Managers post Celtic
Saturday, 17th Aug 201917/08/19: Link to audio of both Stevie Crawford and Neil Lennon’s post match comments.
- - Listen to Stevie Crawford post match comments
“We came with a game plan and we knew that we were going to give up chances in the game” said Pars boss Stevie Crawford .
“We had to try and restrict Celtic getting the ball in wider areas, dealing with crosses and I thought we did that very well and restricted them to chances from outside the box. We got back into the game, went to playing two upfront and gave Celtic a fright in the competition.
“What I have said all season is that we have changed the dynamics of the team. We have enthusiasm, boys who want to run beyond now and I think that was there for everybody to see today.
“To come to Celtic, restrict them to the chances that we did and then score a good goal ourselves I am just really disappointed for the boys. There are a lot of positives to take from the game, Celtic are a very very good side and we knew the task when we were drawn against them. To come away disappointed is credit to the work rate that the boys put into the team.
“I am a great believer in the players wanting to do it and we are trying to create that at our club. It is days like today, leaving people going away talking about them for all the right reasons.
“It is still extremely disappointing that we never managed to nick a goal towards the end that would have taken it to penalties. I cannot speak highly enough about the efforts they put in today.”
Had you started thinking about penalties?
“That is dangerous but I had noted down as extra time was going on, do I let five boys who want to take them take penalties? Or do we decide as a coaching staff but I didn’t want to get too far ahead of myself. Celtic have the quality to cut you open, it is just frustrating in the manner that we lost the goal.
“We are not going to get carried away because the Championship is going to be a very hard division this year. We have got young players and we have said all along that the way we recruited in the summer, we are going try and develop players.
“I think everybody saw today that there are boys that have a lot of years ahead of them in the game. If they continue and give effort and work rate like that then they will get a chance to kick on in their career.”
Did Lee Ashcroft feel that he had a legitimate penalty appeal right at the end?
“Lee is an honest boy, he felt that there was contact. I have not looked back at that yet but I am not going to dwell on too much disappointment. To come to Celtic who have been phenomenal for a number of years now, our performance speaks volumes for the way that we have come and conducted ourselves.”
It has to be a rare occurrence for Dunfermline fans to celebrate a 2-1 defeat in such a way?
“I have played in a few and we appreciate the Dunfermline fans turning out in their numbers. We were down at Dumfries last week, took 400 down there with us and I think we have taken 1200 supporters today.
“They will go back disappointed but proud of their team.”
- - Neil Lennon gives credit to Dunfermline
Pars TV Interview
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