What a let down

Neil Lennon claimed referee Willie Collum let him down on two crucial decisions during the 3-1 defeat by Rangers at Parkhead. The result ended the 100 per cent run in the league and allowed Rangers to go three points clear at the top. In the lead-up to the game, Lennon had appealed for Collum, making his debut in the fixture, to get the big decisions right. The manager claimed Ibrox midfielder Lee McCulloch, booked early in the game, should have walked after preventing Georgios Samaras going through on goal. The game was goalless when the incident happened in the first half. After Rangers had recovered from Gary Hooper's opener just before the break to lead through a Glenn Loovens own goal and Kenny Miller volley, Collum awarded a penalty when Celtic stopper Daniel Majstorovic clashed with visiting substitute Kirk Broadfoot. Miller converted the spot-kick to seal the win but the Irishman thought that was also a wrong decision.

Lennon said: "I think he got a couple of big decisions wrong. He has got a lot of questions to answer and I want to know why McCulloch was still on the pitch, it was blatant obstruction when we were breaking. It was a second yellow and they should have been down to 10 men in the second half. And I feel let down on the penalty incident for sure. It's a big decision. I have seen a replay of the penalty and it looked soft. 'm not sure he saw it and I'm not sure why he has given it. There was a long way to go in the game and we were trying to regroup but Daniel pulled out of the tackle and Broadfoot went down very easily. At 2-1 we were still in the game, at 3-1 it is very difficult for us. I'm not going to go on about the referee because I have my own problems with my team but you have to get the big decisions right and that's another big decision that has gone against us - and I will be asking for an explanation. We shot ourselves in the foot and I hope the players learn from today. I wouldn't mind if Rangers had cut us open but the manner of their goals was disappointing. But we were going to lose sometime. I just hope the players are invigorated by that for the game against St Johnstone on Wednesday."