Neil Lennon has defended Craig Levein after the Scotland boss came under fire for a poor start to the World Cup qualifying campaign.
Celtic manager's sympathy for national side counterpart
Neil Lennon has defended Craig Levein after the Scotland manager came under fire for a lacklustre start to the World Cup qualifying campaign.
Scotland have taken two points out of a possible six from two home games, where they were jeered by their own fans during the draws with Serbia and Macedonia.
The Scottish team's performance and Levein's tactics have been heavily criticised in the media, but Celtic manager Lennon has sympathy for the national side's boss.
"I feel for him a little bit," Lennon declared.
"But he is big enough and strong enough and he is trying to do the right thing and play the right way.
"My own thoughts are that some of these people take personal issues and make it public through a newspaper and that's not the right place or time to do that.
Crass
"Certainly some of the stuff I read was pretty crass, way off the mark and uneducated and just basically some of it is having a go for the sake of having a go.
"It is a bit of a knee-jerk reaction. I think we fly off the handle very quickly."
Scotland hit the road for their next two 2014 qualifiers, facing first Wales and then Belgium.
Lennon feels that being away from Hampden Park may work in Scotland's favour, but is adamant that the players need to perform for their under-fire manager.
"Ideally you want to win your home games but that can be rectified pretty quickly if you pick up points away from home so Scotland are far from out of the group," he added.
"Sometimes players need to hold their hands up and say, 'I didn't do as well as I should have done there'.
"On reflection of both the games, the players can play better, but it is far too early to say they are not going to qualify."
