Source: FOOTYMAD
Too early a start
Players need a longer break from football. Neil Lennon agrees with Inverness counterpart Terry Butcher who criticised the early start to the SPL season. With a view to improving Scottish clubs' chances in Europe, the new campaign season starts today but Butcher described it as "farcical", claiming that most clubs have still not finished getting their squads together. Lennon said: "I go along with that. It's too early. I can understand the reasoning or the thinking behind it. But we finished on the 21st of May and we were back in on the 23rd June and the season is starting on Sunday. Some of my players have had a fortnight's break.Physically they are all right but you wonder about mental fatigue kicking in, maybe not early in the season but maybe later on in the season so we have to be wary of that. We are going to have to negotiate Sunday as best we can, get through that hopefully and get a positive result. We have prepared as best we can. It should be a good atmosphere, the pitch should be in good condition and we hope to pick up the tempo as quickly as possible." The early return to action means last season is still fresh in the mind and Lennon was again asked about his spat with then Rangers manager Ally McCoist at the end of the Old Firm Scottish Cup replay at Parkhead in March. Lennon admits he cannot guarantee passions will not boil over again this season but insists there was an over-reaction last time. He went on: "You would try to avoid it. I'm not making any promises that that won't happen again but I'm sure that it won't. Passions run high, we need to keep a lid on things. Everyone has a responsibility towards calming things down, managers, players and media and maybe not make mountains out of molehills when it comes to certain incidents. I've seen football this week in South America where 22 players are having a go and that is at international level in one of the biggest competitions in the world. It's not isolated to Glasgow. But we have spoken to the referees about the situation and we have the police coming to brief the players. We know what we can and cannot do. We all aware of the greater responsibility going in to the season." Lennon is hoping the focus remains on the pitch and his players as they try to win the title. He said: "We played some brilliant football but that seemed to be a side issue with all the nonsense that went on. So I am hoping that for the majority of the time this year everyone is talking about the team."
