Apologetic Lennon embarrassed by 'regrettable' semi-final incident

NEIL LENNON has apologised for confronting the referee after the defeat to Hearts in the William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final last month.

"I let the club down, I let the board down and, more importantly, I let myself down," Lennon said yesterday of the incident when he confronted Euan Norris moments after the referee had awarded Hearts a penalty that gave the Edinburgh side a 2-1 victory.

Lennon will apologise to the SFA disciplinary committee hearing into the incident at Hampden tomorrow and will also write to the referee. He also revealed that Dermot Desmond, the club's majority shareholder, had also told him he was disappointed at his actions.

Lennon, who has completed a two-match touchline ban for criticising Willie Collum, the Scottish Communities League Cup final referee, has been issued with a notice of complaint accusing him of breaching three SFA rules relating to the semi-final.

He ran on to park at the final whistle after Norris had awarded Hearts a penalty for handball against Victor Wanyama and then denied a Celtic claim for a spot-kick. He confronted Norris and later took to Twitter to complain about the handling of the match.

Yesterday he described the incident as "regrettable", adding: "I look back on it and I am embarrassed. It was an instinctive reaction. I have let myself down. It is the one time I felt really flat afterwards. It was a stupid thing to do."

He added: "I will be sending correspondence to the referee as an apology as well. It's one actionable thing that I've done that I shouldn't have done. I will go to the tribunal and hopefully get a fair hearing, as I did the last time, and take what's coming. I am hoping to get the opportunity to speak."

Lennon also said incidents were 'exaggerated" when he was involved, pointing out that Sir Alex Ferguson and Roberto Mancini had a touchline confrontation during the Manchester derby on Monday. "We are human beings, we are passionate and we can feel aggrieved at times," he said.

"I am not at war with the SFA and I am not at war with referees either. But there are times when you have that flash. Every other manager in the country has done it, every other manager in Europe has done it. They have run on to pitches. Far more experienced managers than myself have done it. But I seem to get every Tom, Dick and Harry telling me how I should behave."

He said he was sorry about his "general demeanour" at Hampden, adding: "It is not premeditated. It is an instinctive thing. The game went against us on a controversial decision and that is my frustration."

He admitted there was "still a bit of mileage" in the controversy over Twitter comments after the semi-final defeat but would not elaborate.

Taken from the Herald