‘The football is eye-bleeding’ – Lennon slams ‘rubbish’ English game

Hibernian manager Neil Lennon has hit back at Tony Cascarino's criticism of the Scottish game by branding the standard in England as "rubbish".

The former Ireland international branded the achievement of Brendan Rodgers' Celtic side of going 63 matches undefeated in domestic football as worthless.

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Lennon, who played in the Premier League for Leicester, hit back at the ex-striker, who managed just four goals in 24 appearances while at Parkhead, with a stinging attack on the standard in England. 

"It is disrespectful. How much Scottish football does Tony watch?" he said. "I’ve seen some absolute rubbish in England. Rubbish.

"Over the weekend, there were three or four 1-0s. I watch some games in the Championship and the football is eye-bleeding, whereas I have seen some really good games up here.

"I find the competition and the quality of the games really refreshing. We don't need people from down south lecturing us on how the game is up here.

"There is still that rawness here. There is still that passion. It’s still a working-class sport up here. You don't have too many prawn sandwich brigades, who kill the soul of the game. I've been to a lot of grounds in England where the atmosphere is awful.

"We're not getting the money the English clubs can get but the Scottish game is improving. It's getting healthier. You only have to look at the calibre of manager working up here to see that there is definitely an upturn.

"To go 63 games at any level is remarkable. Celtic are an excellent side and they proved that with a few games in the Champions League."