Celtic fury at Lennon´s three-game ban

Celtic manager Neil Lennon faces a three-match touchline ban after being found guilty of misconduct during an SPL match against St Mirren.



A tribunal found that the Hoops boss had breached part of disciplinary rule 203 in his use of offensive language against Saints skipper Jim Goodwin and, although no new sanction was imposed, the Northern Irishman had a suspended three-match ban against his name from last season which has been triggered as a result.



Lennon is now set to be in the stands for the games against Motherwell, Ross County and St Johnstone, although Sunday's clash with Inverness CT will not be affected as he has five days to appeal the sentence.



A Celtic club statement read: "Clearly we are extremely surprised and disappointed by (Wednesday)'s decision.



"Fundamentally the particular disciplinary system in place is absurd - a system where such a case can be brought on the strength of two 'complaints' from people totally unconnected to the match in question, while a fourth official overseeing the technical area during the match makes no mention of any incident to the SFA.



"Despite even supportive comments from numerous individuals including Jim Goodwin himself, this judgement has been made, something which we find quite astonishing.



"It is clear that this decision will have huge repercussions for the game in Scotland and we are sure Hampden Stadium will be a very busy place now every Monday morning."

Neil Lennon 'proud' of his player's performance despite defeat

Neil Lennon declared himself 'bitterly disappointed but immensely proud' after Celtic's agonising 2-1 defeat at the hands of Barcelona.

It looked like the Hoops would come away with a draw as the score stood at 1-1 heading into stoppage time, but Jordi Alba's late goal secured victory for the home side at Camp Nou.

Barcelona had to come from behind after Georgios Samaras put Celtic in front, and Lennon was delighted with the way his players acquitted themselves against such strong opponents.

He told Sky Sports: "I thought we were compact, we defended very well when we had to and looked a threat. Losing Georgi (Georgios Samaras, who went off injured) was a blow at the time because he was causing Barcelona some problems.

"You know when you come here there are going to be concerted amounts of pressure and we just needed to see it out. There was a bit of luck with the goal.

"While I am bitterly disappointed, for the players more than anybody else, I am immensely proud of them as well.

"We were brave. The players stuck to what we asked them to do, they didn't lose their composure when we knew we would be under pressure."

Lennon added: "They defended brilliantly and at times on the counter-attack we looked dangerous.

"This is the best team in the world, so to come here and play as well as that - it doesn't surprise me because I know the quality and character within the team."

Barca coach Tito Vilanova said: "I think we deserved to win the game, their keeper played well and credit to them but I think we controlled them pretty well.

"It says a lot about Barca, we keep going and if you don't have any attempts on goal you won't win.

"But I believe that Celtic have a chance to qualify, they have two more matches at home so it is possible that they can go through."