NEIL LENNON LAUNCHED an astonishing rant at Greenock Morton manager Jim Duffy and the Scottish football media at his Friday press conference.
The Hibs boss was involved in a heated touchline fracas with Duffy on Wednesday night after Morton’s Kudus Oyenuga dived in recklessly on Jordan Forster.
The incident occurred close to the touchline and Lennon was incensed by the challenge, as was Hibs’ Darren McGregor, who squared up to Oyenuga head-first. The Morton player dropped to the ground, claiming to have been head-butted.
That was too much for Lennon, who remonstrated even more with the prone Oyenuga before Morton boss Duffy stepped in, along with members of his backroom team, and lots of aggressive pulling and pushing ensued.
Oyenuga and McGregor were both sent-off, as were both managers.
But Lennon was in no mood to let the incident slide as he took his regular press conference duties earlier today.
He spent 20 minutes embroiled in a heated and tense back-and-forth with members of the media, who he criticised for their perceived fascination with headlines rather than context.
“One of the first questions I was asked was, ‘What did Jim say to you?’”, Lennon said.
What was my answer? You were there. What was my answer? I’ll tell you. I said: ‘It was too noisy, I didn’t hear what Jim said.’ But you have quoted me saying, ‘He asked me for a square go’ when you knew it was a euphemism for the way he was behaving. And you used that as a headline when I had qualified it.
“Why didn’t you print that I didn’t hear what Jim said because it was too noisy? Why didn’t you print it? Why didn’t you print it? It was one of the first questions and one of the first answers. Why didn’t you print it? Why?”
Lennon continued by criticising the lack of attention paid to Oyenuga’s challenge.
“He has been an absolute disgrace the player and that has got lost in this Neil Lennon is at it again! You are not doing your f****** job.
I’m being dragged into it. It was wrong and if I had done it you would be f****** nailing me to the cross”.
