Celtic celebrations tempered by absent foes

Celtic manager Neil Lennon spoke of his immense pride at retaining the Clydesdale Bank Premier League title yesterday, but Rangers’ absence from the top flight this season for the first time since the foundation of league football in Scotland in 1890 had turned the traditional two-horse race for the championship into a one-horse canter from the outset.

A 4-1 win over Inverness at Celtic Park sealed the club’s 44th league title confirmed what everyone in world football had expected would happen, even last summer when the Hoops dropped two points at newly-promoted Ross County in their second SPL game of the campaign.