Source: FOOTYMAD
It Was A Hard Day's Night For Lennon
Neil Lennon was unhappy with another official last night as his side drew with Hamilton. Celtic manager Neil Lennon was not at his happiest last night as he watched, in ever-increasing, frustration his side snatch a 1-1 draw in the last minute against bottom club Hamilton. Three players were sent off by referee Willie Collum and both managers were treated to lectures from the official during the game. After the game Lennon launched a blistering attack on Collum after his side were forced to battle for a last-gasp draw. Lennon and his club are not the SFA's favourite people as the period of goodwill to all men has ended. The SFA handed Lennon a six-game touchline ban, a decision Celtic are appealing, and both sides have used the media to continue their spat. One of Lennon's complaints last night centred on the Hamilton goal, when Martin Canning appeared to be in an offside position and obstructing the view of goalkeeper Fraser Forster. Asked about the referee's performance, Lennon said: "It's not good enough. My players were fine, they played well, I was happy with them, with their character. My only criticism is over-elaborating in the final third. We had acres of possession against a team who wanted to camp in all night, which is fine, that's their prerogative. That's fine by me. I just want the officials to do their jobs properly.'' Asked if he believed it was a case of more than simply being a poor display from the official, Lennon replied: "You make your own mind up.'' Celtic thought they had snatched the win deep into more than seven minutes of injury time when Stokes nodded home from an Emilio Izaguirre corner. However, the ball was deemed to have gone out of play before it reached the former Hibs man. Lennon said: "He said the ball went out of play. He has done very well to see that yet he didn't see Canning two yards offside for their goal. He is offside and goals change games. It gives Hamilton something to hold on to for the rest of the game. All you want is for the official to do his job. The player is in an offside position and he was blocking the goalkeeper's view. I actually blamed my goalkeeper at half-time, totally unjustly, because he couldn't see it, Canning was blocking his view. It's all right me banging on about referees but goals change games. We had a goal disallowed at the end but he seemed to see that one all right." On Forrest's red card, Lennon went on: "I would give the referee the benefit of the doubt on that one, the linesman had a good view as well. It's all right for me to say that it's not in his nature to do that but I can see why he did give it. I can understand why the referee gave it.'' But Lennon was furious that Niall McGinn was booked for diving late on, when he felt the player should have been awarded a penalty instead. He said: "It's a penalty. Another game-changing incident. I think everyone in the ground thought it was a penalty. There was no contact with the ball. From what I've seen from the TV cameras, it was a penalty.'' Turning to his ban, Lennon said: "Do you think it's fair, a six-game ban for your first offence? I'm not going to comment. It's in the hands of the legal team at Celtic and we are appealing it so we will see the outcome of that.'' Despite having two players sent off, Hamilton manager Billy Reid refused to criticise the referee. He said: "There were so many decisions in the game. The one thing I will say is that Willie Collum is one of the top referees in Scotland and there is no way this manager will have a go at Willie Collum. Whatever decisions he makes, I stand by. How do you referee that game? There were so many contentious decisions and it's not an easy job. I think he's a top referee." Editor Ger Harley (ger@scottishfitba.net)Admin Team (admin@scottishfitba.net)This is Scottish-Fitba.Net
