Anne Budge has given her full and unequivocal backing to Hearts boss Robbie Neilson, insisting "he's safe".
The 40-year-old boss has seen his side struggle to three 1-1 draws in a row with Queen of the South, Morton and Inverness amid fan concerns on social media over the style of football deployed.
The Jambos still sit 12 points clear at the top of the Championship table although promotion rivals Raith could cut that to six by winning their two games in hand.
But Budge isn't one to panic, as she showed by backing Craig Levein in the past, and insists too many clubs are trigger-happy with managers.
She told Sky Sports : "I think one of the problems in football is that some clubs react too quickly.
"It takes time, Robbie came back to us in June so he's been back eight months.
"He's brought in a lot of new players, he knows what he wants to do and he knows his fundamental objective this year is to win promotion and he's focused on that.
"Will things go wrong along the way, will there be bumps on the road? Of course there will.
"When I talked to Robbie about coming back I told him 'I want you to view this as a minimum of three years'.
"We have to get through this season, we have to re-establish again next season then we have to get back to where we need to be.
"He's safe as far as I'm concerned and I know it's not everybody's view but it's my view."
