You have to pick yourself up and start all over again

12 April 2010 06:41
Tuesday night provides a chance for players to show they deserve to stay after a terrible day at the office on Saturday Josh Thompson will take some time to get over the embarrassment of losing to Ross County in the Active Nation Scottish Cup semi-final. The stunned players will have to pick themselves up quickly as they welcome Motherwell tomorrow night. Hoops' interim boss Neil Lennon was unstinting in his disappointment with his team after the Irn Bru First Division side deservedly won to get into their first final since their formation in 1929. Lennon predicted a clear-out at the end of the season whether or not he is still in charge at the club. Thompson insists the players will have pacify the disgruntled fans when the Steelmen travel to the east end of Glasgow on league business. The defender said: "The defeat was horrible. The fans deserved more and we let the manager down. Everyone knows it wasn't good enough, it's not what Celtic are about. I can't put my finger on it, it seemed they were winning the second balls and we didn't play as well as we can. The next game is on Tuesday against Motherwell and we have to go out and show pride. We have to redeem ourselves to the fans. That's the motivation now." As the Parkhead club lick their wounds after a defeat which rivals previous cup shocks against Clyde, Inverness and Raith Rovers, Lennon was quick to point the finger at players he did not think performed on the day as he fought to keep his chance of winning the manager's job he craves on a permanent basis. The Irishman kept his players in the dressing room for 15 minutes after the game and strikers Georgios Samaras and Marc-Antoine Fortune, in particular, came in for some stinging criticism. However, the big Greek striker, who hit the post when Celtic were trailing 1-0, kept his thoughts to himself. When asked if Lennon was still the man for the job, Samaras retorted: "Yes, 100%." he was then asked what was said in the dressing room by Lennon, Samaras said: "What happened in the dressing room stays in the dressing room. Our biggest target this season was to win the cup and it didn't work out. The only thing we can do is keep our heads up and we have another difficult game on Tuesday. We have to prepare for that. It is difficult but we must play for our pride."

Source: FOOTYMAD