ROD Petrie, the Hibernian chairman, insisted yesterday that the club would not be panicked out of their present financial policy.

Speaking after Tony Mowbray had highlighted the difficulty of competing against clubs with more money to spend on players and talked of not being with his current employers indefinitely, Petrie also said that the Easter Road manager was fully in accord with that policy.

Hibs have been unable to emulate their achievement of last season, when they finished third in the SPL. Mowbray has had to cope with a horrendous run of injuries to key players, the sale of Garry O'Connor exacerbated matters, and it remains to be seen how much of that money will go on strengthening the squad for next season.

The funds available for team-building across the city at Tynecastle have made this season's relative lack of success doubly frustrating for some Easter Road fans. Petrie, however, said that for the sake of long-term stability the current path had to be followed.

"Tony has a very keen sense of what is right for Hibernian Football Club," the chairman said. "A boom-and-bust mentality for short-term advantage that might suit him is not something he is interested in. He is very much in tune with what is right for this football club - incremental and sustainable growth.

"We have come through bad times and we have been gently able to increase the amount of money available in the football budget. It has been increased twice already and we are looking forward to shaping things for next season.

"We don't want people thinking it is doom and gloom. There is a frustration which is felt by everyone, and in some cases we can do a bit better. But we are looking at the long-term picture."

Petrie's talk of a "boom-and-bust mentality" might find favour with those Hibs supporters who still claim Vladimir Romanov is not concerned with the long-term transformation of Hearts.

The more the Lithuanian builds on the success of this season, though, the more his club's followers are likely to demand a plan to counteract the increasing power of the Tynecastle club.

"Money matters," Mowbray said at the weekend. "We finished 11 points up on Hearts last season and suddenly they've had an influx of cash, brought players in, and the gap has swung the other way. Now we sit more than ten points behind them in the SPL. For me, that sums up football."

Taken from the Scotsman