Despite seeing his side finishing just above the League Two relegation zone last season, Northampton Town chairman David Cardoza is looking upwards, not just to League One but to the Championship under the management of Gary Johnson.
Although he was unsuccessful in a short spell at Peterborough last season Johnson’s appointment was still an ambitious one given that he was a manager linked with the Premier League on a regular basis while in charge at Bristol City.
His arrival has been followed by a change in transfer policy as outlined by Cardoza who said recently: "We're spending a bit of money but we've got to take a view that the supporters will turn up if the team does well.
"We're going to have a much better team this year than we have for a few years and I'm expecting and hoping that gates will improve.
"A lot of the players we're bringing in are quite sought-after so we're having to give money to agents to get them in and I'm not really used to that because I don't like doing it.
"This year, we've had to. I still don't really want to but these players are players a lot of clubs want and we have to do it otherwise they go elsewhere."
At a time when many clubs are cutting back financially, Northampton could reap the reward for their years of good financial sense.