SOCCER:NEIL LENNON bristled at the suggestion that Celtic's likely Scottish Premier League title win will be devalued by Old Firm rivals Rangers losing 10 points.

The Ibrox club were automatically punished after going into administration on Tuesday and are now 14 points behind Celtic.

With the prospect of Rangers manager Ally McCoist having to shed some players from his squad in cost-cutting measures, it all points to Celtic being champions-in-waiting. However, the Parkhead manager, speaking ahead of tomorrow’s visit to Hibernian, was in no mood to concede that the credibility of the SPL title race had been diminished.

“There will be no devaluing a title win, regardless of what goes on elsewhere, because it is nothing to do with our club, nothing to do with these players,” he said.

“If people want to point the finger if – and it’s a big if – we win the title then I will have plenty to say about devaluing titles, don’t worry about that. If you break the rules you get punished for it, regardless of whether it’s Rangers or anyone else, we have seen in the past other clubs have been punished in the same way.

“I am angry that the way things have been dealt with [at Rangers], obviously it has been ongoing for a number of years and it has had an effect on previous run-ins and previous titles.

“I don’t know the ins and outs and I don’t think many people do and until we get to some sort of conclusion and get the answers there is no point pointing fingers. But it is obviously a very difficult time for the people at the club .

“For a club of that stature to be in this situation is a nonsense really, absolutely nonsense. I have sympathy for my counterpart Ally for what he is going through at the minute. I wouldn’t like to have gone through that myself, particularly in my first season as manager. As regards sympathy for the rest of the people who brought this on, I don’t have much of that at all.”

Lennon’s threat to talk about the devaluation of titles in the wake of a Celtic championship success, and then mentioning “previous run-ins and previous titles” alluded to questions swirling around the validity of some of Rangers’ recent achievements.

Although in administration, the Ibrox club are awaiting the verdict of a tax tribunal which could cost the club about €58 million. The HM Revenue and Customs case centres on the use of employee benefits trusts (EBTs) which were in place for a decade before Craig Whyte took over from David Murray last May.

There has been the call, mainly from Celtic fans it has to be said, for Rangers to be stripped of trophies won during that period, if the Govan club lose the tax case.

Lennon seemed to understand perfectly when asked if he was referring to title wins at Ibrox in that time EBTs were being used but said: “I will talk when the time comes, as I just said.”

Lennon appeared to be guarding against complacency within his squad when he refuted what seemed a reasonable suggestion that Celtic were effectively champions.“Not at all. And it won’t be [finished] until we get across the finishing line. As far as we are concerned we are fully committed to what we are trying to achieve here. My aim is to win the league. If we win it by one point, it doesn’t matter – I will be delighted.”

Lennon once again backed chief executive Peter Lawwell’s assertion that Celtic could survive and thrive without Rangers, in the event of the Ibrox club going out of business altogether.

“It hasn’t been detrimental to Lyon who won seven titles in France and played in the semi-finals of the Champions League,” he said. Now, I am not saying that we are anywhere near that level but we are striving to get to that level.”

The former Celtic skipper, however, admitted that the absence of Old Firm games from the calendar would be a loss to the Scottish game. He said: “Yes. I think that is a fair point. I think it is one of the most attractive fixtures in world football with all the ingredients that go with it. But you are talking about a hypothetical situation.

“The administrators said yesterday that they (Rangers) might not go into liquidation so if that was the case then we will have Rangers v Celtic games to come.”

Earlier the Scottish FA confirmed they will conduct a full independent inquiry into the activities of Rangers. The governing body will investigate whether there have been any potential breaches of their articles of association. The SFA say attempts to obtain information relating to their “fit and proper person” requirement – regarding Rangers owner Craig Whyte – have been restricted by the club solicitors’ failure to share information.