Some Like It Hot

Neil Lennon faces a wait to discover the extent of his possible punishment following another refereeing controversy. Celtic manager Lennon already knows he will be sitting in the stand for a couple of games after being sent to the stand by referee Craig Thomson during Wednesday night's 2-0 win by Hearts. Lennon was reported by fourth official Steven McLean following his complaints over a rejected penalty claim when Hearts midfielder Ryan Stevenson used a hand to take the ball away from Gary Hooper in the box. Those who can lip read will already know just how he reacted towards McLean after being sent to the stand by the referee. The two-game dugout ban is automatic for being sent to the stand unless Lennon appeals against his dismissal. However, he may face other sanctions if Thomson's report accuses him of excessive misconduct.

The SFA could issue another charge against Lennon for his post-game comments on the officials in an interview on Radio Scotland. The Celtic manager described the fourth official's decision as "scandalous" and confirmed he would be seeking clarification from the SFA, and would consider appealing. He continued to hit out over the dismissed penalty claim after the game. Lennon said: "It was a clear penalty. I can see that 45 yards away. It was a clear penalty and if Craig doesn't see it, why doesn't his assistant see it?" Lennon was equally scathing of Thomson's decision to send off Joe Ledley for a two footed sliding tackle on Ian Black, describing it as "disgraceful" and "ridiculous" and claimed it was not even a foul. The Wales midfielder took the ball but used both feet in the challenge. When asked whether he would seek clarification over his dismissal, Lennon told Radio Scotland: "I will but they will probably have their story ready already.  I don't know where my relationship with officials lies. They keep getting big decisions wrong, game-changing decisions as well. Craig is supposed to be one of the best officials in the country. It doesn't say a lot for the rest if that's the case. I don't want to go too far down the line in case I get myself into more trouble. Jim Jefferies is sitting in the stand tonight and I will be sitting in the stand for two games. We all can't be wrong."

Lennon could find himself in trouble if his comments are referred to the SFA's general purposes committee, which is due to meet later this month, but no action has been announced just yet. Despite Lennon's assertion that Ledley's 56th-minute red card had changed the game, coming moments before David Templeton added to Ian Black's first-half opener, the Celtic boss admitted his side had shown complacency following Saturday's 9-0 win over Aberdeen. He said: "We were complacent going forward, we didn't pass the ball well enough, we didn't create enough opportunities. Too many players, particularly in forward areas, were off the boil."

Celtic are still just one point behind leaders Rangers following Hibs' 3-0 win at Ibrox but Shaun Maloney warned they could not depend on their Old Firm rivals slipping up too often. The Celtic captain said: "We will be playing St Mirren on Sunday and the manager will go through why things went wrong. We need to make sure it doesn't happen again on Sunday, because we can't expect Rangers to slip up in too many games. When we came in at the end of the game and found out the result, it probably was (an opportunity lost). But in fairness, we need to look at our own performance on the night before we start counting on Rangers getting beat in home games. We didn't produce enough going forward and we weren't good enough attacking wise, especially first half, that was the reason we went in 1-0 down and in the end probably cost us the game."