NEIL Lennon has insisted his scathing attack on Don Robertson was down to frustration at the referee’s display and not sour grapes, writes Iain Collin.
The Hibernian manager watched his team dominate when away to Hamilton Academical on Saturday but leave with just a point after Antonio Rojano’s header cancelled out Simon Murray’s 14th goal of the season in the 1-1 draw.
Lennon was angered by Hamilton’s physical approach in the New Douglas Park clash, accusing the hosts of “trying to kick the crap” out of the Easter Road side.
And, after accusing Robertson of being “out of his depth” in failing to clamp down on Accies’ ‘caveman stuff’, Lennon is adamant he simply wants to safeguard the safety of his players against any Roughhouse tactics.
He said: “I just think we need better protection from referees. I don’t think the game’s fair at the minute.
“It sounds like sour grapes but I saw my players getting kicked left, right and centre.
“It’s just frustration; I’m very pleased with the players, we were excellent.”
It was a 10th away game without defeat for Hibs at the weekend, with two Betfred Cup games being followed by an eight unbeaten league games on the road.
And although he acknowledges they need to find a more ruthless streak in front of goal, Lennon insists he is happy with the way his players are performing ahead of a vital spell.
He added “When you’re creating chances, that’s the pleasing thing. We looked a threat all game.
“If we keep playing the way we’re playing, we’ll be alright. We just need to score when we’re in the ascendancy.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here