Source: FOOTYMAD
Not so black as painted
Thursday's results may have been disappointing but they are not so bad as written about Scotland suffered a night to forget in the Europa League this week but Neil Lennon believes there has been a "total overreaction" to the results from the three games. The Old Firm's European aspirations were hit hard and Hearts almost certainly suffered a knock-out blow on Thursday night. The Tynecastle side crashed 5-0 at home to Spurs to leave the return game in London next week looking like no more than a formality, as the inquest continues into how Celtic failed to break the deadlock against Swiss side Sion at Parkhead in their goalless draw and how Rangers surrendered their lead to go down 2-1 to Maribor in Slovenia. However, ahead of Sunday's home game against St Johnstone, the Celtic manager asked for context and perspective. He said: "It is a total overreaction. We didn't play as well as can but we dominated the majority of the game. My frustration was that the quality wasn't there in the final third but we didn't feel under pressure at any stage of the game. Sion came to defend and we probably could have done more, but it's not all gloom and gloom, that's for sure. Rangers have got an away goal which could prove priceless in the tie and with home advantage so I would say they would still be favourites to go through. And Spurs are an excellent side, let's get it right. They spent a lot of money, they have a top manager, they beat Inter Milan and AC Milan last year and made the quarter-finals of the Champions League. Was it a huge surprise that they went to Tynecastle and won? Maybe the scoreline might have been (a surprise) but I expected Spurs to probably win the game. It is very difficult to compete financially and the game at Tynecastle showed that. If we score (in Switzerland) it puts us in a strong position and this team is capable of scoring. I am delighted we kept a clean sheet because it kept us in the tie. So I wouldn't be over-critical of our performance. We know what was wrong. Hopefully we are talking in a different frame of mind this time next week." Lennon may have been speaking directly to the media in how they reacted to the results but he is well aware of how the performance was viewed by the paying public. The Parkhead fans were far from impressed with the performance against Sion with striker Georgios Samaras singled out for extra criticism. Lennon admitted he took the Greek striker aside for a pep-talk during training at Lennoxtown. The manager said: "I think he seems to be the whipping boy at the minute. I had a talk with him this morning and tried to keep him positive. He is a very important member of our squad and the fans will just have to show a little more patience with him. I understand the frustrations and so can he, but it is not one person's fault for a disappointing result. But sometimes players get singled out for whatever reason and it's his turn at the minute. But I think he has got the strength of character to come through that and turn it around." Lennon is confident that his captain Scott Brown is moving closer to signing a new deal. Lennon went on: "He is an important player, very influential. He didn't have his greatest game last night but the ankle injury had flared up. But his quality has improved in the last year and when he doesn't play we miss him." Meanwhile, Fraser Forster, who made his second debut after returning for another season-long loan deal from Newcastle, remains as upbeat as Lennon about the return game in Switzerland. Forster said: "If we go and score in Switzerland, the game will really favour us. We've just got to be positive about the game. From my point of view, it was good to keep a clean sheet but we'd have loved to have scored at least one goal to have the advantage going into next week's game. They came to defend, and parked the bus at times, but there are still 90 minutes to go in this tie and I fancy us to go over there and get a positive result. We've got a great squad and we've just got to take one chance and it will put Sion under massive pressure because they will have to score two."
