Lennon defiant as Old Firm end in stalemate

NEIL LENNON has described as “nonsense” claims by Rangers boss Walter Smith that a campaign based on claiming for decisions and penalties led to Celtic’s spot kick award at Ibrox yesterday.

There were less than 10 minutes left when Hoops substitute Anthony Stokes, on for Gary Hooper, was adjudged by referee Craig Thomson to have been fouled by Light Blues’ midfielder Steven Davis in the box.

Allan McGregor made a great save from Georgios Samaras to keep the game goalless and Rangers a point clear at the top of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League, although the title pendulum seems to have swung towards the east end of Glasgow as Celtic have a game in hand.

Smith claimed: “Celtic will be happy now because their whole campaign this season has been the fact they have been asking for decisions.

“Well, they got one today and Allan McGregor saved it. That’s it. The whole of the season, all we have heard is that Celtic don’t get penalty kicks.

“They got one today and they tried to get another one as well and both of them were exactly the same in my mind. Both of the players ran into the players and they weren’t penalties.”

However, the Celtic boss was short and sharp when told what his Ibrox counterpart had said.

“It is nonsense,” he said. “Absolute nonsense.

“Have they not had penalties against us this season, one where the referee wasn’t even looking at it? Eh? “Where is his argument there?

“It looked a penalty to me.

“People are telling me it is soft but I think the one with (Joe) Ledley in thefirst half could have been one, and the second one with (Anthony) Stokes, they are telling me there was contact although he did go down a bit dramatically.”

The build-up to the seventh Old Firm game of the season had centred around the parcel bomb which was sent to Lennon and which had resulted in security around the Irishman tightened.

The atmosphere was less poisonous than normal but Rangers fans raged when Lennon cupped his ears to supporters in the main stand as he went up the tunnel at the end of the game.

However, when the gesture was mentioned, he replied sharply: “Don’t ask me about that. It’s called humour, all right?

“Don’t distract away from my team’s performance. Don’t even write about it. You have the photographs I’m sure but it is just a bit of fun.

“I don’t want to distract from my team’s performance today.

“They were men. Real men, stood up to everything that Rangers threw at them and came back for more.”

When asked if some fans might not see it as humour, the former Celtic skipper retorted: “That’s their problem. It’s only a bit of fun. Don’t ask me about it again.”

Lennon was reluctant to claim his side now had the advantage in the title race.

“I am glad the Old Firm scenario is out of the way and we don’t have to go through all the hype that surrounds it,” he said.

“That’s seven, plenty for one season. So on the balance of the seven games we have proved we are more than a match for Rangers, whether they go on to win the league or not.

“People called this a pivotal game but I didn’t see it that way. It gave us a slight advantage going into the remaining five games, one of which is the game in hand which we need to get a positive result from.

“I was apprehensive about the game but I was very pleased with my team. I am very proud of them.”

Rangers manager Smith bowed out of his final Old Firm derby content with a point. Rangers remain a point ahead at the SPL summit but Celtic’s game in hand means the draw favoured Neil Lennon’s men.

Smith said: “It puts Celtic in a position that we would want to be in. I think anybody would want to be in that position.

“You still have to close it out and win your games and we have to continue to win our matches and see what happens.

“There have been points dropped in the last half-dozen games or so over the last few seasons. So we just have to wait and see what happens.”

Smith will step down as manager at the end of the season and, in a week where it emerged Lennon was the intended recipient of two parcel bombs, the veteran boss admits he will not miss the fiery fixture.

Smith said: “This year, it has reached a level that is obviously unacceptable. But, when you look at the games we have had this season, there has maybe been a couple of incidents in two of them.

“There are similar incidents that take place nearly every weekend. But, with Rangers and Celtic, they get blown up.

“If you look at the game today, I can argue about penalty kicks but the game was played in a competitive and decent spirit.

“They will go on but I won’t be here. I’m delighted about that!”

RANGERS: McGregor, Whittaker, Bougherra, Weir, Papac, Lafferty, Davis, Edu (Diouf 84), Wylde (Fleck 73), Jelavic, Naismith.

CELTIC: Forster, Wilson, Majstorovic, Mulgrew, Izaguirre, Brown, Kayal, Ki, Ledley (Commons 55), Hooper (Stokes 75), Samaras.

Ref: Craig Thomson (Scotland).