Rangers blame Neil Lennon's treatment of Diouf for explosive end to torrid Old Firm cup tie
Neil Lennon is separated from El-Hadji Diouf in the first half. Picture: Getty
CELTIC manager Neil Lennon and Rangers assistant manager Ally McCoist had to be pulled apart last night at the conclusion of an explosive Old Firm Scottish Cup tie which is likely to be subject to SFA disciplinary proceedings.
The Ibrox club, who lost the fifth-round replay 1-0, had three players sent off by referee Calum Murray who dished out 13 yellow cards in total, just three of them to Celtic who secured a quarter-final visit to Inverness Caledonian Thistle on 13 March.
Steven Whittaker was dismissed in the first half, Madjid Bougherra followed him in stoppage time and then El Hadji Diouf was shown his red card after the final whistle. The indiscipline extended to the technical areas and saw Lennon react furiously as he shook hands with McCoist, apparently in response to a comment made by the man who will be his direct opponent in the Old Firm rivalry next season.
Rangers manager Walter Smith revealed McCoist had been unhappy with what he regarded as confrontational behaviour from Lennon towards Diouf during the match. The controversial Senegalese striker had picked up his first booking in the first-half after squaring up to Lennon on the touchline.
"These things happen," said Smith. "I'm always reasonably quick up the tunnel, so I didn't see what happened. But the problem there was quite simple. Alistair was quite annoyed that Neil was being aggressive towards one of the Rangers players. That annoyed him more than anything else."
Asked if he would still attend the traditional post-match meeting of the rival managers, Smith added: "I always go for a drink with the opposition management team after a game. It might be an interesting cup of tea this time, right enough. I'll referee."
In the immediate aftermath of his final assignment as Rangers manager at Celtic Park, Smith defended his team's conduct and claimed referee Murray was wrong to send off both Whittaker and Bougherra. He accused the official of being influenced by the home support.
"I felt Steven Whittaker's first yellow card was a soft one," said Smith. "I wouldn't argue with the second one, but he is unfortunate to have got the first one. Madjid Bougherra's first one was a yellow card, but the second one was clearly not. He slid in and clearly got the ball. The Celtic player's momentum made it look worse than it was.
"I think the referee got carried away by the crowd's reaction on both occasions. It was a competitive cup tie but there were challenges I didn't think were worth yellow cards. As I say, I couldn't complain about Bougherra's first caution or Whittaker's second, but I felt they were both unlucky to be sent off. I'm not sure we committed that many more fouls than Celtic. There was nothing that left anyone seriously injured but there were yellow cards handed out throughout the game. It makes the reflection of the game worse than it actually was."