Soccer:Neil Lennon will take all the blame after his Celtic side flopped in Europe again last night with a 3-1 Europa League defeat by Sion at the Stade de Tourbillon.

The Glasgow club could win a reprieve as the Swiss side Sion may be expelled amid a dispute over a transfer embargo, but Lennon knows that the appeal has no bearing on how poor the performance was on a bleak night for the Scottish game that also saw Rangers and Hearts bow out.

The small band of Celtic fans who made the trip to Switzerland vented their fury at the end of the game, which ended 3-1 on aggregate, to the extent that skipper Scott Brown could not cajole his team-mates to go over to applaud them at the end of the game.

There were also some ugly scenes when the players left the stadium to board the team bus.

However, Lennon, who now has to prepare for the trip to St Mirren Park on Sunday in the SPL, takes full responsibility.

“The buck stops at me,” the Northern Irishman said. “I picked the team so there is no point in blaming the players or anyone else. I am the manager so I have to take responsibility.

“I felt we were good enough to get through over two games and we prepared as well as we could for it.

“My job means everything to me. I am not going to get myself in to a tizzy about it or have a panic but I know that there are people in the club who are disappointed so I have to try to turn things round pretty quickly.

“I don’t think it is the end of the world. It is for the European side of things but domestically we are fine.”

Daniel Majstorovic left his team-mates with a mountain to climb when he was sent off within minutes of the kick-off after conceding a penalty which was converted by Pascal Feindouno, who had a trial at Celtic but was revealed by Lennon to have been too expensive for the Parkhead club.

Feindouno added a second after the break and although Celtic defender Charlie Mulgrew pulled a goal back with a free-kick, Giovanni Sio made sure of victory moments later.

Asked if he now faces the biggest challenge of his career, the former Celtic skipper said: “As a manager yes, it has been a difficult week. But I have had worse weeks in my life.

“The fact that I can’t take the team through to the group stages is very galling for me. I would have liked the players to taste the European scene and we have to wait another year for that now. We fell short last year in the SPL so all focus is on going one better this time.”

There is a chance that Celtic could win what would be a remarkable reprieve.

Lennon is hoping the club will be reinstated and he has been backed by Uefa president Michel Platini.

The Swiss club have five players in their squad Feindouno, Mario Mutsch, Gabri, Jose Goncalves and Billy Ketkeophomphone who are, in the eyes of Fifa, ineligible to play in the competition.

Fifa claim Sion breached a transfer embargo, but the club claim the ban on bringing players in had ended.

Sion’s European squad was approved by the Swiss FA who, along with the club, have reportedly been warned by Uefa general secretary Gianni Infantino about possible sanctions.

Lennon would have no problem accepting a back-door entry in to the group stages but will have to wait until Tuesday to hear if they have been successful when Uefa’s control and disciplinary body meet.

The Parkhead boss said after the game: “We have sent in letters last week and handed one to the delegate. There is a hearing on Tuesday and we will know the outcome after that. But if clubs are breaking the rules then every club should break the rules.”

Platini said: “What is happening there is the rules have not been respected. FC Sion has not respected the rules of the transfer ban they signed players and then played those players.”