With the dawn of a new season there is always a great sense of anticipation. We are still unbeaten in the League! New players have been signed and we all look forward to seeing how they perform. Most importantly we have new journeys to plan for the first time in a few years.
There is nothing to moan about, as yet? Even the Chairman has been known to get the odd word of feint praise at this time of year!
However, this will be a long season and a testing one. The Championship is without doubt the toughest league in the world to get out of and while we are not daunted by this challenge we know the task that lies ahead. The Club's ambition is to get back where we surely belong and 'to regain and retain our Premiership status'.
It may happen this year, it may take five years (no pun intended). That is my aim and it is the aim of the club and everything will be geared and financed to achieving it.
And we are in a great position to take on this challenge. The club is on an even financial keel with very little debt. While we are not a business you would want to invest in, we are prudently financed both in the short and long term.
Contracts are linked to the potential of our playing staff with an incentive structure that anticipates success. Our first-class Academy and facilities has been built through the investment generated from its graduates now plying their trade in the Premiership and that conveyor belt of talent shows no sign of slowing. Indeed, we have a great deal of optimism about the current cadre who are on the fringe of the first team squad.
Finally the club is owned and, to a large extent, managed by people who are Nottingham Forest fans and in football's upside down world that surely must be the right thing if the club is to thrive in the long term. These people have an affinity and connection with the fortunes of Nottingham Forest and Nottingham.
On the playing side I am delighted to welcome to the Club the following players - Paul Anderson, Andrew Cole, Robert Earnshaw, Joe Garner and Guy Moussi - and I know you will enjoy seeing them contribute to our performances this season.
No longer do we buy on the hunch or intuition of one person. Our transfer process is as thoroughly researched and analysed as any business decision would be for such a material amount. We are making every effort to ensure we do not waste your or the club's money
One of the reasons we have been able to make such a material investment in the close season is the fantastic support you, the fans, have shown in buying season tickets on our return to the Championship.
We anticipate selling some 14,000 season tickets when the doors close later this month and I am sure we will sell out many games during this season not just the eagerly anticipated local derbies.
Plans for our new stadium are progressing though this will always be dependent on the World Cup being held in England in 2018. If this is not the case, then it is probable that we would rebuild the Main Stand and refurbish The City Ground to give us all a stadium we can be proud of in the coming decades.
On the field things are looking better than they have done for a number of years. Our management team is beginning to build a real track record in football with two promotions and three play-off finishes in their first five years in the game. Our playing staff is young, full of potential and attracting a great deal of interest throughout English football. We are a big enough club to provide a theatre for their talent and I hope in time also a stage for their aspirations.
On a parting note I look forward to seeing many of you in the motorway service and railway stations around the country as we travel to games. I welcome greatly the friendliness, kindness and in no small measure the advice I have received as we go around the country.
Thank you for your support and loyalty. Travel safely and let's hope the season is a successful one.