Celtic boss Neil Lennon won’t tolerate his men taking their lead from ‘embarrassing’ Rangers

Neil Lennon has told his players he doesn’t want to see any “token hard men” on the pitch at Ibrox today after rounding on Rangers for their “embarrassing” lack of discipline.

The Celtic caretaker boss was highly unimpressed by the Light Blues’ conduct during his side’s 2-1 win at the end of the March, a game that saw Alfredo Morelos and Andy Halliday both sent off.

And while acknowledging the incendiary atmosphere of recent derbies means players can easily find themselves getting involved where they shouldn’t, the Irishman stresses that maintaining self-control is an essential part of the job.

“It is very easy to get drawn in,” he said. “It is the environment. It is the two tribes, it is the pride – and it is all those things rolled into one.

“If you play on the edge – which a lot of players do and you don’t want to take that away from them – sometimes it is very easy for even the most mild-mannered of players to lose it.

“But you have to play the game, not the occasion. Discipline is important in this fixture.

“I don’t want any token hard men out there. I want them to be well-disciplined and motivated.

“Yes, there might be bad moments in the game.

“We need to make sure we withstand them if there are, and make sure we’re a threat at the other end. Quietening the crowd will help.

“There will certainly be an anxiety around the stadium that we can feed on. It is important we tune into that.

“And, listen, I believe we can do that because our discipline is very, very good and our players have handled the derbies very well.

“It is important we play aggressively, but in a controlled fashion. I am not just talking about using your body or tackling, I am talking about with the ball.

“I want us to be aggressive with the ball and play with a purpose. I want us to affect their back four as much as we can.

“If there is a chink in their armour, we’ll prey on it.

“I think the last game proved there is a lack of discipline within their ranks. And it has not just been our games. It’s been apparent all season. It’s embarrassing, really.”

Lennon uses an example from his own playing days to illustrate his argument that keeping cool in even the most over-boiled situations is a skill that can be learned.

“Martin O’Neill was huge on discipline,” he said.

“In my early days at Leicester City, I got a bit carried away and I got sent off against Oldham. He absolutely annihilated me.

“He told me: ‘You are no good to anyone in the dressing room while your mates were out there knocking their pans in to get you a win bonus’.

“I was young – 24, boisterous and aggressive. It was a real learning curve for me, and a lesson learned.”

Lennon did get red-carded on derby day with Celtic at Ibrox in August, 2005.

But he said: “That was after the game. It was a disagreement I had with the referee afterwards.

“The mentality of the current group has been brilliant. Whenever we have had a big game, they have responded in the right way repeatedly.

“I think they are looking forward to the game as much as me.”

Lennon’s reference to looking forward to the derby is significant.

Given his long history with the club, his second spell as manager, albeit as caretaker boss, has felt curiously awkward due to both the uncertainty of his own future in the role and anxiety about the getting the treble Treble over the line.

Even the successes – and there have been a few – have seen the Irishman left looking more relieved than triumphant.

“Have circumstances made it a bit more awkward? Aye, absolutely. It has not been a seamless or smooth transition at all,” said Lennon.

“As I’ve touched on, there is a different style of player, different group of players.

“It’s very difficult to go in because of the atmosphere around things.

“And it must have been difficult for the players as well with the influence that Brendan had had on them – not just on the field but his mentoring of them as well.

“So they lost that voice and presence. But they’ve handled it very well.”

As has the man himself, with the Hoops boss displaying a restraint not always present in his first spell in charge.

“It has been hard to enjoy, yeah, but I’m enjoying it now,” he said.

“We got the big one out of the way, as the league title was the No. 1 priority.

“Now we go to Ibrox as champions – definitely an exciting prospect.”

Lee Congerton, Celtic’s head of recruitment, has quit the Hoops to be reunited with Brendan Rodgers at Leicester City.

Congerton arrived at Celtic in 2017 and was told to find players to develop and sell on for a profit.

However, while he helped attract players such as Olivier Ntcham and Odsonne Edouard to Scotland, he was also involved in some less successful recruitments, among them Marvin Compper and Jack Hendry.

Neither man has managed to break into the Hoops first-team group.