Mowbray still on the payroll, admits Reid who denies new man was cut-price option

NEVER mind one older head on the football side at Celtic, chairman John Reid yesterday confirmed that two managers will now be drawing salaries from the club.

It has been suggested that a possible delay in announcing interim manager Neil Lennon as permanent successor to the departed Tony Mowbray was related to what Reid called "the ongoing compensation issue" with the Englishman who was relieved of his duties in March. The Celtic chairman dismissed this out of hand but admitted that, having effectively placed Mowbray on gardening leave after nine months in charge, the financial terms of his contract still require to be met.

"What I can tell you first of all is that the ongoing compensation issue with Tony Mowbray in no way influenced or affected the timescale on Neil Lennon's appointment. It is complete and utter rubbish to say the two are connected," Reid said as he launched Lennon's managerial tenure officially at a press conference in one of the club's lounges. "Yes, he (Tony Mowbray] is on the payroll. We will fulfil our contractual obligations to Tony. The engagement of the new manager is entirely unrelated to anything arising to our obligations to our previous manager.

"Tony has left. He parted company with the club, as we said back in March. But when someone parts company with a club there are still contractual issues therein. Just as if you leave your esteemed employers tomorrow, your contract may say there are obligations which require them to pay you money."

In a series of wriggling responses from Reid to questions over the length of time required to make the Lennon appointment, he maintained the Irishman was the only person ever approached about the position. "I'm not going to comment on any individuals other than to say no-one with any authority from this club has spoken to or offered the job of manager to anyone," he said. "Indeed, no-one has been spoken to apart from Neil."

One reading of the situation, then, might be that it took the Celtic board four weeks to talk themselves into installing a novice; albeit a hugely impressive novice who gives every impression of possessing all the characteristics required.

"It wasn't a talking shop," Reid said of the lengthy discussions. "It's called due diligence. Every company does it. It was a case of: do we think this guy is the measure against which we should be judging others. That's the approach we took because we thought Neil was the best candidate and you look at others and use Neil as the benchmark.

"That's the conclusion we came to. The vast majority of the Celtic supporters understand the process. Many were worried that we wouldn't carry out the diligence that was necessary."

Rangers, under the experienced Walter Smith, have enjoyed more domestic victories, more league wins, more Old Firm successes and more trophy triumphs over the past three and a half years. There was therefore concern among some Celtic followers that the Parkhead side were seeking to combat their city rivals' threat with a 38-year-old rookie who has taken charge of only nine senior competitive football games – and one of those was the humiliating Scottish Cup exit at the hands of Ross County.

"Someone said the other day Neil was very lucky," Reid said. "Well, I think luck is where preparation meets opportunity. Out of the disappointments of last season, an opportunity arose. One man was prepared for that opportunity and he did his talking on the park in terms of motivation, character, determination and leadership. We all knew that, but we also saw he could get a team onto the park capable of getting results. The second step was to weigh all benefits and disbenefits and we kept coming back to Neil."

At a recent supporters' roadshow attended by Peter Lawwell, the Celtic chief executive admitted that, in the search for a new shirt sponsor, the club had gone round the world and ended up back at Duke Street – the headquarters of company that clinched the deal, Tennent's.

For a new manager, Celtic could have gone round the world but ended up back at Kerrydale Street.

Reid would have no truck with the notion that Celtic's world is closing in. "No, that isn't why we picked Neil Lennon," the chairman said. "We picked Neil because he is the best man for the job. We know there were others interested and some of them were not Scottish and some of them were quite big names. Some of them were more experienced people. They were available but Neil was the best man for the job, in our opinion."