NEIL Lennon insisted he will not be driven out of Scotland by bigots but made it clear he believes a portion of society hold strong racist views of Catholics and the Irish.

No figure in the history of Scottish football has been forced to put up with so much vitriol and yet the 47-year-old does not want to leave the country he has called home, even when he twice left to work in England, since 2000.

When asked why he had put up with so much over the last 18 years, Lennon said: “I love what I do and in the main Scotland is a great place with great people. Glasgow is a great city and I enjoy my life there.

"I don’t enjoy the portrayal of me as an individual by certain people, a lot of people who are totally blinkered to what they see or read or what the bias is in their objective points.

“I enjoy what I am doing. I love being at this club and working with the players. I love the way the team play, developing the players and the challenge winning games.

"You always want to keep bettering yourself and I don't know anything else, and I don't want to do anything else. It shouldn't be my decision anyway. If I walked away, where does it leave the country?

"I am not doing this for Scottish football - I am doing this because it's what I want to do. I won't be driven out. I'll go on my own terms...or I might be sacked! That's inevitable in this job.”

Les Gray, the former Scottish Police Federation Chairman, said in a television interview on Thursday night that Lennon “could have caused a riot” when he celebrated a last-minute Hearts goal being disallowed.

Lennon said: “Les Gray was on TV last night, totally embarrassing, absolutely embarrassing. Totally missing the point.

“He said I could have caused a riot way way off. I was embarrassed for him, totally irrelevant. To me it was a worry that someone in that sort of position could come out and talk nonsense and to be fair to the other people on the panel shut him down very quickly.”

And of Steven Elliot, a former Hearts player who called Lennon "immature" and an idiot, the Hibs manager added: "Who is that? He is an empty vessel means nothing to me.

"Probably a badge kisser for Hearts wanting to make a headline or two and will disappear of the face of the earth very quickly. Means nothing to me, he can come and say it to my face, we can have a chat and I will put him right on a few things."

Lennon is one of the most successful non-Scots in the history of the game in this country but has had to ensure all manner of abuse, from being a target since Martin O’Neill spent £5.75million on him just over 18 years ago.

He said: “It’s been from day one. When I came up here from Leicester, there was an effigy in Lisburn which said ‘Neil Lennon RIP’ before a ball had even been kicked.

“So, you can’t tell me that it’s because I’m an aggressive person, which I’m not. I am competitive, I’ll stand up for myself, I won’t bow down to people who thing they are above me. That’s just my way.

“We (Scotland) are not progressive. The mind-set says we are not progressive. You can point a lot of things but ultimately it comes from the home. I’m not saying there is not bigotry within the Celtic support and maybe an element in the Hibs support. I’m not saying that.

“I’m talking about my own individual circumstances.

"I find it very distasteful still. You see all these political adverts about being one Scotland, one democracy. It’s certainly not when it comes to me."