Celtic boss Tony Mowbray has been promised the "loyalty" of the Hoops board, and won't face the sack at the end of the season, reports the Scottish Sun. Saturday's 4-4 draw at Aberdeen allowed Rangers to go ten points clear in the SPL with an emphatic 3-0 victory over Hibs 24 hours later.
Chairman John Reid instead told SunSport Mowbray deserves the board's support while he rebuilds the team.
Reid said: "When a new manager is asked to do that, rebuild while also try for instant success, when he wants to renovate, he has a right to expect our loyalty and our support. And he deserves that support in two ways.
"One is the resources we've put at his disposal to try and rebuild the team in the short and longer term. And secondly to give him our backing through that difficult period. That is what the board is trying to do.
"I don't give a running commentary on every game, or every aspect of our success or failures, wins or defeats throughout the year.
"We put the manager in there to do a job - and it's a difficult job.
"It involves renovating the team, reshaping it, remodelling it and trying to give us football success and entertainment in the short term, while also building a team that can be successful in the long term.
"If we go through the season, we are under no illusions about the challenge we face. We have an ENORMOUS task ahead in recovering the current league position.
"But we will do that with determination, we'll do it with commitment and we'll provide, as we have done, the resources to the manager to rebuild the team and give him the backing to do so.
"Tony is there because we believe he's the man who can rebuild this team and renovate it for the future. Not just for short-term success - but long-term success.
"And I think when you ask a manager to do that, to carry out a big change, to rebuild for the future, you owe him out of loyalty the obligation of putting resources at his disposal."
Reid, though, knows many Celts fans are far from convinced by Mowbray nine months into his reign as manager.
He said: "Naturally, I understand perfectly the fans at a club like Celtic, which has got such a reputation and record, demand that we have success in the short term as well as build for a successful future. That's what we are trying to do.
"I think anybody who looks at what we're doing in terms of putting in the investment for that - and you know the names as well as I do - there has obviously been an investment in the team.
"That's only been possible because we kept the club in a stable financial position over the years.
"If we were where we were six years ago, with the debt we couldn't have done that.
"That is part of what our obligation of loyalty to the manager is - and we're trying to make sure we discharge that.
"There is no other purpose at Celtic for making a profit than to plough that profit back into success on the field.
"That's what we are doing."
