RAGING Neil Lennon blew his top at the aftermatch press conference after Omonia Nicosia had lost 2-1 at Apollon Limassol last night.
The former Celtic boss reacted angrily to a question from a reporter about the “character” of his players in an admittedly poor performance from his team on the back of their 3-0 Europa League home loss to FC Sheriff three days earlier.
Lenny had seen his side taken a 14th-minute lead with a penalty-kick from Bruno Filipe, but two second-half strikes from Ioannis Pittass and Bassel Jradi condemned his team to defeat to leave them in eleventh place in the 14-team league after three games.
UNDER FIRE…Neil Lennon at the aftermatch conference following Omonia Nicosia’s defeat.
Near the end of the interview, a reporter queried the lack of character shown by his team the Northern Irishman furiously snapped back: “Don’t you criticise my players. You don’t have the right to do that.
“That is your opinion. You are entitled to it, but don’t ask me about the character of my players. Ever.
“These players give me everything. They’ve had a bad night tonight, but don’t you sit there and criticise them for lacking character. That is one thing they don’t.
“They didn’t play well tonight. I will deal with it as best I can. But I am not having people like you questioning their backbone.
“Who do you think you are?”
Ex-Celt Adam Matthews played the entire 90 minutes, but his one-time Hoops team-mate Gary Hooper remained on the substitutes’ bench along with Brandon Barker, the former Hibs and Ibrox winger.
