 Neil Lennon admits he may have allowed his desire to see Celtic win influence how he behaves on the touchline this season. Lennon has been criticised for his over-heated management style which, when he became too passionate at Tynecastle earlier in the month, saw him sent to the stand by referee Craig Thomson. This admission will not stop Lennon appealing against the automatic two-game ban and the separate excessive misconduct conduct charge brought by the SFA following his touchline discussion with the fourth official when a penalty claim was turned down. However, the manager's stinging criticism of officials this season is thought to be just one reason why Scotland's grade one referees voted on Sunday to withdraw their labour next weekend in a move which is threatening 20 fixtures. Speaking on CLUB TV, a BBC ALBA programme which will be shown on Thursday night, Lennon pleads guilty to sometimes getting too carried away although in mitigation he claims his behaviour is often exaggerated. He said: "It's a natural instinct and I think sometimes people go over the top about it and exaggerate my behaviour - they only show snippets of me arguing with officials every now and again. It would be folly for me to say that I'm not doing anything wrong because obviously there is a line you can't cross and I may have crossed it once or twice. I think in the main I want that passion to be there not just from me but from the staff and the players as well but in a controlled way. All managers have their own styles and personalities and maybe I have to temper mine a little bit but I am not going to change too much because that's who I am. Maybe as I grow older, if I am still in a job here or somewhere else, I will look back and say I was younger and a bit more explosive. But Fergie still has his rages and Arsene Wenger and people like to see that every now and again because it shows that you care." |