Source: PA
Lennon accuses Celtic players of complacency
Neil Lennon accused his Celtic players of believing in their own hype after the Hoops' 17-game unbeaten run came to an unlikely end against Motherwell at Fir Park.
The Parkhead side went in to the match still basking in the glory of their 3-0 win over Old Firm rivals Rangers in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League last week and it was assumed that the trip to Lanarkshire, where they had not lost in six years, would be a formality.
However, on a threadbare Fir Park pitch, the visitors were caught napping in the second minute when a mix-up between Celtic defender Charlie Mulgrew and keeper Fraser Forster allowed John Sutton to knock the ball in to an empty net. And at the start of the second half, after Hoops' left-back Emilio Izaguirre had been adjudged by referee Euan Norris to have fouled Motherwell skipper Keith Lasley in the box, Sutton blasted in the spot-kick for number two.
"They have had a lot of nice things said about them this week and maybe they were believing in their own publicity," Lennon said. "By our performance, maybe we underestimated them.
"I didn't sense that in the week but there was a lack of competitiveness about us and quality, we did the opposite to what we have been doing the last couple of months and to be fair to them they have been excellent so I won't be over critical.
"But it was poor. We were poor defensively, poor in midfield and poor going forward. There was nothing positive to take from the game. There was no collectiveness about us, we were disjointed and the goals we lost were appalling. You can't give any team cheap goals and expect to win games."
