mr Stein played them at their own game. I read on a blofg that he once said to the (in)famous referee Mr D.Syme, Celtic supporters of a certain age will remember the man’s name, ‘referee, your father will be proud of you!’. I would like to offer the same congratulations to Mr Norris.
All the non celtic supports who have commented on here this is what we expected of you lot bigoted pish comments. Would suit u better to go help save ur own club from distiction instead of spouting ur bigoted comments about our club. Our manager has had to put up with shite all the time he has been here something no one else has had to go through. Why dont u go crawl back to where u came from and help ur club survive but then when do u ever u run hide like always.
What bigoted comments?
Absolutely spot on article. As the first and only manager to ever express his anger at referees in public he must be heavily punished.
If we don’t stamp on this next thing you know we’ll have players man handle referees and expect to get away almost completely unpunished.
His behaviour has already caused innocent people to assault him depressingly regularly. His behaviour has also forced people to send him, a qc, an msp and an Irish rights group explosives.
He won’t be happy until his behaviour forces some innocent to inadvertently murder him.
Bang on ia, he should have been banned from football after the breach of the peace charge he got after the accusations of shouting, swearing, public disorder and being engaged in a STAND UP FIGHT during that Aberdeen game……oops sorry, that was walter smith!
I have 3 season tickets for Celtic Park and feel its appropriate to say that Neil Lennon is an arse. He needs to get the boot and get a grip. He can’t conduct himself like a thug when things don’t go his way. Celtic need a manager who can manage not a Celtic minded manager because he just can’t cut it.
I have got 3 seasons books for Ibrox, and feel its appropriate to say the way this corrupt arse of a country has Treated Neil Lennon is a disgrace assaults, death threats, bullets, bombs. How can Scotland go for independence when this is allowed to continue and how can we stand on our own two feet as a country when my club rangers refused to pay taxes and the media makes excuses for them.
Lennon has every right to ask the ref if his team has been cheated all you rangers fans are so bigoted we all know why you hate the man he is catholic celtic man and red hair have the balls to admit it what about the time the rangers players held a refs hand down to stop him booking a player that was assault lenny never laid a finger on the ref and i bet the bigots at the sfa punish him harder than they rangers players where.
Again with the religion/bigot argument, it really is tedious. Are you really saying Madjid Bougherra ‘assaulted’ Calum Murray and meaning it? Because that really is a stretch.
Are you really saying Majid Boughera did not put both hands on Calum Murray and try to stop him reaching for his card ? And are you saying Calum Murray did not then act favourably toward rangers after the event by declaring Bougherra had assaulted him ” in a non-aggressive, pleading way”, thereby preventing a lengthy ban being imposed that would have taken him out for the remainder of that season? And do you really believe that referees have had no agenda against Celtic at least since Dallas and McDonald were shown to have colluded and lied about the reversed penalty decision in which an innocent party was not only bullied, but forced to resign and subsequently banned from refereeing by the Referees Association that was supposed to stand up for him ? No of course you don’t. But you are a rangers fan. You are certainly not a ‘journalist’.
I wonder how many refs are catholic, I would assume very few, also willie conquer is a known rangers die hard no shock stokes got banned due to him.
Of course he is. Willie Collum is a catholic, that doesn’t stop Celtic fans chanting ‘You’re just a hun with a whistle’ at him when he gives decisions against them. But yet again, I have to stress that this obsession with religion is utterly bizarre.
So if your a catholic you need to support Celtic ? You my friend are a bigot.
Uh, what? Who said that?
The comments on here are proof positive that Celtic fans are mentalists.
Deary me. What a bunch of deluded bigots celtc fans are. They just have to bring religion into everything. The comments the have been posting are nothing but lies. Denial and deflection at every turn. They claim Dallas is biased against them because he forwarded an email joke about the pope covering up child abuse? What has the pope got to do with celtc? Another lie they peddle is that people hate lennon because he’s an irish catholic which is nonsense, he’s British.
Neil Lennon is despised not because of his nationality or religion but because of his snarling, loutish behaviour. All the CFC supporters here seem to be bringing religion into it and claiming that they are in some way victims along with Lennon. Let’s look at the facts…Neil Lennon spat on a Rangers scarf and mouthed “Dirty Orange bastards”, hardly the act of a man who claims not to be a bigot. Joe O’Rourke, chairman of the CSA wished that more Protestants had died on the Titanic and regularly raises money for a terrorist organisation that murders soldiers and police officers. The Green Brigade regularly sing the praises of an organisation that murdered innocent Protestants for over thirty years. Celtic Football Club from the top echelons to the scum that are the Green Brigade are an organisation that thrive on religious hatred and sectarian bigotry as the recent episode with O’Rourke has proved…not one statement from Lawwell to condemn his bigoted bile. Lennon is despised because he is a vile human being who cannot conduct himself with any level of decorum or decency.
NI bear, i do notice you make no mention of the vile human beings who issued death threats or the two rangers fans who acted with the utmost level of decorum and beat him to within an inch of his life or even the snarling loutish behaviour of fans who abused him before he even kicked a ball in his debut for Celtic. The mere sight of Neil Lennon whips rangers fans into a frenzy where they act with the most dignified loutish, snarling, threatning, abusive, sectarian, thuggish, behaviour. And those innocent Northern Ireland fans who politely and in the most dignified matter issued him death threats for merely signing for Celtic and also happened to be catholic.This behaviour mysteriously continued in Scotland with unsurpassed dignity. This high level of decorum when issuing death threats, The most thoughtful behaviour of sending parcels through the post, The polite abuse or even the ever so respectful assaults. This Neil Lennon must be ever so thankful for living here. And whats walter smith thinking all those times i questioned refs got sent to the stand, i even ended up in court, Im so jealous why didn’t I get treated the same way, Its not as if its not well documented on the internet, bigots those celtic fans no dignity.
its not lazy journalism its brush it under the carpet journalism Well Mr Dougan Lennon will not go away. you fail to mention it was ledleys hand the ball hit. your article does not have one sentence that does not try to put Celtiuc down. do you realise people take that sort of shite in and it causes trouble on the streets lennon and his family were threatened with bombs bullets attacks because of journalist like you writing blataltly prvocative comments. you obviously dislike lennon and everything about celtic you do not have the balls to attack so you stir the knuckledraggers up you have blood on your hands shame on you
A frankly incredible statement.
Dear David
Ledley allegedly handled not Wanyama as you would have know if you had seen the game. I doubt you even saw the footage NL run on to the pitch after the game did you?
This article is pathetic. Wonder if you were as outraged when Boughera had his hands all over the ref last season. Shouting and finger pointing doesn’t come close especially when you consider that the ref couldn’t have seen the incident if he cant even tell the difference between Ledley’s white arm and Wanyama’s. NL had every right to be well pissed off as would ANY manager….but you wouldn’t know about that would you, as it would never have happened to Fat Sally or Walter
The quicker Rangers die (sometime in May hopefully)and the SFA get found out by UEFA the better for everyone. My eyes have been soiled by the tosh spouted by the likes of so called (no laughing at the back) journalists like you DD too many times……although you did make me laugh I grant you that.
WE are the people now. Hail Hail.
Wanyama handled. The penalty was given after he handled and the referee told the players he’d given it because Wanyama handled. Bougherra put his hands on the wrists of Calum Murray, which I was told earlier was ‘assault’. He shouldn’t have done that, but that is all he did.
As I’ve repeatedly stated (and had repeatedly ignored), the only reason Celtic were level when Hearts got their penalty was due to the linesman not flagging Gary Hooper offside, which he clearly was. Two wrongs don’t make a right, but Celtic should not have been level when Hearts were awarded their penalty.
Dougan: “Of course he is. Willie Collum is a catholic, that doesn’t stop Celtic fans chanting ‘You’re just a hun with a whistle’ at him when he gives decisions against them. But yet again, I have to stress that this obsession with religion is utterly bizarre.”
Calling someone a HUN is not bigoted or with religious undertones, as was proven recently in the courts. You really need to read up on the legislation.
Hail Hail – Championees. GIRUY.
I didn’t say that calling someone a hun DOES have bigoted or religious undertones. Celtic fans certainly weren’t chanting it as a compliment though, were they?
Everyone calm down.
You have here a Rangers fan writing a bias opinion on Neil lennon and trying to pass it off as objective. The article says more about his own need to be ‘heard’ and his own aganda against Neil Lennon.
Just ignore the character.
Facts:-
1. Celtic receive an unhealthy number of CRUCIAL refereeing decisions against them
2. Rangers FC are soon to no longer exist
3. The SFA is corrupt (too many instances to ignore)
4. Neil Lennon must show a greater degree of professionalism to avoid this ‘media’ attention.
Crucial refereeing decisions go against Celtic, yet they broke the record for most penalties awarded last season, and have fewer bookings than anyone else this season, with statistics showing they concede more fouls per booking than anyone else. How is it Celtic win any trophies at all when they are ‘victims’ of refereeing and sfa bias?
Is that because they spent more time attacking in the oppositions box? They are not as dirty as other teams, so don’t put in cynical tackles? Have higher possession of the ball, so have less tackles to make and naturally will conceded more tackles?
I presume you are not paid to be a writer…?
And your point about calling someone a hun and it not being compliment, that was never in doubt. But you did say that Willie Collum was a catholic, yet the Celtic fans call him a hun. Therefore it was you that implied it had a religious connotation.
At least form a stable viewpoint that is solid in fact, if you are going to preach.
David you are missing the point Jimbo has put in capitals for you CRUCIAL. The Fact is every time their is controversy rangers are always the benefactors these decisions have enabled rangers to collect 3 points just because celtic got 2 penalties in a 9-0 win or 6-0 win the fact is rangers get them when needed Andy davies need i say more, Celtic get penalties course they do but not when it matters. The SFA is a corrupt body as we already know with Jim Farry, refs caught lying,hugh dallas sacked and they sat back and allowed Rangers to continue with a sectarian signing policy and now double contracts. Tell you what David cards on the table tell your readers here what team you support and also tell my why we have one of the biggest sporting scandals with rfc going to be liquidated. Neil Lennon has not said or done anything any other manager has done Souness, walter smith he ended up in court. So david what do you find Frankly incredible about Pauls statement? Was is the fact the media were getting the blame for the treatment of Neil Lennon or was it the fact that a manager of a spl club could be subjected to such horrendous treatment for doing his job? Neil lennon is not the problem Scotland is
Anyway, getting back to the article… I’m a long standing Celtic seaon ticket holder and I very much want Neil Lennon to be succesful as Celtic manager.
Neil’s actions following games where results go against us are increasingly embarrassing and should not be tolerated by either the footballing authorities or his employers.
Rather than being a calculated attempt to put pressure on officials (as many managers do in one way or another) his animated comments, frequently made without the benefit of reviewing the evidence beforehand, serve only to create opportunities for justified SFA sanction and unwanted media attention. If he is to be effective as a manager, he can’t allow himself to continually be subject to touchline bans.
Unfortunately for Neil, the club and the Celtic support, his dreadful treatment away from the game cannot be used as an excuse for his unprofessional behaviour in carrying out his job.
Every club has its share of fans who would defend every action carried out by their club and decry any percieved injustice – regardless of the opinions or consequences created. The manager of Celtic must not be allowed to publicly behave in that way.
I only hope these bans finally get the message through. He’ll be a better manager with more chance of success if they do does.
Oh, and yes, I am assuming he’ll be banned. He should be.
No-one is condoning the abuse that Lennon suffers away from the pitch. But, as you say, it cannot be used as an excuse for his behaviour on the pitch and on the touchline. Lennon can be critical of referees if he wants to be, but to march onto the pitch to do it, or to accuse them of bias on Twitter is unacceptable conduct for any manager. People can accuse me of being a bigot, or anti-Irish, or anti-catholic if they want, but I’m none of these things, and they have no evidence to suggest otherwise. My opinion is that Neil Lennon needs to conduct himself properly as a manager, and if he can’t do that, then he should be banned.
Tell me something David D why is it the fact Neil Lennon Questions decisions and quite rightly so is a much bigger story than the Shocking treatment he has recieved in this country,The fact these refs are not being taken to task, or even the fact that Rangers are involved in one of the biggest sporting scandals and could be liquidated any day now. We dont need newspapers anymore where the succulent lambs got told what to print. The internet is worldwide. We found out in five minutes Craig Whyte was not a billionaire with off the radar wealth so perhaps its quite fitting the demise of rangers and the scottish media happens together. And david lets not kid ourselves on if these decisions happened to rangers it would be a different story from the media i mean lambs
‘Biggest sporting scandals’, what a laugh that is. Craig Whyte never said he was a billionaire, but seriously, what do any of your points have to do with my article?
A referee has already been forced to quit because of a decision he made against Celtic. Referees ARE NOT biased against Celtic, and it is not just Rangers fans, but fans of every club in Scotland that find these claims laughable.
@DD Utter tosh. You didn’t see it did you? I agree that the Hooper goal was offside. It was pretty tight and difficult to call in real time. On the other hand (excuse the pun,)to not know the rules when it comes to hand ball in the box (wanyama’s arms were at his sides as the ball bounced up) and then not give a pen for a virtually identical incident at the other end is pretty inexcusable for a supposedly top ref. I have seen the replays a few times.
You probably just wrote this er…article? Naw not even close…erm…propaganda in the hope that if enough people read it then it would add a little more weight to the punishment NL will face in his forthcoming hearings. Exactly the same shite that we get from the succulent lamb brigade.
Why don’t you write an article about the major failings of the management at your own club. It may provide you with the vehicle you require to vent your obvious bitterness.
And get your tax return sorted while you are at it.