Source: FOOTYMAD
Lennon Stands Back
Neil lennon is letting his captain do the talking Neil Lennon is willing to leave well alone as his captain Scott Brown continues his spat with Rangers' El-Hadji Diouf and believes he is a Scotland captain in the making. Diouf has accused Brown of trying to get him sent off during Sunday's 2-2 Scottish Cup fifth-round draw before claiming Lennon goaded him in the tunnel at Ibrox. Brown has hit back in the press and Lennon is happy for his captain to do the talking, refusing to get directly involved himself. Lennon said: "I'll leave Scott to sort that out because he seems to be coping with it very well. He (Diouf) can say what he likes about me - I'm not going to get into a war of words with him. I never made any specific plans for him either. I had enough to concentrate on with my own team." Lennon believes Brown, on duty tonight with Scotland, has responded well to Diouf's comments and should not have received a yellow card - a moment Brown described as the "best booking I've had in my life" - for celebrating in the Senegal forward's face when he netted the second equaliser on Sunday. Lennon went on: "This guy's made things public and Scott's just defended himself. There's a lot that went on on the pitch and it wasn't just one-way traffic. I think Scott's handled the situation absolutely brilliantly and with a bit of humour." Although Brown has not been handed his country's armband for the game with Northern Ireland in Dublin tonight - Craig Levein handed that to Kenny Miller - Lennon expects his captain will soon wear the armband at international level. Lennon went on: "He's grown into the role here as captain of Celtic and adapted brilliantly to it. There's more maturity about his game. He was a wee bit of a rascal - he's still got a wee bit of gallus-ness in him, we don't discourage that at all. But I think later on down the line as he matures more and comes into the peak years of his career he's a Scotland captain in the making, that's for sure. He's a big-game player and he doesn't get intimidated very often. He can look after himself and I think his performances of late have been what we know he is capable of. It's not just the last month or so, since I've taken over the job he's been so consistent for us. He's been a huge player for me." Editor Ger Harley (ger@scottishfitba net)Admin Team (admin@scottishfitba net)This is Scottish-Fitba Net
