Scott Allan reveals Hibs’ dressing room reaction to Neil Lennon’s post-derby tirade

Scott Allan has revealed he and the rest of his Hibs’ team-mates saw the funny side after manager Neil Lennon threatened to quit immediately after an Edinburgh derby defeat.
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The Easter Road side were gunning for second place when they took on Hearts in May 2018 after racking up 12 league matches without defeat.

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However, they were handed a 2-1 defeat at the hands of their biggest rivals, which made it highly improbable the club could end the campaign runners-up to champions Celtic.

Hibs midfielder Scott Allan. Picture: SNSHibs midfielder Scott Allan. Picture: SNS
Hibs midfielder Scott Allan. Picture: SNS

Lennon responded furiously as he criticised his players in public and private.

Allan, though, insists the squad remained fully behind the manager and didn’t take his actions too much to heart.

He told PLZ Soccer: “I couldn’t say a bad word about Lenny, I loved every minute of it.

“I even loved when he used to go off his head to be honest!

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“He wore his heart on his sleeve and the next day it would be fine, as long as you went out and done the job for him.

“He’d make you feel really, really confident before you went out to play a game of football and for some players it’s a big thing.

“After the Hearts game I think we had went 14 games unbeaten and then lost to Hearts at Tynecastle.

“I don’t really want to go into it too much... some of it was mental!

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“I think he came out in fact and said, ‘I’m leaving! I’m leaving! I’ve had enough!’

“But the boys just started laughing because you’re thinking surely not after the run we had went on.

“I’ve got a lot of respect for him and I enjoyed working with him.”