Lennon curbed touchline passion

St Mirren boss Danny Lennon recognises the touchline frustration felt by Celtic's Neil Lennon but believes it only leads to a lack of focus. The Celtic boss has been in the spotlight ahead of Sunday's game at St Mirren Park following yet another brush with officialdom.He was sent to the stand during the 2-0 defeat by Hearts on Wednesday after a touchline rant at the fourth official and linesman following a rejected penalty claim.The club previously wrote to the Scottish Football Association seeking clarification on Dougie McDonald's decision to rescind a penalty awarded for Celtic against Dundee United, and again to find out why referee Willie Collum awarded Rangers a penalty in the Light Blues' 3-1 win at Parkhead.St Mirren's Lennon, who had two years with Cowdenbeath before moving into the SPL this summer, said: "I do recognise his frustration."I have been there myself and I have worked with other managers who are very animated."Neil Lennon is a very passionate guy, that's the way that he works and I don't think you will ever take that out of Neil, and it's a terrific trait to have."I personally felt that when I was getting animated - and this is only my own experience - it made me lose focus on what my job was, which is to get results in a game of football."I have become less animated. The SFA are very approachable on that side of things, they are always there on the end of the phone."If you have any real qualms, send a DVD in, I'm sure they welcome that because they are trying to improve every week."But let them referee, let them get on with the game, we wouldn't have a game without them."It is difficult enough for them, they are human like us all. The more pressure managers put on them can lead to poorer decisions."Our game would be lost without them so let's give them a wee bit of a break."Celtic's last visit to St Mirren Park in March ended in a 4-0 defeat which cost Hoops manager Tony Mowbray his job.Buddies boss Lennon is not expecting a repeat scoreline but is looking to build on Wednesday night's welcome win over Dundee United at Tannadice, which came on the back of a loss at home to Rangers last week.He said: "We have to be at our best if we are going to take anything out of the game."We did very well for long periods against Rangers but errors cost us and we certainly can't give the type of quality that Celtic have any opportunities."It is very difficult when you go on the road against these teams but we are the home side and we will be at them."I've seen Celtic a few times this season and they are a free-flowing football side, terrific footballers all round."But we have to take the positives from the improvements that we are making and continue to make."We have to work hard and maybe we will get a bit of luck on the day."

Source: Team_Talk