NEIL LENNON passed up the chance to reveal what Ally McCoist whispered in his ear during the so-called Shame Game at Celtic Park after we have knocked Rangers out of the Scottish Cup and they had three players sent off.
The Hibs boss last night appeared on Sky Sports with former Liverpool star Danny Murphy on a show called ‘The Debate’ and the subject matter was the Glasgow Derby as Sky start their build-up to Sunday’s Celtic v Rangers match in the Scottish Premiership.
Lennon and Murphy were joined by journalist Oliver Holt, and they discussed how the pressure can get to players and managers in such an intense footballing environment.
Murphy claimed that the fixture had created “a few lunatics” over the years, and appeared to be directing his remarks to the former Celtic manager.
“I do believe this, and this isn’t a criticism of you… well, it is. If a manager continually behaves like an idiot on the sidelines, picking fights…” Murphy stated.
Neil Lennon was quick to defend himself, as you would expect.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa,” Lenny started but was interrupted by Murphy.
“I wasn’t talking about you!” he interrupted, contradicting what he’d already said. “I think it allows the players to behave badly, there’s a way you have to conduct yourself.
“The problem is in a game like this, which I haven’t played in, it’s hard to keep a lid on it if things aren’t going your way.”
Lennon was having none of that though and stated that he “completely disagreed”.
“It depends on whats going on, there’s a lot of oneupmanship behind the scenes,” the Irishman stated.
Murphy came back and specifically referred to the Shame Game.
“You let Ally McCoist get the better of you, you let Ally McCoist get in your head, didn’t you?”
Lennon started to laugh before responding.
“We’d already won the game! And they had three sent-off and we had none. Our disciplinary record in those games was very good.
“Some managers are quite cool, calm and collected. It doesn’t really matter – what matters is that result at the end of the day.
“And it does get to you. Sometimes you see the masks slipping, but I like to be up there and open about it.
“Some people are quite calm and then all of a sudden you see the dark arts coming out – it’s great.
“It’s great drama, it’s great theatre, it’s great entertainment and it’s a great fixture.”
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