Here we go again!!

[Gazza_8 233]

From the ET.

 

Celtic will decide today if they are to once again go head-to-head with the SFA, this time over Neil Lennon�s latest four-game touchline ban.

 

The Parkhead club believe the sentence handed down to their manager for the altercation with Ally McCoist at the end of the Old Firm game on March 2 is flawed.

 

Lennon is already serving a four-game ban, which still has three matches to run, after being found guilty of serious misconduct during a game at Tynecastle on November 10 when was sent to the stand by ref Craig Thomson following a bust up with fourth official Steven McLean.

 

Last Thursday, when they announced that McCoist would be banned for two matches and Lennon for four ââ?¬â?? the Celtic manager having an extra two games added as per their sliding scale based on previous offences ââ?¬â?? the SFA decided that these suspensions would begin on March 16.

 

That, in effect, would have meant an overlap in suspensions for Lennon, and Celtic are confident that handing down concurrent instead of consecutive sentences is a breach of the SFA�s own rules.

 

The club have also been alerted to the fact that, again under the SFA�s rules, any automatic suspension should begin 10 days after the alleged offence. In this case, they indicated the ban would begin 14 days after the March 2 game at Parkhead.

 

Celtic ââ?¬â?? backed by legal advice from QC Paul McBride ââ?¬â?? have already shown that they are more than ready to take on the SFA when they believe the gameââ?¬â?¢s ruling body is not adhering to the rules.

 

If they pursue their appeal on the grounds that the SFA have not followed their own procedures, it is certain to increase the bad blood which exists between the two parties.

 

McCoist has already indicated he intends to contest his ban, based on the grounds that he does not believe he did anything to merit being reported by referee Calum Murray.

 

If this is received by the SFA by tomorrow the Rangers assistant manager will be allowed to take his place in the technical area at Hampden for Sunday�s Co-operative Insurance Cup Final.

 

Lennon, meanwhile, will be forced to watch the game from the stand, as he did for the SPL game last weekend against Hamilton and as he will again do when his side take on Inverness in the Scottish Cup tomorrow night.

 

The postponement of the quarter-final tie against Caley Thistle on Sunday, and the subsequent cancellation of the SPL game against Hibs tomorrow night, mean that his current suspension will not now be served until after the league game at Inverness on April 2.

 

Depending on whether or not the club submit an appeal against his second ban ââ?¬â?? and the outcome of any such challenge ââ?¬â?? Lennon could then find himself starting another four games in the stand, one more game in the stand or no more games at all.