IN the angst-ridden aftermath of Hibernian’s 4-1 mauling by Aberdeen, Neil Lennon gave his players the kind of savaging usually reserved for a stricken gazelle being stripped to the bones by a bubbling shoal of Piranha.

A face contorted with rage, a mouth hissing sound and fury, arms flapping and flailing like Icarus frantically plummeting to the ground ... Lennon was not a happy man and seethed that his team would have struggled to beat Cowdenbeath with that kind of performance. “I’ve not had any Christmas cards from Cowdenbeath yet,” said Lennon with a wry smile.

In this season of goodwill to all men, it seems Lennon is keen to sprinkle some festive cheer. “Maybe I need to take a step back and not be so harsh on them,” added the Northern Irishman in soft, mellowing tones that belied his hard taskmaster image.

He’ll be giving each Hibernian player a cosy Christmas picture of a puppy gently pawing at the nose of a baby seal at this rate.

“I’ve not seen the players since the weekend and I thought I would give them a few days away from me, and vice versa,” he said.

Lennon’s sense of anger and disappointment in the wake of the Pittodrie pounding was understandable but, at a time of year for reflection, he is looking back with a calm sense of realism and perspective.

In their first season back in the top flight, Hibernian have made a stout account of themselves. They are fourth in the table, they have pushed Celtic hard in both the league and Betfred Cup semi-final and they have won at Ibrox. All in all, it’s been a fine return to the upper echelons.

“I’m very, very happy,” he declared. “We’ve been promoted, it has been a very good year and there is more to come from this team. It has been better than I expected. You get to the point where perhaps you set your sights too high. We got brought down to earth with a bump on Saturday.

“On reflection, I was too hard on the players when you consider how much they put into the game on Wednesday against Rangers, then they travelled to Aberdeen on the Friday for a 12.30pm kick-off at Pittodrie. They looked really leggy, which was maybe a reaction to three tough games in six days.

“They were outstanding in the two games against Celtic and Rangers and then there was a flatness against Aberdeen, who played very, very well. All you’re looking for is a reaction now. I’m sure I’ll get one. We’re playing some really good football, albeit Aberdeen was a reality check.”

Talking of reality checks, some observers, commentators and pundits suggested that Lennon’s old team, Celtic, were also served with a hefty dose of it with the 4-0 thumping against Hearts which ended the Scottish champions’ historic unbeaten domestic run which reached 69 games.

Lennon was having none of that assumption, though. “It was always going to happen at some stage, wasn’t it?” he responded. “They’re human beings and we’ll probably never see 70 games unbeaten in my lifetime.

“Celtic will win the title. I know Aberdeen have found their form again but Celtic are still the best team in the country.”