NEIL LENNON has handed Scotland star Barry Bannan a reprieve after he was initially suspended indefinitely at Bolton Wanderers.
The former Celtic manager admitted he changed his mind on the future of the on-loan Crystal Palace man after recalling some of his own misdemeanours as a player.
Bannan and team-mate Neil Danns took part in an all-night drinking session at Bolton's team hotel that attracted complaints from other guests.
However, the winger has been recalled into Bolton squad for tonight's trip to Bournemouth.
Lennon said: "I think the suspension was enough and the fine will be the maximum required for that behaviour, and that's it. I don't think they'll do it again, put it that way.
"Trust me, I was no angel as a player. Martin O'Neill can give you a book full of stories about me. He dealt with me in a certain way as well.
"You feel a bit like poacher turned gamekeeper as a manager but you do need to put a marker down and send a message out to the rest of the squad that this won't be tolerated in any shape or form.
"The game is changing, it's getting quicker, the players are getting stronger. I don't mind players having alcohol at certain times but the days of heavy nights and days are becoming a thing of the past as the game evolves - which is probably a good thing."
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 hereComments are closed on this article