“El Hadji Diouf started it all,” Neil Lennon on infamous clash with McCoist | OneFootball

Neil Lennon shared that he and Ally McCoist faced a reprimand from Walter Smith after their heated Scottish Cup clash during the 2010/2011 season between Celtic and Rangers…

The fiery Scottish Cup derby at Celtic Park on 2 March, 2011 – marred by a chaotic mix of red cards, dozens of bookings, and fan arrests – is also famously remembered for the intense confrontation between Lennon and McCoist on the touchline post-match.

When the final whistle blew on a turbulent night in Glasgow’s east end, the two club icons became embroiled in a heated face-off, captured in full view by the television cameras.

In the aftermath of the cup replay – settled by a decisive goal from Mark Wilson – the intensity of the match prompted the Scottish government to step in just days later.

During his appearance on Open Goal, Lennon revealed his perspective of the incident, attributing the start of the chaos to provocative behaviour by El Hadji Diouf.

In his conversation with former Celtic academy product Si Ferry, Lennon also disclosed how then-Rangers boss and Walter Smith reacted to the entire incident.

“El Hadji Diouf started it all,” Lenny said. “Emilio Izaguirre got injured after Steven Whittacker caught him in a foul, got a second yellow and was sent off.”

“Diouf came over to get instructions when Tim Williamson was running onto treat Emilio [Izaguirre]. Diouf gives him one of them [motions an elbow]. I clocked it and said, ‘you f*****g leave my staff alone’.

“Coisty then came on to say, ‘don’t talk to my players’. So, that was the start of it really, then it got really spicy in the game. We won 1-0, they had three men sent off. I shook hands with Walter, then he goes. Coisty said ‘don’t speak to my players like that,’ and I snapped.”

“The normal thing to do is to shake hands and leave it, but I said, ‘is that right?’

When asked about how Smith responded, Lennon added: “He was amazing. He gave us both a bollocking afterwards in my office – he told us to behave ourselves!”

“He was brilliant. I loved him. I had a lot of respect for him; he was a brilliant manager. Really, really smart.”

Celtic in the Thirties, Volumes One & Two by Matt Corr – out now on Celtic Star Books.

SUMMER SALE NOW ON – ALL BOOKS REDUCED. Shop now at CELTICSTARBOOKS.COM

Summer Sale Now On – Click on image to order. Please note that postage is only charged on one book.

More Stories / Latest News

“El Hadji Diouf started it all,” Neil Lennon on infamous clash with McCoist

Jun 17 2025, 10:05

Celtic transfer latest – Hayto Inamura keen to join Scottish Champions

Jun 17 2025, 9:11

Some already writing Hayto Inamura – That’s so unfair

Jun 17 2025, 8:16